![]() ![]() If you haven't tried growing sweet peas before, you'll be astounded at the results. ![]() After germination remove the netting and the sweet peas will start their path up the trellis. Remember sparrows love eating the emerging seed as they germinate, so cover your bed with netting. For finer quality blooms for exhibition purposes, prune off the laterals and plant closer to encourage a single stem with larger flowers. Malcolm plants the seed 20 centimetres apart, and two centimetres deep to encourage lateral branching and quality cut flowers. Some gardeners recommend nicking the seed with a sharp knife to encourage germination but popping the seed into a plastic box lined with damp kitchen roll and. Heavier soils probably don't need treating because there is enough moisture in the soil. These will then germinate quite quickly, particularly in light soils. They will swell to about five times their normal size. This means rubbing it on a piece of glass paper opposite the testa - at the little white bit where the roots emerge - and soak the seed overnight in warm water. Sweet peas can also be grown in containers, and there are dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties. When sowing the seed, especially in light sandy soils, it helps to scarify it. Some people use toilet roll centres, which also give good root depth. Malcolm has built a trellis for his climbing sweet peas but he says it doesn't have to be fancy because the sweet peas will cover it when they grow. Copper is a fungicide, and will kill the rhizobia on the roots. Two weeks before sowing use a fertiliser with no copper. He says to dig this in about six weeks before planting seed. If it was pH5, he'd probably be adding dolomite.) He's also added gypsum at 300 grams per square metre because it's a pretty heavy loamy site. (A soil pH test showed his soil was pH6, which is pretty close to ideal. Malcolm has added lime to his site at 100 grams per square metre. Select a wide, open sunny aspect, with good drainage, and an ideal pH of about 6½. Here in the Findhorn Community it just takes a few weeks :) 2: Find a low seeding tray 3: Fill the tubes with seeding compost in the bag or in a bucket with compost, by pressing with the fingers of both hands on either side of the tube. They grow and flower through winter and the flowers are picked in spring. 1: Collect enough toilet roll tubes - this may take all winter. Learn how to grow sweet pea seeds from spare & very sustainable toilet roll - or any cardboard roll - Excellent way of keeping your plant fit & healthy when. Sweet peas are sown in southern Australia in autumn. But according to Malcolm it's important to be careful because many modern cultivars have been bred without fragrance, so read the label carefully to ensure you buy the form you want. ![]() Gardeners have been planting sweet peas Lathyrus odoratus for hundreds of years, and it's the fragrance that really captures the imagination. ![]()
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