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Post by scrumpy on Apr 30, 2011 20:56:15 GMT
and i'll be cutting my first sweet peas. They are a bit erratic this year, some are nearly 3 foot high, some are about 12 inches. Difference is in the varieties, and the fact that thanks to our snail friends chewing my basal shoots february time, i had to grow on the main laterals instead of the shoots i usually grow. It'll mess up the shows a bit but at least the wife will be happy  |
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Post by Cherry on Apr 30, 2011 21:19:32 GMT
I thought it was supposed to be the strongest shoot chosen as the others drop off naturally.
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Post by scrumpy on Apr 30, 2011 22:09:10 GMT
There's about 3 phases.
First stop at about 3 pairs of leaves produces your laterals. The two strongest are allowed to grow away, then when you plant out reduce it to one.
That will be fine for general garden use.
However, from beneath that lateral you get another set of shoots, called basal shoots. These will be stronger still, and it's those i use, the theory being that the shoots are produced from a well established root system. It means flowering is later, but the blooms are more likely to still be in good nick at show time.
That's what i was taught many years ago.
Perhaps sweet pea could give us his method...
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Post by sweetpea on May 1, 2011 19:17:09 GMT
There's about 3 phases. First stop at about 3 pairs of leaves produces your laterals. The two strongest are allowed to grow away, then when you plant out reduce it to one. That will be fine for general garden use. However, from beneath that lateral you get another set of shoots, called basal shoots. These will be stronger still, and it's those i use, the theory being that the shoots are produced from a well established root system. It means flowering is later, but the blooms are more likely to still be in good nick at show time. That's what i was taught many years ago. Perhaps sweet pea could give us his method... I almost never pinch out the leading shoot. It dies off anyway and as often as not several side shoots will appear naturally. When planted out I usually select the chubbiest looking shoot, not the longest, and remove all but two. After a bit of growth I will restrict to the one shoot. Occasionally with a vigourous variety I will grow on two shoots and have a 'Double cordon' but not often. |
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Post by Cherry on May 1, 2011 20:03:34 GMT
You see Scrumpy, I was well taught. It all came from the forum and who do you think was the teacher? Of course, it was Sweetpea. It is good to see what other people do though.
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Post by scrumpy on May 1, 2011 20:23:49 GMT
you are never to old to learn....i'm always on the lookout for tips.
One good thing, at least this year i'll be able to compare the plants side by side so i'll get a definitive answer as to the best method.
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Post by Cherry on May 1, 2011 20:28:04 GMT
So true Scrumpy, and do let us know the results of your findings. I like people who experiment.
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Post by sweetpea on May 1, 2011 22:26:11 GMT
you are never to old to learn....i'm always on the lookout for tips. One good thing, at least this year i'll be able to compare the plants side by side so i'll get a definitive answer as to the best method. The 'Best' method is the one that works for you. IMHO |
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Post by scrumpy on May 27, 2011 20:17:03 GMT
looks like i'm having one of those years Anyway, quite a few in flower, and this picture is for sweet peas help  This is an incredibly powerful grower, stems are 21" long. Trouble is, it should be a nice mid blue by the name of Karen Harrod below  Somehow, and so far, out of the 16 Karen Harrod's, at least 4 are like the above, so i was wondering if you recognise that particular sweet pea. I am in contact with cooltanagh and have sent them the above photo. It doesn't appear to look like any of their other varieties of pinks. Trouble is it is so good, and looks like it will be my best performing variety, but i won't be able to show it as varieties have to be named. |
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Post by Cherry on May 27, 2011 21:21:27 GMT
Where is Sweetpea when he is needed? He sometimes looks in quite late.
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Post by Tel on May 28, 2011 6:46:14 GMT
Where is Sweetpea when he is needed? He sometimes looks in quite late. He may have started celebrating early. |
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Post by sweetpea on May 28, 2011 10:43:53 GMT
Where is Sweetpea when he is needed? He sometimes looks in quite late.
He may have started celebrating early. I went back to bed ;D Looks to me like some interloping seeds have got mixed into the packet somehow. Karen harrod is supposedly reliably fixed so no rogues shoul appear. The pink is a very common colour in sweetpeas but from memory (which at my age is not so good) it reminded me of Mrs bernard Jones. The others that come to mind are either deeper colour or more frilled. No chance you could have got some seeds mixed up is there? If anything else comes to mind I'll put it on here |
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Post by scrumpy on May 28, 2011 10:59:30 GMT
Got a reply from Sydney Harrod at cooltanagh. The sweet peas came from Kerton's, two packets. I sowed 20 from one, 10 from the other. So it could be one of the packets is wrongly labelled.
I've 10 seeds left.
They've sent the photo to Kertons, so we may be near an answer when he checks his mail.
It seems to dark for mrs B Jones, not enough white for Gwendoline. Looking forward though to Monday or so when i can put a proper picture of it with 4 flowers and it's full length.
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Post by sweetpea on May 28, 2011 13:16:33 GMT
I have been getting seeds from Kerton's since they started and before that with their predecessor and never had a problem.
I haven't grown Gwendoline myself but its on a list to try.
named after John bishop's wife I believe.
Anyway, hope it sorts itself out for you.
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Post by scrumpy on May 29, 2011 20:45:59 GMT
Side view, showing the length of stem  and nearly fully formed...cut it today as heavy rain forecast  The rate it is growing i'll be layering it in a weeks time  Never had sweet peas flowering this early before, definitely about 3 weeks advanced on previous years. |
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