kids grow sweetpeas
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kids grow sweetpeas

Growing sweet peas with kids

As well as smelling fantastic, sweet peas are great for pollinators and look lovely in the garden, or in jam jars in your home. They come in lots of colours - so try a few varieties to see which ones you like best. Just like magic, the more you pick, the more they grow!

What you'll need:

  • • Packet of sweet pea seeds
  • • Compost
  • • Pots or toilet roll tubes
  • • Cling film
  • • Sticks, canes, twine

Step 1: Start your seeds

sweetpeas being started out in toilet roll tubesSweet peas like to grow in tall, thin pots
Image: Ian Grainger/ Shutterstock
  • • Fill your toilet roll tubes with compost and put them in a tray.
  • • Make a hole and drop two to three seeds in.
  • • Sprinkle compost over the seeds.
  • • Water the soil and cover with cling film.
  • • Put your tray on a warm, sunny windowsill. Keep the soil moist.
  • • In about a week, when the seeds have germinated, take the plastic off.

Step 2: Make your stick wigwam

sweetpeas growing in a stick wigwamTie string around the wigwam for support
Image: Peter Turner Photography/ Shutterstock
  • • Choose a sunny place outside to plant your sweet peas.
  • • You can grow them in a container or the ground, but add some fresh compost or manure.
  • • Find three long sticks or canes.
  • • Push them into the soil in a triangle shape, about 30cm apart.
  • • Tie the canes together at the top to make a wigwam. The sweet peas will wind their way up the poles.

Step 3: Plant your sweet peas outside

sweetpeas growing outsideReady to pick!
Image: Peter Turner Photography/ Shutterstock
  • • Take your sweet peas outside each day for about a week but bring them in at night.
  • • When they're ready, make a hole next to each cane and plant your seedlings.
  • • When they're about 10cm tall, pinch out the tip of each stem to make the plant bushy and strong.
  • • Sweet peas are thirsty. Water them every morning.
  • • Sweet peas keep flowering all summer if you pick the flowers regularly and remove any dead ones. This is called 'deadheading'.
  • Never eat the seed pods - they're poisonous.

Popular sweet pea varieties

There's plenty more information in the downloadable guide. Print it out for more detailed instructions and even more sweetpea facts! For even more advice on growing sweet peas, head to our sweet pea hub page.

  Click the image to download the full pdf guide  
 
growing sweetpeas with kids pdf
 

Banner image: Noel V. Baebler/ Shutterstock

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