Sweet Peas are stunningly beautiful yet delicate flowers, some of which carry a gorgeous scent. I have been growing them for a number of years with great success, including an RHS Chelsea Gold Medal!

            There a number of different ways to grow them and different times of year that you can sow them, depending on what you are growing them for, whether it is for cut flowers in the house, or for exhibition.

            I tend to sow my Sweet Pea seeds now in early January, rather than the previous October. I sow mine in seed trays of multi purpose compost covering lightly with compost and then giving a good soak before placing on the hot bed. I don’t give them too much heat but somewhere around 55 degrees is ample. After around a week to ten days you will see the seeds begin to germinate. Once they are about an inch tall I prick them out into deep cell trays and/or 5" pots. These are put into the polytunnel which is unheated. After a few weeks the young plants will have produced two pairs of leaves. At this point I remove the growing tip from each plant. This will encourage strong side shoots from the lower leaf joints. 

            After a few more weeks you will see the new side shoots appear. Depending on the weather I either leave them in the polytunnel or they are put into a cold frame, however, the last few years I have left them in the polytunnel to keep the worst of the weather off them.

            I prepare the plot by rotovating the ground at the end of the year and again, weather allowing, at the end of February. Once I have done so I dig a trench for each row and add a thin layer of chicken manure, not too much as it’s quite strong stuff and I’ve seen the devastating effects of over strong manure on the roots of young plants. I then rake the soil over and apply a light amount of fish, blood and bone.

            I then  space out 7 or 8 ft canes approximately 6” apart in rows.

Once the plot is ready and the plants are looking strong and healthy it is time to plant them out. This can be done anytime between March and May depending on the weather. When they are all planted I water them in well. Around two weeks after planting I check every plant and select the strongest side shoot and tie this against the cane with a paper covered twist tie. I grow them on a single cordon to maximise the energy to one stem. The remainder of the side shoots are removed using a sharp pair of scissors. After each variety I clean the scissors in a weak bleach solution to minimise the risk of spreading any disease between the varieties. 

The plants will be slow to get growing at first but once they start they will grow rapidly and will need tying up on a weekly basis. As the plants grow you will see numerous new side shoots from each leaf joint. These must be removed and can usually just be rubbed out with your thumb. You will also see thin, curly tendrils growing from the ends of the leaves. Naturally, these would attach themselves to the cane but in order to direct all the energy into the main growing point and the forthcoming flowering stems, these must be removed. Again, a sharp pair of scissors will be perfect for the job. 

Once the plants reach around 3 ft high you will begin to see flower buds forming at the top of the stem. However, do not worry if these fall off before the stem matures as it is likely that we will still be experiencing cold nights. Sweet Peas are very delicate and if the night time temperature drops below around 8 degrees centigrade then the buds will not form correctly and will fall off leaving nothing but bare stems. Before long you will be blessed with an abundance of flowers on long stems.