Seat Pea update - planting out

Three pots of seedlings from my third batch, I need to get my hands on another pot soon to put them in!

I am so on the sweet peas this year.  If you have read my previous posts on the popular flowering pea, you may be aware of my long-standing jealousy of my neighbour's bountiful supply, and my complete inadequacy at growing my own.  But not this year.  Experience, pre-planning and the weather means I have not one, but two large pots of sweat peas getting increasingly closer to providing me with a bountiful supply all summer long.

I started early with my first sowing just before christmas.  Pre-soaking the seeds and using the garage resulted in almost a full house of germination without leggy-ness.  Yes the seedlings were perhaps slightly taller than one might like, but totally workable.  I picked out growing tips and moved them into my coldframe as soon as possible.  Nothing died at this point - hurrah! and I was able to pot them on merely two weeks after my infuriating neighbour did his.

Look at all that bush! Such strong and luscious growth, a vision of sweet pea
success, I couldn't want anything more

If you want to compare and contrast last years apologies with this year's strapping lads I would click here  What a difference.  Im slightly embarrassed thats all I managed last year, but everybody has to start somewhere. The key differences I feel are - don't germinate in a warm house, and don't use compostable tubes unless you want a house that smells of mould.

My first pot of peas, they really are getting established now and have started
putting on some serious growth and thickening up

There was also an issue with pots last year as I had to wait for the daffodils and spring pot to be over to plant them up.  Not this year.  The great fuchsia purge of 2015 freed up a nice big pot so I planted out my first batch the third week of March.  They are going great guns, bushing up and producing nice thick stems.  I am trying to keep order and train them to their allocated canes but they are always growing behind my back and intermingling, sneaky things.

My second pot of peas, a little behind the first pot but still doing pretty well
I haven't restrained these seedlings yet, but their time is coming

I got started on my second batch pretty much as soon as I moved the first outside which freed up room in the garage.  Exactly the same method as before with equally as good results, only I shifted them outside virtually the moment their noses poked through.  I figured this was the best way to avoid legginess and keep things moving on the window shelf.  Here is where I hit a slight snag though, as my second seedlings were coming on a pace and I was fresh out of large pots.  My eyes hit upon an old pot of the mothers, crammed full of random bushes and mini versions of things in the garden that she couldn't resist trying to make a cutting from.  It was an eyesore if Im honest, which I generally am.  Prime candidate for being emptied I thought.  Luckily the mother agreed.  Problem solved I thought.  Oh problem not solved!  Problem only just begun.  Could we get the contents of the pot out?  No we couldn't.  The father and I yanked, and pulled and held it upside down and shook, we chiselled and levered, and still it would not free.  Somebody needed to get in there with some butter and grease proceedings up.  There was also a small tree and a rose in the pot that the mother was keen to plant into the garden so we couldn't get to rough with them.  Two hours it took, by which time the old man was pouring with sweat and knackered.  But totally worth it as empty pot for me!

The pot that just wouldn't give up its contents! It was a hell of a struggle
but eventually we got it out

I have taken a different approach to planting up this year.  The neighbour wraps his in netting so they have something to climb up, and puts a collar of chicken wire round the bottom to keep out the pests.  Last year I did both.  This year I have done neither.  I just didn't get the netting, the peas didn't really climb up it and it made a netty prison around them meaning I struggled to get at the flowers to cut them.  Im not sure what pests the chicken wire is for, but I have taken my chances, and all is good.

Sweat peas is a numbers game as far as I am concerned, so I have sown another two batches.  Both contained fewer seeds than the first two but as I have said before, it would be nice to have them literally coming out of my ears, and for that you need a lot of plants.  I would say at least 35-40 plants with a few more to come up from my last batch.  I can't promise I wont sow anymore, but I might be done for this year.  I can't even compare to me neighbour's ridiculous crop, he has a full seven pots, so depending how bad my jealousy gets, I may sow more.