For a summer, sweet peas transform the garden into a frenzy of colorful blossoms and an enticing scent. Thanks to the uncomplicated sowing, you can treat yourself to this festival for the senses every year. Read here how to sow sweet peas correctly.

Sweet pea can be sown in seed trays as early as March

Direct sowing tops cultivation on the windowsill

You can sow sweet peas behind glass in pots from March. In this case, however, the seedlings must endure the rigors of pricking out and planting. This stress is at the expense of vitality and willingness to flower. It is better to wait until April to sow directly in the bed.

Step-by-step instructions

Prepare a finely crumbly seedbed in fresh, moist and nutrient-rich soil in a sunny location. Seeds find ideal starting conditions if you lightly rake sifted compost into the soil surface. The seeds spend the night before sowing in a water bath to pre-swell. Proceed as follows:

  • In the prepared seedbed, make furrows with a depth of 4-5 cm at a distance of 30 cm
  • Put 2 seeds in the soil at a distance of 5 cm
  • Cover the seed rows with a maximum of 5 cm of soil and water with a fine spray

If you do not arrange sweet peas in rows, please place 3 seeds per planting site 5 cm deep in the loose soil and water them. To protect against voracious pests and pecking birds, spread a close-meshed net over the seed.

Pricking and pricking - this is how you do it right

At a constant temperature of 12 to 15 degrees Celsius, sweet peas take 2 to 3 weeks to germinate. From a plant height of 10 cm, select the strongest seedlings at a distance of 10-20 cm. Take the time now to pinch any young sweet peas, encouraging bushy growth. To do this, use your index finger and thumb to snap off the tip of the shoot up to the first vital pair of leaves.

tips

Looking at the romantic blossoms, we can hardly believe that sweet peas are closely related to peas. Both species belong to the legume family. Scientists therefore call the beauty of the blossoms 'fragrant vetchling'. Apart from the botanical relationship, the two plants today have nothing in common.

Category:

Vegetable garden