If you don’t have the room to grow regular sweet peas or just fancy trying something a little different then you may have thought of growing sweet peas in hanging baskets. But is this even possible? And if it is, how do you grow sweet peas in hanging baskets? let’s have a look and find out.
Can you grow sweet peas in hanging baskets?
The short answer is yes you can. The long answer is a bit more complicated and it depends on the variety of sweet pea you grow.
You need to grow a dwarf sweet pea in hanging baskets, regular sweet peas are just way too big to grow in a hanging basket. Dwarf varieties can do really well in baskets and there are some varieties specifically bred to be grown in hanging baskets.
What varieties to grow
Obviously, it needs to be a dwarf sweet pea as I said earlier, but which dwarf variety, there are a lot out there. I love Sugar N Spice from Thompson and Morgan. This is a specially bred hanging basket plant.
It is full of pinks and purples and smells absolutely delicious.
How to grow sweet peas in hanging baskets
Soak your seeds before planting for 24-48 hours, I did a sweet pea sowing experiment and this came out as one of the best methods along with using a heated seed mat.
Plant in a root trainer if you have one and use high-quality compost, not seed compost for these sweet peas. This is because they are going to need as much nutrition as possible with them being packed into a hanging basket so we want to use good compost even now.
when your sweet peas have one or two pairs of leaves of them pinch out the growing tip. This will help promote bushier growth rather than vertical growth.
When your sweet peas have been pinched out and grown back to around 6″ then it is time to transplant them into a hanging basket.
I like to really pack them into my baskets as this is how you get the best display. In a 30cm basket, I can put 4 or even 5 plants.
Because they are so packed in you will need to feed them often once they have got going. They are going to be competing for nutrients so you want to provide plenty of food for them to gobble up.
You could also try growing your sweet peas in pots. Like hanging baskets, dwarf varieties will tend to do best in pots.
Sweetpea FAQ’s
Are sweet peas perennial?
No sweet peas are an annual plant, they will not come back year after year. Unless of course, you are talking about everlasting sweet peas which do come back every year but do not have the high scent of regular sweet peas.
Can you eat sweetpeas?
No, sweet peas are grown purely for their looks. Unlike many other legumes, they are actually toxic to humans if consumed.
Are sweet peas poisonous to pets?
Yes, as they are poisonous to humans they are also poisonous to pets, so make sure you keep an eye on your pets when they are hovering around sweet peas.
How high can sweet peas grow?
With the proper support, sweet peas can grow to 2m or even slightly above!
When do you grow sweet peas?
The traditional season for sweet peas is June and July but with the right care and attention, they can be both started earlier and grown later into the season. Regular deadheading of sweetpeas can massively prolong their flowering period.
How to germinate sweet peas?
I like to soak my sweet pea seeds in water for 24 hours before planting them in a seed tray. This soaking helps to break down the tough shell around the seed allowing them to germinate better.