How to Grow Sweet Peas

Sweet peas are easy to grow from seeds, making them suitable for planting either in the fall or early spring depending on your climate. Sweet peas tolerate light frosts but cannot handle colder temperatures.

Mulching around sweet pea plants will help maintain cool and moist conditions in their surrounding area, as they’re heavy feeders. Before planting, amend the soil with compost or manure for best results.

Planting

Early spring is the ideal time for planting sweet peas, when temperatures have warmed but prior to their first frost date. Sowing seeds directly in the garden or starting them indoors 4-6 weeks ahead helps give seeds time to form strong root systems, helping prevent transplant shock and ensure robust growth. Staggered planting (planting a new batch every 2-3 weeks) also extends flowering season as each crop matures fully before being transplanted out into its permanent home.

Sow the seeds in holes two inches deep and four to six inches apart. When they germinate, thin the seedlings to leave only those that look strongest-looking plants. A light side-dressing with balanced 20-20-20 slow release fertilizer after transplanting promotes healthy, vigorous growth as well as abundant flower production.

Sweet peas are natural climbers, reaching heights of over 10 feet in some varieties. To encourage their climb, provide them with sturdy support like bamboo poles in a teepee shape or woven willow obelisks for climbing on. Regular pruning and deadheading (removing spent flowers) will encourage bushier plants with more blooms; to extend vase life of cut sweet peas cut into water add sugar or flower preservative to preserve vase life while pinch out their middle growing tips regularly with your thumb and forefinger while pinch out their middle growing tips with your thumb and forefinger!

Sowing

Sweet peas require support as they grow, whether that’s via trellises or fences with mesh or twine. Furthermore, they need plenty of sunlight; therefore an area near windows or bright sunlight would be best.

For optimal results, sow seeds indoors in biodegradable pots or root trainers 4-6 weeks before the last expected frost date and plant them out when conditions warm up – this gives seeds an early headstart and may help minimize transplant shock. Soaking the seeds overnight first softens their outer coating, improving germination rates; additionally deadheading regularly keeps plants looking tidy while encouraging continued flower production.

Sweet peas are heavy feeders once established, making nutrient-rich soil an absolute necessity. Godfrey suggests amending it with lots of compost or well-rotted manure at planting time and as needed throughout the season, adding additional amendments if necessary. If adding fertilizer, consider one with higher amounts of phosphorus than nitrogen since too much nitrogen may cause top growth rather than flowers to bloom.

Mulching helps maintain cool and moist soil conditions, but be careful not to overdo it, as sweet peas are vulnerable to overwatering. Staggered sowing allows you to enjoy beautiful blooms throughout spring’s blooming period.

Growing

Sweet peas grow best during early spring before temperatures get too warm; they’re cool-season flowers that won’t thrive once temperatures exceed 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Soaking seeds in water for several hours before nicking them will speed up germination. Also helpful is scattering several seeds per container and covering them with straw or compost to maintain an even soil temperature and prevent animals from accessing your seeds.

Outdoor sowing should be spaced between 6-9 inches apart, with ample organic matter added and worked into the planting area – sweet peas are heavy feeders! Avoid fertilizers high in nitrogen content as these encourage too much top growth; mulching helps keep soil cool and damp – something essential to pea growth.

Sweet peas are climbing vines that require support. We like using Hortnova netting stretched between supports as it’s economical and simple to set up; when the season is done it can easily be torn down again. But chicken wire or cattle fence panels also work. Once planted tie the plants loosely to their support without crushing or compressing their stems. When blooming occurs remove spent flowers immediately from their stem and place in water to promote new blossoms.

Harvesting

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus, an annual) are beloved cottage garden plants – often scrambling up obelisks or trellis supports, filling beds and borders with their frilly blooms and fragrant fragrance. Cut sweet peas make great cut flowers; their stems require just a bit of clean water for care, keeping fresh for weeks in floral coolers as long as no fruit ripens nearby (ethylene can quickly spoil sweet pea flowers).

Sow your seeds between October and April indoors using rootrainers or loo rolls, to provide your seedlings with ample root space and promote branching if required. Be careful when germinating under cover as too much heat could make the plants leggy and anemic.

Once your sweet pea plants reach four to six inches in height, it is best to pinch out their top leaves if not done naturally – this encourages side shoots and additional blooms later on. If grown outdoors, protecting them with light covering such as cloches or floating row cover may provide protection from cold temperatures and wind gusts.

Harvesting sweet peas during the summer can be rewarding and easy, with optimal harvest results being obtained by picking regularly rather than waiting until all blooms fade to deadhead with sterilized pruning shears or manually. Once faded blooms have fallen off, deadheading should take place to stop seed formation on your plant. Deadhead by cutting away spent blooms after they have faded and deadhead by cutting away spent blossoms to prevent your sweet pea plant going to seed. It is best to pick blooms just before they fade off but if any pea pods form prematurely then manually prune off with sterilized pruning shears.

Companion plants

Sweet pea flowers are an iconic cottage garden plant and essential component in our cut flower designs. Sweet pea flowers add wonderful fragrance and versatility; you can use them scrambled up obelisks or trellis supports, in mixed cutting gardens, or tied around stems of other cut flowers to add this timeless bloom into your designs.

Sweet peas should be planted early spring for best results. Being cool-weather crops, they prefer temperatures between 50 and 65 degrees F for optimal growth and blooming. Being day length sensitive means they will start producing faster as the days lengthen further in spring and early summer.

Direct sow seeds outdoors or start them indoors using soil-free seed starting mix in small pots (4-6″). Soaking for 24-36 hours prior to sowing may increase germination success and handling should be handled carefully in order to transplant successfully.

Sweet peas are climbers, requiring support in the form of bamboo poles in a teepee style, willow obelisks or wooden trellises to cling onto and encourage branching and flowering. Pinch growing tips when they reach 4-8 inches tall to promote branching while simultaneously protecting them from being overstressed or becoming tangled; water regularly and mulch as necessary to help cool roots down.

Saving seeds

Sweet peas are cool season crops and should be planted and grown under cool conditions for optimal success. Intense heat causes them to stretch out and become leggy, slowing their development even more than it already would be if placed under a grow light or heat mat. They thrive best when grown in deep containers such as 4-inch pots or propagation trays used for rooting cuttings of trees or shrubs – this gives them plenty of room to develop healthy roots while at the same time providing plenty of oxygen to their roots.

Once the sweet peas have become established, they should be transplanted to their final locations in the garden. It is best to do this early morning or late evening when temperatures are more manageable – this will reduce any chance of them wilting under extreme heat conditions.

Plant the seedlings along a row in a staggered pattern, spacing each plant 8 inches apart. If growing them on a trellis, tie loosely using string or twine so their energy goes towards producing beautiful blooms instead of climbing the structure. This will encourage their vines to focus more energy producing blooms instead of climbing upward.

Once your seeds have been soaked, plant them in containers filled with rich, well drained seed starting potting mix. Sow two seeds per container by inserting a pencil or dibbler to poke a 1/2-in hole into the soil; label each container, move to a bright windowsill for germination, then once sprouts appear move them to a cold greenhouse or cold frame as temperatures outside can become too hot.

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