We sweet peas are sun worshippers at heart. To truly thrive and produce an abundance of the fragrant blooms you love, we need a location that receives at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight each day. While we can tolerate very light shade, our stems may become leggy as we stretch desperately towards the light. The soil is our foundation. We crave a rich, well-draining, and neutral to slightly alkaline soil. Before planting, please work in plenty of well-rotted compost or manure; this gives us the nutrient-rich environment we need to establish strong roots. Good drainage is absolutely critical—our roots are susceptible to rot if left sitting in waterlogged soil.
Our seeds are equipped with a hard coat, and to ensure a successful germination, we need your help. You can nick our seed coat with a nail clipper or soak us in lukewarm water for 24 hours before planting. This softens the shell and signals that it's time to wake up. We prefer to be sown directly into the cool soil in early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked. Plant us about 1 inch deep and 2 to 3 inches apart. If you're transplanting seedlings, handle our roots with extreme care, as we are very sensitive to disturbance. Gently tease apart any pot-bound roots before placing us in the ground.
We are climbing plants by nature. Our slender stems are not made to hold ourselves upright; we need a supportive structure to grasp onto with our delicate tendrils. Please provide a trellis, netting, or a tepee of stakes for us to climb immediately after planting or as soon as our seedlings emerge. This guidance is essential. Without it, we will become a tangled mat on the ground, which increases our susceptibility to pests and diseases and drastically reduces our flowering potential. Gently tying our main stems to the support initially can help guide us in the right direction.
Consistent moisture is the key to our success, especially once we begin to flower. We require about an inch of water per week. Water us at the base to keep our foliage dry and help prevent powdery mildew, a common fungal issue we face. A layer of mulch around our base will help retain that precious soil moisture and keep our roots cool. For feeding, we are not heavy feeders but we do appreciate a boost. A balanced, liquid fertilizer applied every few weeks, or a side-dressing of compost once we start forming buds, will provide the energy we need to produce wave after wave of beautiful, fragrant flowers for you.
Our primary goal is to reproduce by setting seed. If you allow our faded blooms to wither and form seed pods, our energy will be diverted from flower production into seed development. To keep us blooming profusely throughout the season, you must practice deadheading. This means regularly snipping off the spent flowers before they have a chance to form pods. By doing this, you trick us into continuing to produce more flowers in an attempt to achieve our reproductive goal. The more you pick our flowers for lovely bouquets, the more we will grow.
