Sweet peas are the dream plants for every house gardener and truly for the right reasons. Taking care of them is not that difficult and they entail an aesthetic appeal to the beauty of your garden.
However, one can become really puzzled when trying to grow sweet peas. And this confusion can arise from questions like do sweet pea plants come back every year.
Generally speaking, it is a valid question to ask. One invests a lot of resources to grow the right kind of sweet peas and it only makes sense to be sure that the sweet peas would grow with the same enthusiasm in the next season.
We understand how difficult and overwhelming it can be, and that is why we have brought to you the ultimate guide that tells you about all the know-hows of sweet peas, how they are grown and what you should do to nurture them.
Further, you will also get to know everything about the planting, caring, and growing methods of the plant. So, without any further ado, dive into the journey about sweet peas.
Do Sweet Peas Come Back Every Year?
Sweet peas make use of a setting seed to grow from each year and they terminate their lives when the seed dies after a year. This is one of the unique properties that are only specific to sweet peas and make them different from other perennial plants.
Sweet peas usually demand greater amounts of nitrogen to grow back the next year. While it is true that they generally require a fertilizer that is significantly high in the content of potassium, the property of sweet peas to fix nitrogen in the soil, thus making it more available, makes it vulnerable to this macronutrient.
Sweet pea plants are one of those rewarding plants that allow you to enjoy the harvest any time you want if you’re growing in your garden successfully. So, do not hesitate in planting sweet peas for you can enjoy the harvest every year.
So, even though it is possible to grow sweet peas year after year, you should not expect to yield high quality plants each year. With time, you’ll find yourself choosing amongst 5 out of 100. An additional problem is the gradual loss of fragrance from the plants.
Also Read: How Long Do Sweet Peas Take to Germinate?
How to Take Care of Sweet Peas?
Sweet Peas are better known by the name of Lathyrusodoratus and are considered one of the most beautiful yields that can once grow in their gardens. However, this beauty comes only after enough resources have been invested in the growth.
Taking care of sweet peas requires you to know about certain important aspects about how they will reap and be productive. Here are some of the most important, easy, and effective ways that you can adopt in your daily sweet pea care to see magical results.
Sunlight
Contrary to popular belief, sweet peas require a lot of sunlight to grow to their fullest potentials. In fact, they thrive under optimal sunlight. This can be estimated to be around eight hours per day as a minimum amount and the range can vary up to at least twelve hours. If you cannot arrange for 12 hours of direct sunlight exposure to your plants, then make facilities for artificial light and you will be good to go.
However, an additional thing that needs to be remembered when exposing your plant to sunlight is to keep a shady environment readily available for your plant so that it can be protected from long hours of sun exposure if it is needed. If your leaves start turning brown or yellow, then it is time to realize that you might be giving extra light to your sweet pea plant.
Soil conditions
Organic and nutrient rich soil is the preferred soil habitats for sweet pea plants and they do not settle for anything less than this. Although, they do have an additional soil prerequisite to grow to their maximum capacity and that is the soil should be well-drained and should have the ability to retain maximum moisture from the plant.
If you cannot find an organic and natural soil mix for growing your sweet pea plants, you can add some compost made of natural decomposed materials to your soil as it helps in significantly improving the nutrient profile of your soil. Further, you can also add some mulch to your soil to increase its water retention ability.
When choosing the ideal soil condition for your plant, it is also important to mark your inclination towards a soil type that is slightly alkaline in nature. Go and find for soil mixes that have a pH of 7.5 or slightly more than that, and replace your currently present soil with this. You will see results in just 30 days of time.
Also Read: How Far Apart Do You Plant Sweet Potatoes?
Watering techniques
Some people are of the belief that it is not so hard to water the sweet pea plants and this precisely needs them to ignore the growth needs of their plants.
In fact, sweet peas present one of the most complicated watering needs and if one does not have either enough knowledge or experience for it, they can end up disrupting the progress cycle of their plant. To avoid this, read up a few tips we have to offer on this subject below.
As the growing season begins, the watering needs of your sweet pea plants increases to that of two or three times during each week. That is, they expect you to keep them moist and warm throughout the growing season.
This should not be mistaken for soil conditions that are too soggy that it leads the plants to develop root rot, thus restricting the growth. Instead, to keep them moderately and routinely moist, but without overdoing it, do the traditional finger test.
To perform the finger test, gently insert your finger inside the soil bed and see if the soil is wet or arid. If it is dry, water it carefully, but if it is already wet, do not keep sprinkling water on it and try to reassess the plant situation in another two to three days.
Also Read: How Often to Water Broccoli?
Temperature and Humidity
Now that we know that the sweet pea plants thrive in sunlight and require a lot of water to grow during their dormant season, it only seems a plausible explanation to conclude that sweet peas love and possibly thrive during warmer climates and higher temperatures. Both logically and factually speaking, this plausible explanation is actually true.
Sweet Peas are a native of the mediterranean region and they absolutely love to be placed in the warmer temperatures and rarely do their best in those frost chills. If you are considering the best time to plant your sweet peas and get the est out of them, the time that has passed just after the frost would be the best and will consider the most productive sweet pea yield.
If you follow the USDA zones, then zone 3-8 would go best according to your preferences. They are pretty, comfortable, and the most enriching and stimulating conditions for your sweet pea plants.
However, remember that the seedlings of the sweet pea can tolerate a little frost and do not like extremely hot weather conditions. They tend to suppress their growth and react negatively when exposed to too much heat or conditions of abnormal humidity.
Fertilizer
Like any other plant, your sweet pea plant also needs fertilizing from time to time to supplement its growth process by means of providing enough nutrients, both macro and micro in the profile. Again, the growing season is considered the most appropriate time and that is exactly when you should fertilize your plant with ample amounts. It is best to regularly feed it and maintain a steady composition
It is important to remember that the proportion of nitrogen, potassium, and sodium, should be kept even and be balanced throughout the fertilization feeding or the plant would not be able to tolerate the conditions of such high concentration of any one nutrient, resulting in sudden plant death.
Check this out: Why Are Eggshells Good for Pepper Plants?
Pruning
You can also increase the branching of your sweet pea plants by introducing the technique of pruning to your garden. This technique helps in production of more flowering stems and is one of most widely adopted measures to support plant growth. To do this, pinch the tip of the plant backwards by one inch and release it when the plant has reached at least four inches in height.
Conclusion
As seen earlier, sweet peas are the most vulnerable and easily grown plants that one can grow in their house garden. And now we know that if they are given proper care, then they can also be regrown.
So, the next time you are in doubt about growing sweet peas in your garden, open our guide and apply these easy tricks to get the best yield. If you have any doubts about sweet peas or growing similar plant varieties, check out our blogs and you’ll get the solution. Happy gardening!