There are many named varieties of climbing sweet peas. And they come in a multitude of colours, but did you know that there are also dwarf varieties too? Bijou and Little Sweetheart. These are great for baskets and pots and do not require a trellis to grow on.
Growing Sweet Peas
Start by choosing a full sun position in the garden.
Sweet Peas perform best in a rich and friable loamy soil. Adding good quantities of organic matter such as Rocky Point ActivGrow Soil Improver will improve your sweet pea success overall.
Sweet Peas don’t like an acid soil, so if you have a soil pH under 7 it would be a good idea to add garden lime or dolomite to the soil before planting.
To test your soil pH, use a pH testing kit, which are available to purchase from garden centres and hardware stores.
It’s important to set up any support before sowing or transplanting climbing sweet pea varieties, so as to avoid damaging the young seedlings as they establish. Trellises will need to be at least 1.5-2m high.
Avoid fertilising with any fertilisers high in nitrogen as sweet peas are a legume and this will cause lots of lovely growth at the expense of a large quantity of flowering. Choose fertilisers that are specially formulated to encourage flowering.
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