Sweet peas

[plotstoeat]

Laurie is it today we should be sowing?

[plotstoeat]

[cudsey]

I think Laurie said the 19th but not quite sure I did mine this morning and put them in an unheated greenhouse 

[Obelixx]

According to a lunar calendar I sometimes use to organise my gardening jobs, apart from the 10th, any day upto and including the 19th is good for sowing seeds.  Other than the 20th, the next week is good for planting and taking cuttings too.

Needless to say I had today all planned out for spring bulbs and sowing sweet peas and broad beans and got rained off.  Months waiting for rain and it came today.  Typical.

[woodypecks]

   Am I too late to sow them now ?   Maybe wait till Spring now ?   Debbie 

[plotstoeat]

   Am I too late to sow them now ?   Maybe wait till Spring now ?   Debbie 

You would need a propagtor now I think as unlikely to get a prolonged mild spell. Mine are doing okay including the self sets outside that I covered with a cloche

[cudsey]

I sowed mine the 8th Oct and put them in a mini covered greenhouse inside my unheated greenhouse should they be showing yet I checked them this morning and nothing yet

[saddad]

We sow ours after Christmas... not ideal but it works for us...

[plotstoeat]

I sowed mine the 8th Oct and put them in a mini covered greenhouse inside my unheated greenhouse should they be showing yet I checked them this morning and nothing yet

Should be up by now. We have had some decent sunny days. Hope the mice haven't had them but even then. Did you cover them?

[cudsey]

Yes they are in seed cells covered by a plastic dome inside a plastic greenhouse in my big greenhouse I will check them in a few days and see if anything is happening

[plotstoeat]

Yes they are in seed cells covered by a plastic dome inside a plastic greenhouse in my big greenhouse I will check them in a few days and see if anything is happening

Same as mine. Might be the seeds. I have had some seeds not germinate in the past. Let us know if they do germinate.

[cudsey]

I will do Plotstoeat have not been to lottie as it has been pouring with rain and very windy so hopefully I will check them at weekend

[George the Pigman]

I usually sow mine in November in a cold greenhouse then plant them out in early Spring. They grow OK but seem to finish flowering and die out early round about mid summer. despite regular dead heading.
Should I be succession sowing?

[saddad]

I've tried it, and sometimes when the weather is favourable, you can get an extra moth to six weeks of flowering but the struggle with mildew can be an issue. 

[plotstoeat]

I usually sow mine in November in a cold greenhouse then plant them out in early Spring. They grow OK but seem to finish flowering and die out early round about mid summer. despite regular dead heading.
Should I be succession sowing?

Yes mine finish early too. Have tried sowing more in the Spring with very poor results.

[Tee Gee]

Yes mine finish early too.

Do you dead head your plants?

Sweet Peas are notorious for stopping flowering if you don't!

Its as if they have decided that their job is done once they have produced their seed!

So I find stopping their seed production makes them produce more flowers for longer! i.e. their job is not done!           

Have tried sowing more in the Spring with very poor results.

I always sow in the 2nd or 3rd week in January on a little bottom heat (as I have a hot bed) but indoors I would imagine should be OK, they might just take a few days longer to germinate!

I have also found that chitting them sometimes helps as they are then not sitting in relatively cold damp soil conditions. i.e. they are subject to the ambient temperature of the room!

If doing it this way I just give them a daily squirt with a spray gun of water again at room temperature!

This softens the hard coating and they seem to germinate quicker!

Another advantage of this is you only need pot up the ones that have chitted!

Then again the main reason I sow in spring is: I don't have to look after them for the 3 to 4 months as I would if I  sowed them around October time!

[woodypecks]

Plotstoeat -  thankyou  :)

[plotstoeat]

Yes mine finish early too.

Do you dead head your plants?
I regularly cut all the flowers off. (Monty recommends this) i might try a January sowing. Would be nice to have some succession in flowering

[plotstoeat]

Planted first of my sweet peas today. Hope the high winds have finished. Couldn't leave them in the root trainers any longer.

[cudsey]

Well not one of them germinated so tipped the compost onto a bed on the allotment will try again next year but leave in the house and see if that makes any difference it will be strange if they come through on the allotment I did that once with tomatoes that did not germinate tipped the compost on the lottie and later on found I had 2 very healthy tomato plants in the middle of the beetroot

[plotstoeat]

Doing okay despite the winds