A question about seed spacing.

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Quyen Orange, CA(Zone 10b) Aug 11, 2009

What is the reason for sowing Sweet Pea seeds 1-2 inches apart and then thinning them to 6 inches apart later on? Can I sow 2 seeds per hole but 6 inches apart? I'm using Sweet Pea as an example in this instance but my question is on the general practice of sowing seeds close together and then thinning them later. Do seeds germinate better if there are many of them together?

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feldon30 Houston, TX(Zone 9a) Aug 11, 2009

I've never understood planting a bunch of extra seeds and then thinning later. Sounds like a ploy to get us to use more seeds.

I plant as you suggest -- 2 seeds every 6-8 inches.

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) Aug 11, 2009

Are you talking about sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) or English peas (Pisum sativum). If you mean English pea than 1-2 inch spacing no thinnimg is correct. They grow at heavy plant densities, never any reason to thin them that I know about.

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Quyen Orange, CA(Zone 10b) Aug 12, 2009

Those were the planting instructions for the Lathyrus odoratus, "Bijou Mixture".

I also have another packet of seeds called Sweet Pea but with no scientific name. It simply says Early Flowering and that plant height is 5 ft. Same instruction to thin/transplant them 6 inches apart.

Are the two the same except for the height?

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) Aug 12, 2009

Right, The sweet pea is a flower. It is also toxic, which is why I am concerned when people use the the term for the English pea which is a vegetable. Six inches or so is about right altho I have limited esperience with sweet peas and mostly the perennial type (Lathyrus latifolius). I grow mostly edibles and many on this forum probably do also. You may get more experienced growers of sweet peas responding on the the beginning flowers forum http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/b_flowers/all/

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