Sowing sweet pea seeds!

debs64

Hi all, I always sow lots of sweet pea seeds in toilet rolls and have a whole bed of them growing in my allotment. I germinate them in trays and grow them on all in my front room. This year I am decorating and most of downstairs will be in a state of chaos for a few weeks. My question is how late can I leave the sowing if I want lots of flowers this summer? 

Fairygirl

I don't sow until April, and I do it direct into pots.
I rarely sow in autumn, as it's not really worth it here, but for reasons unknown, I did some last year, which are in the greenhouse, opened up every day regardless of weather. 
The ones sown in April will probably catch up with them anyway, as I won't be able to plant the 'mature' ones out until late April/early May. They'll sit and sulk for a while, which is why I don't normally bother.
If you normally plant into the ground, you can sow some as normal in early spring, and just keep them outside in a sheltered spot, then plant when they've germinated and grown on a bit. 

You'll just get them flowering slightly later, that's all 

debs64

Thanks for reply Fairygirl, hopefully sowing a bit later than usual won’t affect my flowers too much. I grow a whole bed of them on my allotment as they are one of my favourite cut flowers 

Fairygirl

I don't grow many annuals at all @debs64, but I like having sweet peas. It's like any annual really - they have a finite lifespan, so mine might start growing later, but they are often still flowering late October, which is great.
It's usually the rough weather that sees them off, but they don't mind frosts etc at that time of year. Loads of food and water and they keep going 

BONE MEAL

Your are lucky Fairygirl, I sow mine early March for planting out late April.
First flowers are usually about late June and by late August they are more or less finito !
SW Scotland