If you’ve always wanted to grow sweet peas but just weren’t sure how, look no further. In this post I’ll review some of my top tips and tricks to help you grow the best sweet peas in 2023!
Ever since I started my personal gardening journey back in 2020, there have been several flowers I had long since admired but had been intimidated with not knowing where to start. What I did know is that my dream is to create a cottage garden and sweet pea flowers make the perfect cottage flower!
Fast forward several years later, I’m here to share some of my tips and tricks I have learned along the way to help you grow your very own sweet pea flower patch!
In fact, sweet pea flowers make a wonderful addition to any cut flower garden.
WHAT ARE SWEET PEAS
Sweet peas (aka Lathyrus odoratus) are a beautiful and fragrant flowering vine. They resemble your typical peas, however these peas are inedible.
There are three types of sweet peas and each are related to their preferred climate and when you plan to harvest your sweet peas.
- Winter Flowering
- Require 10 hours of daylight
- Protect from frost
- Use a hoop house and frost guard in early spring
- Example: ‘Winter Elegance’
- Spring Flowering
- Require 11 hours of daylight
- Begin to flower 2 weeks after the winter varieties
- Example: ‘Spring Sunshine Series’
- Summer Flowering
- Require 12 hours of daylight
- Most popular type of sweet pea
- Easiest to grow and the best for beginners
- Example: ‘Spencer’ varieties
HOW TO GROW SWEET PEA FLOWERS FROM SEED
Growing sweet pea flowers is a lot easier than you might think! Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.
1.) Nick the hard exterior shell of the sweet pea seed OR soak your seeds for 24 hours prior to sowing them. This is done to help aide with germination.
2.) Start sweet pea seeds indoors to get a head start on planting. OR you can direct sow outside after the danger of frost has subsided.
3.) Use “root trainers“ or find the deepest pots you have to start your sweet pea seeds.
4.) Plant 2 seeds per cell (or hole) in a light seed starting soil mix, top off with vermiculite to aid in moisture regulation.
*If direct sowing sweet pea seeds, or when planting after starting indoors, use some fresh compost and a little bit of lime to your soil. Sweet peas are heavy feeders and also like a slightly more alkaline soil.
5.) Pinch back your seedlings after you see two sets of true leaves. This will encourage a bushier growth to your sweet pea flowers.
“Pinching back” simply means to cut off the top of your seedling once you see two sets of “true leaves”. This will encourage more flowers. See above picture for reference.
6.) For mild winter climates you can sow sweet pea seeds in autumn. In cooler climates, plant seedlings or direct sow in early spring.
7.) Add in a trellis for the sweet peas to climb. Using bamboo canes and a bit of twine will work as well!
8.) Use a soaker hose, or keep up with watering as sweet peas tend to be very thirsty!
9.) Continue to tie the vines to your trellis as they grow. You can give them an extra boost of food with fish emulsion during their first few weeks of life.
10.) Keep harvesting your sweet pea flowers! They will reward you with even more flowers.
11.) Add a bit of flower food or sugar to the water when harvesting your flowers. This will extend their vase life.
WHAT YOU NEED TO GET STARTED
This post contains some links to some products on Amazon I use in case you are interested! If you end up making a purchase I get a small commission, so thank you kindly!
I can’t wait to see your sweet peas grow this year! Great information in this post