STEP BY STEP How to sow sweet peas

Sow sweet peas now to have fowers for picking by early summer. Sweet pea seedlings have long roots and develop best in long pots, so rather than using plastic pots, collect some cardboard inners.

Kitchen roll inners are the strongest but need to be cut in half. When you’ve finished, cover the sowings with polythene or a lidded propagator and keep them in a well-lit place at a temperature of about 15°C.

1 SOAK seeds in tepid water in a clean container or on wet kitchen paper. Leave them until you see the seeds swell, which could be several hours or overnight.

2 STAND the cardboard inners upright and against each other in a seed tray. Use some garden twine to tie them together to make them more stable.

3 FILL each roll to the top with moistened, fresh, peat-free multi-purpose compost, firming each one down evenly with your fingers to remove any air gaps.

4 SOW one seed per roll by pressing it about 1cm deep into the compost using the tips of your thumb and forefinger to protect it from damage.