A charming climbing plant with flowers in various pastel shades and a strong, unmistakable fragrance.
About the variety. An indeterminate, bee-friendly plant that climbs up to 200 cm; ornamental par excellence, it grows well in containers. Removing spent blooms extends the production of new flowers.
Itinerário técnico
Como cultivar sweet pea?
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
pH ideal 6.0 to 7.5Temperatura ideal 15 to 25 °CCompasso 10 to 20 cm in the row, 50 cm between rows, on a tall support
Sementeira
Sow straight into its final position two centimetres deep, or into a deep pot to transplant early, because the root is long and resents disturbance. The seed has a hard coat: soak it for twelve hours in warm water, or nick it lightly with sandpaper, before sowing. It germinates in ten to twenty days. It is a climber and reaches two metres: put netting, canes or wire in before or at sowing, because fitting the support later breaks the roots. In the south sow in autumn to flower in spring; in the north, at the end of winter. Note: the seeds and pods of this species are NOT edible and are toxic, unlike the garden pea. It is a garden flower, not a food legume.
Solo
It adapts to ordinary free draining soils at a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. Unlike most annual flowers it is a gross feeder: dig a trench thirty centimetres deep and fill it with compost or well rotted manure the previous autumn. If the soil is heavy, work in coarse sand or compost to improve drainage, because standing water in winter rots the roots.
Clima
It wants full sun, at least six hours a day, and temperatures between 15 °C and 25 °C. With less sun the plants go leggy and flower poorly. It takes light frost while young, which allows the autumn sowing in the south; it is summer heat that ends the cycle. On the Portuguese coast and in southern Spain use spring and autumn and avoid the peak of summer. Inland in Iberia water more through the dry months. In France and Germany the natural season is spring and summer, sowing once the soil has warmed steadily. In Italy the same rule applies as in the rest of the Mediterranean: spring and autumn in the centre and south, spring and summer in the north. At the height of summer flowering slows and the flowers come smaller: light shade over midday and regular watering keep the plant going.
Fertilização
It is the exception among annual flowers: it needs a lot. Enrich the soil with compost or rotted manure before sowing and, once it starts flowering, water with a liquid organic feed every fortnight. To push flowering, apply a potassium rich feed when the first buds appear.
Rega
Water regularly during establishment and moderately after that, letting the surface dry between waterings. Water at the base in the morning, because wet flowers rot and damp foliage brings powdery mildew.
Controlo de Infestantes
Hoe often and always shallowly, because the roots are short, near the surface and break easily. The best method is to prepare the bed two or three weeks in advance, let the first flush of weeds germinate, remove it and only then sow: that gives you a decisive head start. A thin layer of sieved compost between the rows greatly reduces later work.
Controlo de Pragas
Aphids gather on flower buds and soft tips and are the commonest pest: apply potassium soap and encourage ladybirds and hoverflies, which do most of the work. Slugs and snails destroy seedlings: protect with an ash barrier in the first weeks. Thrips and red spider mite appear in dry heat. Avoid spraying during flowering, so you do not harm pollinators.
Doenças
Powdery mildew covers the leaves with white bloom at the end of summer and is nearly unavoidable on crowded plants: space well and apply potassium bicarbonate at the first signs. Botrytis rots the flowers in damp weather and damping off kills seedlings in waterlogged sowings. Remove faded flowers and diseased leaves regularly.
Colheita
Cut the flowers early in the morning, as they are opening but not yet fully open, and put them straight into water. Deadhead regularly: as long as no seed forms, the plant keeps flowering, and that is the one rule that really matters for extending the display. Leave a few flowers to set seed at the end of the season if you want natural self-sowing. Allow about 140 to 150 days from sowing to the first harvest of this variety. The reference colour is multicoloured, and that is what tells you it is ready.
