Nothing is sweeter than homegrown sweet peas. If you’ve never tried growing sweet peas than definitely add these delicate flowers to your next garden’s must grow list. Sweet peas are just like they sound . They have a gorgeous fragrance and with so many colorful varieties, it’s easy to work them into your landscape or cut flower garden.
I’m a novice when it comes to learning how to grow sweet peas, but I’ve found success in my garden this year. My plants are growing wonderfully and daily I am out in my garden picking handfuls of flowers for bouquets.
Let’s dive in to how to grow sweet peas from seed.
What seeds to buy
The most popular kind of sweet pea is going to be an annual variety. Annual sweet peas are fragrant and what you think of when you imagine a sweet pea.
Quality seed does matter in my experience. The amount of success you’re going to have with germinating your seeds is partly how the plant was grown, when the seed was harvested, how it was stored, etc.
I purchased several seed packets from multiple vendors and seed companies, but none compared to Floret, a flower farm near my hometown.
I’ll share her website information here.
How to prepare your seeds
How to grow sweet peas from seed starts with preparing the seed for germination.
When first looking at your seeds you’ll notice they are hard and round (like a pea) .
That outer coating is protecting the more delicate components of the seed.
Although not totally necessary, it helps to soften that outer layer so that when the seed hits the soil it has a better chance at emerging.
To do this is simple.
First you want to knick the shell with either nail clippers or rubbing it on sand paper…… basically use your imagination to rough down that shell to allow the sprout to grow.
Next, either lay your seeds out evenly in a damp paper towel for 12-24hours or soak the seeds in a glass of water for 8 hours or overnight. You want to make sure you don’t overly swell the seeds in the water for too long ……. (Speaking from experience here)
When to sow sweet pea seeds
Sweet peas prefer cooler weather to hot weather . If you grow the vegetable form of peas you’ll understand how similar growing these plants can be.
You have a few options when it comes to sowing seeds. My preferred way is to start indoors to get a jump on the growing season.
To start learning how to grow sweet peas indoors you’ll want to find your last frost date and count 8-10 weeks back.
A simple google search will help you find your growing zone or you can follow the link here.
Secondly you can direct sow them outdoors several weeks before your last frost date.
And in more mild climates you can even plant out your seeds in late fall and they will sprout the following spring.
How to grow sweet peas
Speaking from what i know, I start my sweet peas ahead of time under grow lights. I prefer to have a little more control over making sure my seedlings are not exposed to unpredictable weather or pest pressure too early on.
To do this, you’ll want to prepare a rich soil. Go ahead and skip the seed starting soil. Sweet peas are larger seeds and will benefit so much more from starting life in a rich, nutrient dense potting soil.
Check out my other article on how to start seeds and the difference in materials for reference .
One thing to know about sweet peas is they don’t like their roots being disturbed. This meaning that they don’t handle transplanting as well as many other flowers.
To handle this, simply plant your seeds in a larger container and give them space ahead of time. It’s not a great plan to start sweet peas in little seed starting trays. Instead plant them in a quart, or a couple seeds in something larger, or individually in root trainers.
Mix up your potting soil with water ahead of time, getting the mix evenly moist.
Evenly and lightly press the soil in the pot being careful not to tightly pack the soil.
Delicate roots remember?
Sweet peas need to be planted deep enough to hold themselves firmly in the soil but close enough to the soil that the sprout can get light. The sweet spot is half and inch to an inch. For me I just make a little hole in the soil up to the first knuckle on my pinky.
But wait there’s more! This high maintenance flower also likes darkness and cooler temperatures to germinate around 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the seeds have sprouted in about 2-3 weeks give them the sunlight they need either by artificial grow lights or in direct light on your windowsill.
Put out in the garden once the Sanger of frost has past. Sweet are beautiful in pots, against a trellis, or worked into a flower bed.
Whatever you decide to do make sure that your like plant babies have something to climb up on.
I had some with 100% support from my garden fence and others growing up a homemade wood cage and the sweet peas climbing up the fence did so much better.
Harvesting flowers
Once sweet peas start flowering it was be a daily trip out to the garden to harvest blooms. By deadheading the flowers and picking them for bouquets, it signals the plant to put on more blossoms.
If you are neglectful of picking the flowers, the plant may prematurely go to seed and start producing little seed pods.
Sweet peas make a wonderful cutting flower because blooms can last up to a week in a vase and have a long sturdy stem.
Learning how to grow sweet peas is really about trial and error and finding what makes sense to you. With so many different ways to grow sweet peas, I’m sure with a little patience and research you’ll have a beautiful fragrant garden this year.
