sugar snap peas
I've grown my sugar snap peas in toilet roll tubes on the window sill. They are quite long and thin now, but don't look very strong. Should I pinch out the tops to make them bushier? How big should they be before planting out? I have never been successful with peas and want to make sure they do well this year, so any advice would be very welcome! Alex
hi alex, please dont pinch out the tips,thats for sweet peas only . im just starting mine off in long lengths of guttering so i can slide them straight into a trenchin 5FT sections.only thing i would worry about is pidgeons and frost so if your in a warm and sheltered area you could put some in now but stand by with the fleece , you can also start of another batch now to follow on in a couple of weeks time when the weather is more settled , good luck bob
Hi
Just read your reply Bob, what did you mean apout pinching the sweet peas, mine are in now but havent pinced anything, is it to late do you think?
Regards Karen
I've never pinched the tops of mine and mine were good last year. In my experience I prefer to direct sow my peas it just saves so much messing, Last year I bought plug plants, grew some in pots and direct planted some, the best by far were the ones I planted straight in. This year I have 4 varieties but I'm waiting before I plant them because I'm in no rush and the weather is still a bit rubbish here although in saying that the last few days we have had some glorious sunshine.
hi karen, when you grow sweet peas ,they grow the same as ordinery peas but when they reach about 4"" high if you pinch out the top then they send out more shoots from in between each leaf joint ,so you end up with more shoots and more flowers giving a lot better show of flowers and the more you cut the flowers the more they flower again. have a good look at the top of the stem when you see the top section just above two leaves nip it out so you have about 1/4"" of stem left above the leaves and watch them grow new shoot s.
best of luck bob