Sweet pea seeds

For years I have soaked Sweet Peas for 24 hours before sowing , then Monty Don blows it all out of the water on GW last week by saying that he just plants them straight away ! Heretical ! However, I just had to give it a try today. As the sun is shining and the birds were singing, being outside was far more pleasant than it has been for the past couple of weeks.

It is the 4th planting I have made- yes, 4th ! The first was in the Autumn and that was eaten by slugs/ snails that had forced entry into my greenhouse. The second was earlier this Spring, and I planted 'Cupani', which I did soak for 24 hours, but the germination was a bit erratic, even though I used a propagator. However they are alive and flourishing.

As a xmas gift from a friend I was given some sweet pea seeds which were from the Alpujarras and I planted those at the same time as the Cupani. Germination was poor and I think the cultivar is much more used to Spanish temperatures as most have wasted away and died. I think I planted them far too early, so have made another sowing today. I do not know how these will turn out, so I am interested to see.I also sowed a T & M 'Ultimate Mix' which I have not grown before. I have used toilet roll innards for the first time, as I think they will give a nice long root run, and as the cardboard will disintegrate once planted, there will be little disturbance when planting out. Some seeds are planted individually in toilet roll innards, and others are planted in my usual way , 3 to a small pot.