9 Easy Steps On How To Grow Sweet Pea

How To Grow Sweet Pea – Sweet peas are worthy of growing in your garden. Every gardener would want to have the beautiful fragrance of this plant every year. If you do not know what a sweet pea is then, just remember it is a flowering plant which falls under the genus Lathyrus. Its scientific name is Lathyrus odoratus.

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It is an annual plant that grows up to a height of 1 to 2 meters in places where suitable support is available.Sweet peas are available in different colors. This is one of the many reasons why sweet peas are loved by numerous people and who want to learn how to grow sweet pea in their homes. Sweet peas have multiple shades of blue. Red, purple, white, magenta and burgundy colors are too present in sweet peas.

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So, do you want one of these in your garden? Let’s discuss how to grow sweet pea properly.

1. Get your seeds ready and sow them

Sweet pea flower seeds can be planted into small pots, some cubic glass frame or they can be planted directly into the ground. You will have to wait for spring in order to get the best out of them as they are not winter plants.

You can also soak them in water to rehydrate them, but that is not entirely necessary as they will still germinate in moist compost. If you do not want to put in all the efforts of sowing the seeds you can plant the sweet pea plug plant and wait for the shoots to appear.

2. Things to keep in mind for sowing the seeds

If you have dug the soil for planting the seeds then just place the seeds in the space 2-3 inches apart, and the seeds should be planted 1 to 2 inches deep.

3. Be careful with the slugs and other creatures

It is one think to know how to grow sweet pea but altogether different matter on taking care of it. Apart from sowing, the sweet pea seeds you need to take care of the creatures that could harm them. Once the shoots start to appear, keep an eye on it as slugs love shoots of sweet pea plant. Moreover, later on when your plant grows and turns into vines then you can use overhead netting in order to protect them from birds.

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4. Use good quality compost and fertilizers

Using good quality compost would add essential nutrients to the soil which could be used up by the sweet pea plant to grow properly. Composts are decayed organic materials used as fertilizers for plants. These can be prepared at home by using vegetable, fruits, and other organic wastes.

Other fertilizers used in the market can also be used, but you should not use highly toxic chemicals as fertilizers. You would be aware of those once you scan the market correctly.

5. Plant sweet pea seeds before summer arrive

Knowing when to grow sweet pea is equally important as knowing how to grow sweet pea. Planting sweet peas in mild winter climates where the ground does not freeze can be an option. Alternatively, you can say people living in cold areas mostly do that. If the seeds are sown before a few months from spring, then chances are there that the seeds would bloom in spring.

If you want the longest possible blooming season for sweet peas, you need to start your sweet peas indoor if your area has a cold winter. Moreover, then plant them outside as soon as it starts to get warm and make sure that the areas where you plant your seeds get afternoon shades.

6. Make sure that seeds germinate well

One of the key things that help in good germination is to plant them in a well-drained moist soil. If you want more moisture to enter into the seeds, you can just clip out a bit of opening in the seed.

There’s no need to tear out the whole thing all you need is to make an opening so that moisture enters easily into it. If you are not good at it then, simply take care of the moisture in the soil and make sure that you use healthy compost.

7. After the vines start growing

We know that sweet peas are climbers, and therefore when they start growing they need to be supported with railings, wires or anything that can support them. Once they start growing, just point the plants towards the support so that they can climb on their own after they grow even more.

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8. Add essential to wines

You will have to take care of the fertilizers and other essential nutrients required by your sweet peas. Water them correctly from their sowing time to blossom and throughout their blooming season. Make sure that the soil in which they are planted is moist.

Keep a check on the moisture and do not make the soil soggy. Good quality insecticides can help you get rid of the sweet pea enemies and will not harm the plants as well.

9. Do not forget deadheading

Deadheading means removing the dead flower from plants. Deadheading is done in order to prevent the dead flowers to divert energy for making seeds instead of flowers. Deadheading can help your sweet pea plants to blossom for a longer period.

The best time to deadhead flowers is just after the blossom time has peaked and is about to fade away. Do not only pluck the flower but cut the entire stem of the dead flower.

So, finally, you have now come to know how to grow sweet pea. You can also consult an expert gardener for planting peas. However, remember, doing it on your own is not bad at all as you will get an excellent and enjoyable experience. You can always pick up the beautiful sweet peas and prepare a bouquet for your room.

They look really pretty together as a bunch. There are several types of seeds available in the market out of which some plants have very strong fragrance after they grow completely, and some have mild or very little fragrance. It depends on what kind of pea plant you want in your garden. Therefore choose wisely and always consult the experts if you have doubt.

On an ending note, we would like to give tribute to the father of modern genetics, Gregor Mendel, for his work with the crossbreeding of the pea plants. Moreover, it was his ideas that were implemented on sweet peas and therefore we have such colorful and beautiful varieties of sweet peas today.

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