growing sweet pea from seeds

My grandmother gave my DD a packet of sweet pea seeds this spring and we planted them in a shallow container in mid-April. We now have about 9 seedlings ranging from 1 to 2 inches in height. When should I get them in the ground? Are they too little yet? And is it too late to expect them to bloom this year? (I know they are annual for my zone). I've never grown anything from seed before; TIA!

I don't know much about sweet peas, I've tried to grown them by planting the seeds outside with no success. I do know you will want to harden them off before putting them out, and when you plant them outside keep them watered well, even twice a day if it is real hot. My guess is you should start getting them outside, for it's going to get hot and that will make it harder for them to transplant. Good luck.

I just put my sweet peas out last week (they are about 2 inches tall). This is my third year of growing the sweet peas from seed, and I have had pretty good success. And they were right about the water--morning and evening work best. Sweet peas also do best when they get the morning sun and evening shade, although they will grow in absolute full sun, too. If they don't get enough, they will get very spindly. And you need to make sure after they are about 8-10 inches tall they have something to climb, or they won't continue to grow.

I know they seem like alot of work, but once they begin to bloom, the smell is heavenly. They work great as cut flowers too.

Thanks for the help! I have a chainlink fence that meets the conditions of morning sun/afternoon shade so that's great. I have 9 seedlings . . . 1 or 2 of them are bound to make it, right?

A chain link fence would work great. Are the little "arms" developed on it yet? They look like little green antannaes. That is what will pull them up the fence.

My mother in law gave me some seeds. She sowed hers directly in the ground and hers flourished on her south wall. They were really pretty and fragrant. I'm going to try to grow some this year by planting directly in the ground too. I've just been waiting until the weather warmed up, so maybe tomorrow I'll get them in. Good luck with yours.

Well, I got them in the ground on Saturday. No antenna yet. They are still very tiny. But still alive as of this afternoon! Keeping my fingers crossed!

I have some I started indoors weeks before our last frost. Put them out doors a couple weeks ago.. frost didn't damage them at all ! What a relief! They are now about 8 - 10 inches tall and just starting to climb the trellis I put up behind them.. I will post a pic tomorrow if i can .. I have them right by my front door as I was told they smell great. . seem to be a pretty quick grower!!

Sweet peas love the colder weather. Down south they are at their best early spring and late fall when the temps are cool. Then during the summer they quit blooming and when most think they are down, the come back with a fall bloom. I usually started my seeds in January and planted out in March (central KY).

Now that we live in northern Ohio I'm looking forward to having them bloom for longer periods of a time.

They do like the morning sun and semi sun/shade of the afternoon. They don't like it warm/hot.

Good luck as I think every garden needs some sweet peas.

Janet

I agree--everyone should have sweet peas--They are one of my favorite plants. ANd the scent they put out is enough to make planting them worthwhile.

AmyDawn . . . my sweet peas are growing antennas! Yay! :)

glad to hear that, it won't be long now as look out cause they grow very fast. Look for blooms closer to the end of summer. but then again I've seen them bloom as soon as they get going good enough and they start showing flower heads.

Thanks for the update.

Janet

Just wait--they are beautiful! Since you have antannae now, it won't be long!

I planted Sweet peas from seeds just to see what would happen. Now I have alot of 2 to 4 inch little green plants ! What to do next ? What will happen if they dont have something to climb ?

they will grow along the ground until they find something to climb. lol

Yeah, they make a pretty ground cover, too.

Meadowyck, & AmyDawn,
I cant find the seed pack but if I remember right, it said "Sweet pea bush" Is there such a thing ? It was an old pack of seeds, not sure how long I had them. Maybe last year.
I was bored one day and planted them in 3 places, not even sure if they would grow.
They grow great and fast ! But I planted them in places good for a bush to grow.
Nothing around to climb. : (

Was there a Latin name of any sort on your seed packet? There are some plants in genus Polygala that go by the name Sweet Pea Shrub, maybe that's what yours are. They are shrubs not vines so if that's what you have then you won't need to worry about having something for them to climb. I don't remember seeing seeds for them very often though, so if these are something you ordered from a regular sort of seed catalog or picked up at Walmart then they're probably real sweet peas.

I don't know--I had never heard of the sweet pea shrubs, but I bet they are really an attractive shrubs. If you get yours to grow, I would be interested in a few seeds from it to give it a try myself.

yes please post a picture of it. I don't recall ever hearing (which doesn't mean there isn't one) about a shrub. I too would be interested in some seeds...

Janet

Here's the Plant Files entries for the sweet pea shrubs (several species in genus Polygala)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/61949/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1527/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/114608/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/113008/
I've grown several of these and have to say I've never seen any of my plants make seeds though, so you may have to do some searching to find sources. LittleRed might be able to grow these, but I suspect Amy & Janet that you will have trouble with these, I don't think any of them are hardy to your zones, and they're not the sort of thing that would really be worth growing as an annual.

Since they are hardy to my zone this is most likely why I've never heard about them....LOL... Guess they don't like the chill this way....lol

thanks for the links... something to keep in the back of my mind for when we do return south.

Janet

Yes, although I live in WV, I may just give them a shot. Maybe I could at least get it to grow as an annual? Any opinions on that?

They're shrubs, so I don't think they're going to make a very good annual, I doubt they'd get big enough to bloom in one year. Now if you can grow it in a pot and bring it in for the winter then it might be worth trying, but just as an annual I think you'll be disappointed.

Here is a picture of my Sweet Pea Bush. The guy at the nursery said it should do ok with my winters. So we will see.

I suspect it'll be fine, mine survived our winter 2 yrs ago where we had a week of temps in the high teens/low 20's and showed no damage at all so even though you're a bit colder than me I think it ought to be OK.

Hey guys--my first sweet pea bloom popped out yesterday! I am so excited!

Alright amydawn..... where is the picture... remember we love pictures...LOL

Janet