Evan Berrington
1. Plant from seed early in the season. Sweet peas will need to be planted from seed for best results. You want to plant them during the cooler months of the season. In most areas, this will be April and May once the threat of frost has passed.
2. Give the seed a hand. The sweet pea seed is quite hard, so you can give it a hand to start the germination process. You can either soak the seeds in luke warm water for a few hours, or you can take a knife and put a small slit in the seed. This will help get it growing faster.
3. Plant deeply. Your sweet pea seeds will need to be planted about 4 inches deep. This helps keep the roots where they will be nice and cool and can best flourish. If you wish you can make a trench that is 4 inches deep, lay the seeds down a few inches apart, and then cover for great results.
4. Offer them some shade. Because the roots of sweet peas really need to be kept cool, plant some low flowers in front of them. This will offer some shade and keep the soil cool, which will in turn keep the roots of the sweet peas cool. You can choose from any perennials or annuals you like, just make sure they grow between 6 and 12 inches tall.
5. Offer support. Once the sweet peas start to grow you can offer them some trellis support. You will want to place at least 6 feet worth of support as they can grow quite tall. They will climb and trellis naturally, but you can train them with gentle winding and string. Any garden trellis will do, as will homemade varieties made of string.
6. Keep slugs away. Pests can be a problem with sweet peas. Slugs love to dine on sweet peas. Try to keep them at bay by placing slug traps around the base of the plant. A trap can be as easy as a shallow dish of beer placed near the base that will attract slugs and then drown them. For more on keeping slugs out of your garden, try these tips.
7. Pick blooms often. You can pick blooms once the plant is about 6 inches tall. This will encourage the plant to bush out and bloom more. You are encouraged to pick blooms often as this will encourage the plant to re-seed and as a result more blooms will come forth.
2. Give the seed a hand. The sweet pea seed is quite hard, so you can give it a hand to start the germination process. You can either soak the seeds in luke warm water for a few hours, or you can take a knife and put a small slit in the seed. This will help get it growing faster.
3. Plant deeply. Your sweet pea seeds will need to be planted about 4 inches deep. This helps keep the roots where they will be nice and cool and can best flourish. If you wish you can make a trench that is 4 inches deep, lay the seeds down a few inches apart, and then cover for great results.
4. Offer them some shade. Because the roots of sweet peas really need to be kept cool, plant some low flowers in front of them. This will offer some shade and keep the soil cool, which will in turn keep the roots of the sweet peas cool. You can choose from any perennials or annuals you like, just make sure they grow between 6 and 12 inches tall.
5. Offer support. Once the sweet peas start to grow you can offer them some trellis support. You will want to place at least 6 feet worth of support as they can grow quite tall. They will climb and trellis naturally, but you can train them with gentle winding and string. Any garden trellis will do, as will homemade varieties made of string.
6. Keep slugs away. Pests can be a problem with sweet peas. Slugs love to dine on sweet peas. Try to keep them at bay by placing slug traps around the base of the plant. A trap can be as easy as a shallow dish of beer placed near the base that will attract slugs and then drown them. For more on keeping slugs out of your garden, try these tips.
7. Pick blooms often. You can pick blooms once the plant is about 6 inches tall. This will encourage the plant to bush out and bloom more. You are encouraged to pick blooms often as this will encourage the plant to re-seed and as a result more blooms will come forth.
