Growing sweet peas in rows (in a raised bed)

Fairygirl

I think you'll be fine with some round your obelisk. It won't be difficult to access them unless you go mad with the amount you plant 
If you can do some in your beds as well that should give you a decent crop, and you can experiment with various sites and aspect etc. Just make sure they have enough support, and food and water. 
It's often worth doing a second sowing too. Many people in hotter areas find their plants are spent by the end of July or early August. Ours can last well into October from a spring sowing, because they take longer to start growing [as I said earlier] and they don't have such stressful conditions to grow in as many areas have, but it might be worth experimenting with a later sowing 

REMF33

I braved the rain to check on the broad beans and counted the sweet peas. There are a abotut 40 pots of them, most with two plants, to plenty to mess around with.
Yes I could do some more. Good idea. I have lots of seed left. I think I need to take time off work to do all the sowing I have planned!
I might put some in some of those big builders buckets (with holes drilled).
I shoud do an audit soo to make sure there's nothing that must be done asap.
I left my dward beans very late last year and when they didn't come up it was a bit late to rectify.

Fairygirl

If you do some sweet peas later, you can get an idea of whether that would work for you. Then next year, maybe do your sowing in two stages if it does, instead of doing them all at once 
I don't usually sow in autumn, because it's rarely worth it for getting them out in spring [the spring sown ones catch up anyway] but that might be another option too if you have somewhere to overwinter them. They don't need much protection - just from the worst weather. A cold frame is fine 

REMF33

The ones I have ready to go were autumn sown. There are some January sown ones too which are pretty big now. All in the unheated greenhouse. Some didn't survive it when it got really cold (on nights I forgot to put fleece on them) but most did.

Fairygirl

That's good then @REMF33. You'll have to judge yourself how early you can put them out, but it would still be worth trying a few just now, and seeing if it could be worth your while doing later sowings to give you that succession 

Joyce Goldenlily

REMF33 said:

The ones I have ready to go were autumn sown. There are some January sown ones too which are pretty big now. All in the unheated greenhouse. Some didn't survive it when it got really cold (on nights I forgot to put fleece on them) but most did.

"If" you decide to grow some sweetpeas in a row, you could try training them way exhibitors grow them. As single stemmed plants, removing all tendrils and shoots, which means you have to tie the plants in to the canes, growing them up to the top of the canes, then untying them and laying them horizontally along the bottom of the canes, ready to go up again.
I tried it one year, interesting, a lot of work, but it kept the plants going for much longer. Exhibitors always sow their seed in the autumn and I am sure, have their own magical feeding program for maximum colour, size and number of flowers per stem. If you type in "growing exhibition sweetpeas" you will find a whole new world of info. covering growing sweetpeas. Interesting, even if you have no intention of showing the fruits of your labour at your local Horticultural Show.
Good luck, enjoy and have fun.

WAMS

I grew peas up my widest obelisk last year, as well as a nearly thornless rose actually. Dead heading wasn't a problem and they went on for months and months.

REMF33

The ones I planted in the raised bed (around and obslisk - easy acess around all sides) are doing fine. I really wish I'd planted out the rest though. I had Covid really badly so could do nothing for two weeks. Then went on holiday on my own for a week and husband forgot to water them So the remaining ones are half dead. I am really very sad about this!

REMF33

An update on this. The sweet peas that I planted out early in the raised bed around an obelisk have done really well. The best I have ever grown. Time will tell re. mildew issues, but the flowers have the longest, straightest stems I have ever grown and the plants look very healthy at the moment. My origianl experiment is void because I have no comparable plants - I planted up some of those which faired better than others from a week of no watering, but they are languishing.
'tis a pity that I am only getting a fraction of the varieties I sowed, but at least one of them is my favourite, Matacuna. The others are Mrs Collier, High Scent and I think Blue Velvet (luciously purple) and of course they are all highly scented.
I will be tempted to grow two obelisk's worth next year, but this will be at the expense of edibles, so I don't know. Need another raised bed... An allotment?!? Will also try autumn sowing again.

Fairygirl

Matucana is a good doer - one of the original sweet peas from which the grandifloras have been developed. 
Cupani is a smaller, very similar, sweet pea and also very easy.
I've tried Mrs Collier for the first time this year. It didn't grow on as well as the other white I'm trying -CCC, but I'll see what they turn out like once they're flowering. It'll be a while yet. 

Glad you've got some good results though