Pro Tips: Sweet Peas
After several years of successful) and one year of not-so-successful sweet peas, I thought I’d share a list of tips to help you with yours.
April in Paris
Don’t soak the seed before you plant them. It’s unnecessary and can sometimes weaken the plant by starving the seed of oxygen and introducing bacteria and fungi that are detrimental to strong early development.
When the majority of sweet peas have germinated in your pot or tray, they’ll want to have very bright light for 12 hours a day. They’ll absorb all of that energy and do their growing over night, so a timer is the best way to make sure they get the right amount of light or dark. A simple LED shop light is the right spectrum - no need to buy a fancy, expensive grow light. Hang it about an inch above the seedling and move it up as it grows.
Birds and squirrels love sweet pea seeds as a snack, so if you’re in an area that enjoys those critters, it’s advisable to start your seeds indoors in a protected, cool space.
Bunnies love newly sprouted sweet peas (you can’t win with mother nature), so if you’re in an area that enjoys those critters, you’ll want to fence them carefully.
Deer love sweet peas. Good luck there.
Sweet pea seed will grow true to the plant, so if you have a favorite variety or color, the seed you save from that plant will grow the same color bloom the next year.
As they climb up your trellis system and get out of control, you can tie them up with twine or jute. Just corral them to the support system and they’ll grow even more vigorously. Sweet pea vines can reach 9feet or taller if grown in the right conditions.
All parts of the sweet pea are poisonous to dogs and cats, so be careful if your best pal is a nibbler.
Sweet peas have a daylight trigger to flower, and depending on variety, need 10, 12, or 15 hours of daylight to shift from vigorous vine growth to flowering. No amount of planting them early to get early blooms will override that alarm clock, so it’s best to just enjoy them while they’re blooming!
Questions? Let’s hear em!
