How to Grow Sweet Peas Indoors

Growing your own sweet pea seedlings from seed offers you more flexibility and control over your gardening tasks. You have the opportunity to choose your favorite varieties to grow, grow the number of plants that you need, work within the planting dates that suit your growing area, and eliminate the problems of wind damage, insects, other pests such as slugs, and other plant diseases that can thrive in your garden soil. Here are my tips on how to grow sweet peas indoors.

How to Grow Sweet Peas Indoors

To get your sweet peas off to a good start and won’t have to worry about birds and rotting seeds, you can grow your sweet peas indoors. By doing this, you will be sure that the seeds won’t rot before they sprout under the soil, resulting in a successful plant that will fill your garden with delicious scent.

. Sprouting the Seeds.

With only a few simple tasks you can germinate your sweet pea seeds, and in a week or two you can easily transplant them in the garden with no problems at all!

There are several different ways you can sprout seeds, but this is my best and simple method with a very good success. 

You will need:

. Good Sweet Pea seeds

. A Plastic Container with cover

. A sieve 

What to do:

• Soak the seeds for 48 hours in the container.
• The day after, rinse thoroughly in a sieve.
• Put back the seeds in the container and cover.
• Watch them sprout after few days!

. Planting Sprouted Sweet Pea Seeds.

• Fill your plastic pots to the half with seed starting potting mix, simply drop three sprouted seeds in every pot and gently cover to the top. Use a spray to water smoothly. The soil should stay constantly moist, but not soggy. 

• Make sure your pots are clean, and have drainage holes.

• Your sweet peas will emerge in three or four days. By this way you will have a very good start and won't have to worry about birds and rotting seeds. 

• Just remember that if your seed starting potting mix is moised, there's no need to water, your peas will emerge, and after you can water them. Always label your pots so you know what's growing!

. Thinning Seedlings.

• Thinning seedlings ensures that plants have plenty of room to grow. Seedlings that are growing too close together will eventually end up competing with each other. This means that, as the seedlings grow into mature plants, their growth will be stunted. The sooner you thin your seedlings is the better, so plan to thin out seedlings once they get a few sets of their true leaves, but not more than 3–4 sets.

• As the seedlings need more space.  Thinning is necessary when seedlings are growing in a tight group, or there's more than one seedling growing in the seedling pot.
• Thin the seedlings by keeping the ones that look healthy and strong, and snip the rest, so there's just one plant per pot. Do not pull them out as this can disturb the roots of the remaining seedling. 

• Once you’re done thinning your seedlings, fertilize the little plants with an organic fertilizer to give them an extra boost. You should use a good quality compost fertilizer on seedlings, which you can get in liquid form or buy compost tea.

• Provide the seedlings a good source of light. You can place them by a window as long as they will not experience extreme heat from the sun during the day. When your seedlings have 3 pairs of leaves, pinch off the top of the seedlings, leaving 2–3 pairs of leaves, make your cut just above a pair of leaves. This will give you a fuller sweet pea plant by promoting lateral branching.

. Harden off the seedlings.

In order to give your sweet peas seedlings the best chance of success, it is best to "harden them off" prior to leaving them outside full time. About 7 days before planting your seedlings outdoors, help acclimate them to temperatures, sunlight, and wind. This is the process of hardening off, or gradually acclimating your new plants to outdoor conditions. These plants have spent their short lives in a warm, sunny, protected place and won't fare well if you don't expose them slowly to the elements. Before you intend to plant, put your transplants outdoors in an area where they'll be protected from the direct sunlight and wind. Leave them out for a few hours and bring them back inside. Repeat this each day, gradually increasing the amount of time they're outside and the degree of exposure to sun and wind.  Gradual exposure helps your new plants toughen up and reduces the possibility of injury. With proper hardening off, they’ll have an easier transition to the garden and begin producing sooner. 

Sweet Peas sown directly in the soil can be eaten by slugs, snails and mice. For better results, grow them indoors in individual pots, and give them a safe start. Growing them indoors and transplanting strong and healthy seedlings in your garden, resulting in successful plants with bright, fragrant flowers magnificent for cutting!

Watch How to Grow sweet Peas Indoors Video

Please let us know your thoughts, experiences, or questions in the comments below. If you like this, you can share with your friends! 

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