Growing Sweet Peas in Pots is easy! With a few simple tips and tricks you can have colourful and fragrant Sweet Peas all summer long!
Sweet Peas grow beautifully in pots and containers. All they need are great soil, sunshine, water and something to climb. Then sit back and wait for your beautifully scented sweet peas to grow and flourish.
Easy to grow!
I love Sweet Pea Flowers SO much. I don’t think there’s a more beautifully scented flower…and how lovely and delicate are their petals? Thankfully, Sweet Peas are very easy to grow, so I make sure to have plenty of them in my garden during the summer months. Actually, if you’re lucky and the weather is great, you can have flowers right into the fall.
Grow Sweet Peas in Pots!
When we first moved into our home almost 15 years ago, my yard used to get a lot of sun, so planting sweet peas was very easy. I would line them up along our back fence but now this area has become shaded as our trees matured, and sweet peas don’t thrive there any longer. So now I grow them in containers. I have about 5 pots that I dedicate to growing Sweet Peas because I just love them so much.
Great for limited space!
One thing that I have learned over the years is that you do not need acres of land to enjoy a garden. If you have a balcony, a patio or a little urban yard, then you can grow plants. Most anything will grow well in pots, so don’t let limited space hold you back. In fact, last summer I grew a cut flower garden in my tiny little urban yard and I loved it SO SO much. This year I’m going to grow even more flowers!
Tips for Growing Sweet Peas:
Over the years I’ve learned a few things about growing Sweet Peas so I thought I’d share a few tips and tricks that I’ve gathered over time.
Use Sweet Pea seeds best suited for pots.
You should look for short/dwarf varieties that don’t get much taller than 2 feet. Sometimes they are called bush Sweet Peas.
Soak your seeds before planting.
Actually, this is a personal preference. Many people will sow sweet pea seeds directly into their gardens in early spring as soon as the snow melts, which is a great time because the soil is moist enough to soften the seeds. Sometimes I will do this, but often I forget to get them out early enough so I will soak the seeds before I plant them. To do this soak the seeds in water for 24 hours before sowing them into the soil. This softens the seed coat which will speed up the sprouting process.
Choosing Pots.
Make sure what ever pot or container you are using is at least 6 inches deep. Sweet peas like to stretch out their roots, so the deeper the pot, the better.
And use pots with great drainage.
Make sure that the pots and containers you use for your Sweet Peas, have adequate drainage. Sweet Peas do not like to sit in water.
Choosing soil.
Sweet peas love rich soil, so use a good quality potting soil. It’s a good idea to amend it with some compost too.
Planting Sweet Pea seeds.
Follow package directions. But the basic rules are to plant them about 1 cm deep, and 2 inches apart. Most often I will plant more seeds than recommended just in case some of the seeds don’t sprout. If I get too many I will just thin them out.
Give your Sweet Peas something to attach to and climb!
Sweet peas are climbers so you always need to provide something for them to climb. When you’re using pots you can place sticks into your pots so the tendrils can grab onto them as the sweet peas grow. I just used simple twigs in my pots…you can see them in the picture above. You can also use a small trellis or chicken wire.
Support as they grow!
Your Sweet Peas will need a little support as they grow taller. Sometimes the tendrils don’t latch onto the sticks or trellis, so you have to help them. I will gently tie the stems to the support sticks using little bits of twine.
Put your Sweet Peas in the sun.
Sweet peas are happiest with their flowers in the sunshine and their roots deep in cool, moist soil. Once the plants have sprouted, consider placing some mulch around them in the pot to keep their roots happy.
About fertilizer.
Sweet Peas don’t really need much in the way of fertilizing. There’s a common misconception that sweet peas love nitrogen like peas, but in fact, they do not! I don’t really fertilize my Sweet Pea plants.
Watering
Make sure to keep your Sweet Peas hydrated, but not overwatered. They don’t like to dry out or be too wet.
Pinch!
This is always so hard to do, but as your sweet peas start growing they will be spindly, so you need to pinch them back to encourage side shoots, which will result in robust bushy plants. To do this just pinch off the top of the stem with your fingers, just above a set of leaves. It’s hard to do, trust me I know, but your Sweet Peas will be better for it!
Deadhead!
Remove old flowers and seed pods. This encourages new growth, so make sure you do this often!
THE BEST PART! PICK PICK PICK!
If you’re like me, you’re growing Sweet Peas so you can snip off flowers to bring inside! I just can’t resist the smell of them in summer. And the good new with this is, the more you pick, the more flowers will grow.
I hope you feel inspired to plant sweet peas too! With a little care, you can have an abundance of beautiful blooms all summer long!
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More Gardening Posts to Inspire You!
- Starting Sweet Peas
- 7 Inspirational Ideas for Beautiful Planters
- Creating a Summer Flower Garden using Containers
- How to Plant a Container Herb Garden
- Planting an Edible Flower Garden
Happy gardening!
