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West Midlands, United Kingdom Gb

Sweet peas, is this a record? Five days ago I spent most of the day, well it seemed like, making sweet pea pots as per Spritz and modifying toilet roll doo dahs, then filling with compost adding soaked peas etc.....and LOOK a baby, my first ever:-) It says on the packet 12-21 days. Who said a watched pot never boils:-)


On plant lathyrus odoratus

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Now I need to know, does it look right? They're johnsons horizon mixed and there are supposed to be approx 25 seeds per packet. There were about 40 seeds and by the time I had made 24 individual paper pots I was totally fed up and cursing the generosity of the seed company. I resorted to larger paper lined pots putting as many as 6 in one. Will they divide up, if they grow that is?

12 Feb, 2010

 

If you are going to transplant them, do so as soon as you can as sweet peas don't like root disturbance. That's one of the reasons we sow them in those long deep pots and why planting out the whole paper pot is a good idea.
If some seeds still haven't germinated, fish them carefully out of the compost when you're moving the growing ones at seed leaf stage, and resow them. Handle carefully so as not to squash them.
Sweet peas as a legume will often germinate quickly, especially if you soak the seed before sowing and use warmth.
Good luck with your 'crop', there's nothing better for perfume than beautiful old fashioned sweet peas, but remember to keep them cut so more and more flowers will form. They 'go to seed' very quickly if you leave the flowers on the vine.

12 Feb, 2010

 

Don't over-water them before they have sprouted as they can be prone to rotting before they germinate.

12 Feb, 2010

 

Bertie, is this one at seed leaf stage? I'm not sure what this is. There are, I think, 3 seeds in this pot. Should I try to ease it out now? Volunteer, that's what I'm afraid of as the only place I've got is the spare bedroom aka my office which means the place of my computer. lol. There is of course a radiator on twice a day and it's so hard not to let them dry out, yet not over water:-(

12 Feb, 2010

 

No - not nearly yet. If you have a few seedlings in a paper pot, I see no reason why they shouldn't stay in the pot, and then you could easily plant the whole pot into the soil . I normally plant three in a pot, which goes out into the soil as a unit with no disturbance to the roots. A few more in the 'clump' should be OK, I would have thought, Ba.

12 Feb, 2010

 

So it doesn't matter that they are quite close together Spritz? To confess all, one pot, 6" diameter has 6 seeds in, one in the centre. Well I'd just lost the will to live, it really did take all day especially trying to work out how to keep the soil in the toilet roll doo dah. Truth to tell, it took me longer than it would take a chimp to work out:-)

12 Feb, 2010

 

Update. I have loads up today he he:-) Oh Spritz I have 6 seeds in a plastic pot, the one I described just above:-)

13 Feb, 2010

 

Good news, Ba! No - unless you are intending to be a 'specialist' sweet pea grower, or want huge blooms for an exhibition, then planting several won't matter - they'll all scramble togther once you get them going.

Plastic pots - not so easy to get them out once they're bigger, so I'd re-plant them in newspaper pots while they're so little, I think. Shoild be OK if you are very gentle and don't touch the stems. :-)

13 Feb, 2010

 

Thanks Spritz and averyone, they seem to grow as I watch them, possibly beanstalks??

13 Feb, 2010

 

LOL.

I must remember to get my next lot in to soak this evening!

13 Feb, 2010

 

I have some more, not so many whew...I'll leave them for a while:-)

13 Feb, 2010

 

It looks as though you've planted quite a number anyway!

13 Feb, 2010

How do I say thanks?

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