January sown Sweet peas
I sowed three batches of sweet peas at different stages for colour in 2011. October and spring sowing are the usual recommended methods of starting sweet peas, but the best performing plants in my garden last summer were those that I sowed in January.
Looking for the same success this year, I’ve again sown a batch of seeds this week – a perfect excuse to stay in the warmth of the greenhouse on a frosty morning!
As always, I use deep pots for sweet pea sowing, so that the young plants can establish a good root system before planting out in late spring. This batch has been sown in a root trainer tray, but I also use 15cm deep grow tubes.
Regular readers of my blog will know that I keep the sowing process as simple as possible – no soaking or chitting seeds before hand, they go straight into the compost from the packet.
I usually ¾-fill the root trainers/grow tubes, then water, before setting the seed. The seeds are then covered with dry compost to fill the containers.
In January some extra heat is required. To get my seeds germinating I keep them in the warmth of the house, covered in newspaper. Once the first seed sprouts, I remove the paper, keeping the trays inside until the majority of seedlings are on show. At this stage I then take them out to the unheated, but frost-free, greenhouse as the extra heat can cause the plants to stretch and become leggy. They’ll grow slowly before things start to warm up at the end of Feb – once they produce three leaf sets I then pinch out the top set to promote side branching, and stocky plants.
Varieties I’ve sown this week:
- April in Paris (New from Gro-sure)
- Classic Collection (8 Unwins varieties)
About Kris Collins
Kris Collins started out in gardening as an estates worker at Richmond Park, west London, before training as a Royal Parks apprentice at Greenwich Park (south east london). After a stint as greenkeeper at The London Golf Club, Kent, he made a move towards journalism as a reporter for Horticulture Week. He now writes for Amateur Gardening magazine, Britain's best selling weekly gardening magazine, and tends his own garden in a leafy part of Hampshire.
