Sweetpeas and Seed Viability

Surrey, United Kingdom

Hello all. I've just been in my greenhouse, and now have a query about the sweet peas I seeded over a month ago. They were container peas, and only about 6 out of 20 have sprouted. They are in individual those individual netted peat pots which you rehydrate. My questions are;

1) Do you always have to soak sweetpea seeds - as I didn't with these ones?
2) Should I keep waiting, as they have different germination rates?
2) Or Can I just put some cornflower seeds in the peat pots where the sweet pea didn't work?

Thanks!

17 Oct, 2009

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Answers

Seaburngirl

soaking isnt necessary as they take in the water from the compost. soaking just speeds it up. they do germinate at different rates so i wouldnt give up hope yet. if in a month they havent germinated yoi could carefully have a poke in th epot and see if the seed is still sound. if it is leave. if it has started and died plant something else. if rotten i would plant naything else in it as the fungus will be present and infect other seeds.

17 Oct, 2009

Heron

A month does seem a long time, it's not as if it's been cold, if you have enough seed I'd sow some more.

17 Oct, 2009

Heron

You may be interested to know that last year I planted three of the sweetpeas that germinated into the soil at the end of my GH. I was picking the flowers much earlier than the rest in the garden.
As the main crop flowered I pulled up those in the Gh.

17 Oct, 2009

How do I say thanks?

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