Peas and Sweet Peas - what am I doing wrong?

kizkiz

I threw my peas in the ground outside as seeds and about 75% have popped up and are going great guns. Not sure I've even watered them!


I also did sweet peas from seed indoors and got plenty. Nothing special here

peaceandfreedom

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I used to soak my sweet pea seeds and come to think of it, I think they did better than they do now, so maybe I should go back to that. Though I know Monty Don says it's not necessary.

It's a puzzle to me really because I do pretty well with most other seeds - it just seems to be peas/sweet peas that I don't get right.

I have enough plants for my main big planter that I always use for sweet peas but not enough for anywhere else in the garden. I might buy some little plug plants for this year and try again next year.

forgotmyname

I had some pea seeds that were years out of date. I didnt expect them to grow so put a lot of then in and i think they all germinated.

Soak pea seeds in slightly warm water, Not direct from the cold tap. Leave them to soak for a few minutes as i prepare the pots/trays.

I only ever sow 1 seed per pot/module/toilet roll tube. I get decent germination rates and anything that doesnt grow just gets put back into the compost.

What compost/soil are you using? I did a test a coiuple of years back.

Peat free, Peat based, Seed compost. Sainsbury's, Asda, B&Q.

Seed compost was useless for peas. Out of 40 peas i got one or 2 that germinated.
Yet all the others germinated except the odd one or two.
The cheap budget peat free compost was awful. Like strands of matted fibres. But the seeds did germinate and grow OK. I did 40 peas in each compost and 2 different types of pea also. So a fairly accurate test.


I prefer the B&Q peat based compost. Seems to work for me.

peaceandfreedom

forgotmyname wrote: »

What compost/soil are you using? I did a test a coiuple of years back.

Peat free, Peat based, Seed compost. Sainsbury's, Asda, B&Q.

Seed compost was useless for peas. Out of 40 peas i got one or 2 that germinated.
Yet all the others germinated except the odd one or two.
The cheap budget peat free compost was awful. Like strands of matted fibres. But the seeds did germinate and grow OK. I did 40 peas in each compost and 2 different types of pea also. So a fairly accurate test.

Interesting - I used a seed compost for all the peas and sweet peas. I wonder why that would make such a difference.

So next year - note to self:

• Use toilet rolls, one seed per roll
• Soak the seeds for a short time before sowing
• Use regular compost not seed compost
• Leave in the greenhouse rather than in a heated propagator
• Protect from mice

Will have to pop back in a year's time and report back.