Feed your sweet pea plants every couple of weeks after the first month in the ground, especially important if the soil is not very fertile. A tomato feed or comfrey feed is ideal. Once the flowers emerge, pick, pick, pick and fill up your vases. If you see any seed pods as you’re cutting, snip these off as well.
What do I do with my sweet pea seedlings?
Growing sweet peas from seed couldn’t be easier. You can sow them into pots of compost in autumn and overwinter the young plants in a cold frame or cool greenhouse. Or, you can wait until spring when you can sow into pots or directly into the ground.
Can I use Tomorite on sweet peas?
Feed your Sweet Peas every two weeks. Once buds appear, switch to a high-potash feed such as Tomorite.
Is Miracle Grow good for sweet peas?
Sweet Peas enjoy plenty of water in warm conditions and you can feed them again in June / July with a soluble fertiliser such as Miracle-gro or another handful of Fish, Blood and Bone.
How big do sweet pea seedlings need to be before planting out?
Plant sweet pea seeds in autumn or spring. When plants are 10cm tall, pinch out the tips to encourage bushy growth. Plant out in mid-spring and keep well watered. Most varieties have tendrils that will ‘self-cling’ to supports, but some sweet peas will need tying in.
What is the best fertilizer for sweet peas?
Sweet peas are heavy feeders, so amend soil well before planting with lots of rich compost or well-rotted manure. During the growing season, fertilize at least twice with a good soil drench of tablespoon each of fish emulsion and liquid kelp per gallon of water.
Is blood and bone good for sweet peas?
Prepare your soil for sweetpeas with plenty of manure and some blood and bone (sweetpeas are heavy feeders) up to six weeks before planting the seeds. The sweetpea is a natural climber, using its tendrils to weave way up fences, trellised, tripods or trees with some varieties growing as high as 3 metres.
Is blood fish and bone good for sweet peas?
They also like plenty of nitrogen for growth and potash for flowers. Dig the ground over and if possible dig out a trench or a flat bottomed hole to a depth of 45cm (18”) or so and fill with a layer of compost with fish, blood and bone mixed in or well-rotted manure.
Is bone meal good for sweet peas?
Sweet pea plants are heavy feeders, and sprinkling bone meal, blood meal, or even a commercial fertilizer like 12-24-12 some 6 to 12 inches from the base of the plants through the winter will be important to keep them growing actively.
How do you encourage sweet pea flowers?
Lack of flowers can also sometimes be a result of too much nitrogen fertiliser, which produces tall, leafy plants but no flowers. To overcome this, feed the sweet peas with either a high phosphorus feed or some bone meal.
Why are my sweet peas healthy but no flowers?
The reason your sweet peas are not blooming is often because of lack of sun, high temperatures or too much fertilizer. Sweet peas are native to the Mediterranean and flower best in full sun, medium to low nutrient soil with regular watering. Heat waves can also temporarily prevent blooming.
Does cutting sweet peas encourage more flowers?
As the flowers open keep cutting; this stimulates further flower production. Never leave seeds to develop on the plants. Remember that sweet peas are annuals. If seeds develop they tell the plant that its work is done and the plant starts to die back.
When should I start my sweet peas indoors?
But if you don’t get your sweet peas planted in fall, you can still get a nice crop, although a little later to bloom, if you give your seeds a head start by sowing indoors in seed containers in late January thru March to transplant into the garden as soon as soil can be worked; sweet peas can handle light frosts.
How quickly do sweet peas grow?
Spring-sown sweet peas flower in 12-14 weeks. Sweet peas often have a hard seed coat making them more difficult to germinate.
Can sweet peas grow in pots?
Sweet Peas grow beautifully in pots and containers. All they need are great soil, sunshine, water and something to climb. Then sit back and wait for your beautifully scented sweet peas to grow and flourish.
Why are the leaves on my sweet peas going yellow?
If your sweet pea’s leaves are turning yellow, it’s generally an indication that the bottom of the plant has been over-watered. Another cause could be the compost being too rich, which leads to the roots of the plant burning.
What makes pea leaves turn yellow?
A rapid growth spurt following stressful growing condition is often the cause of yellowing of the newest leaves of pea plants. For example, rain after a dry period, or warm weather after a cool period, are times when the yellowing of the newest leaves is likely to occur.
How do you speed up sweet pea germination?
Sweet peas have a hard seed coat. To aid germination you may find it helpful to leave them on some damp kitchen paper for 24 hours before sowing.
Do sweet peas transplant easily?
You can transplant your sweet pea in late summer or early spring. Northern gardeners may prefer an early spring transplanting to allow plants to re-establish before winter. Southern gardeners may want to transplant in fall giving plants time to establish before the heat of summer.
How do you pinch out sweet pea seedlings?
To pinch sweet pea plants, wait until they are 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20.5 cm.) high. Take the growing tip between your forefinger and thumbnail and snip the growing tip off using your nail as your blade. Pinching out sweet peas will force the plant hormones called auxins to move to the side or auxiliary tips.
Is Epsom salt good for sweet peas?
Blood meal is a suitable source of nitrogen, and Epsom salts may be used to supply the magnesium. One tablespoon of blood meal and one tablespoon of Epsom salts for every 9 square feet is adequate, applied every four weeks. Work the nutrients into the soil alongside the plant stems and water deeply.