They look like wild orchids and smell wonderful: the sweet peas. Read here how to properly plant and care for these beautiful flowers.
When every year in the summer months the garden air is filled with the scent of sweet peas (hence the name sweet peas), every gardener's heart is happy. Especially since the sweet peas are available in a wide variety of growth heights and in a variety of colors (white, red, violet and pink, sometimes even multicolored). And you can even get hold of small vetches here, which are also suitable for planting in balcony boxes and tubs.
In order to be able to enjoy the appearance and the smell of the vetch at any time, you have to plant and care for it properly. We'll explain how to do it here.
Planting sweet peas correctly
Prefer seeds:
Vetches are grown from seed, which you can harvest from the flowers themselves in late summer. Already in early spring (from around March) the small plants can be grown from these seeds on the window sill. All you have to do is stick individual seeds about 5 centimeters deep into the potting soil and care for them on the windowsill. It is best to soak the seeds in lukewarm water overnight. This makes the cultivation even better.
Direct sowing outdoors:
You can also sow vetch seeds outdoors from April, although you should then enrich the soil with sufficient compost. Vetches are among the frost-hardy plants, which is why they can be planted outdoors before the ice saints. And you can also easily move the plants grown on the window sill outdoors from a growth height of 10 centimeters.
Select location:
Vetches all love a moderately sunny to partially shaded location so that their flowers can develop fully. Preference is given to humus-rich, slightly calcareous soils, which clearly influence the growth of the vetch.
And because tall vetches can climb up to 2 meters high, you should support the plants. For example, trellises or trellises provide more support.
Care for vetch
Watering/fertilizing:
The sweet peas, which bloom from June to September, always need sufficient irrigation water so that they can thrive optimally. And you shouldn't skimp on repeated fertilizer applications either, because this is the only way to achieve rich flowering.
Promote flowering:
The vetch is also ideal as a cut flower. On top of that, if you always quickly remove dead stems, you will be rewarded with a double bloom.