Kitchen Garden Forum

can you grow sweet peas up a cane or is it netting / mesh preferred

Compo

Compo wrote:can you grow sweet peas up a cane or is it netting / mesh preferred

Compo

Yes you can.. I grow mine along old tree branches...Kind of diagonal as I cannot reach very high.

I always grow them up a cane framework but you do have to use rings (I make my own) to get them started. I guess with netting you could leave them to get on with it but not sure if you could reclaim the netting.

Hello Compo
It all depends on what you expect from your plants. If you want the beautiful long stemmed flowers, loved by flower arrangers, then you will have to grow them trained up canes. Fix the stems to cane with rings as they grow upwards, limit the stems to not more than three per cane, pinch out tendrils and grow the plants about 12-18" apart. If your not so fussy then netting is just fine and they will make an attractive feature.
Love their fragrance.

John

Additional to John's informative answer. If your sweet peas reach the top of the canes, unwind them, lay them along the ground (even going round the end of the line of canes), then send them up the canes again helped on their way by rings.


Cheers, Tony.

I always grow mine up canes or a framework, tying them in with string. I hate pea/bean netting. I usually mix them in with peas and beans, if only to attract bees and other insects.

Compo

you might want to take a look at what this guy is doing

http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/April- ... guide.html

you'll need to scroll a good way down the page to 21st April..

he has the usual A-frame - but hangs chicken wire down for his peas to grow up.

looks interesting - I might give it a try too.