YOUR QUESTIONS

I’M GROWING sweet peas for the first time and want to achieve high quality blooms. How do I train them for that?

G. Simms, Oxfordshire. GROW them as cordons. Line out your plants 30cm apart and train each up a single, tall cane.

Begin by tying the strongest stem of each seedling gently to the cane. Remove all other shoots. As each stem extends, remove the tendrils without harming the leaves and pinch out any side-shoots. Keep each stem secured to its cane using jute string or re-usable metal sweet-pea rings. Rings are available from crocus.co.uk and other suppliers. Pick the flowers as soon as they open. Never allow blooms to mature or run to seed on the plants. Don’t worry if the leaves become over-sized, as that’s normal for cordon sweet peas.