Sweet peas- frost?

[beccahamlet]

I've got some sweet peas which I've grown from seed. Is it too early to put them outside? They're growing fast and will need support soon. South of England.

Bit early, even in the South East. Wait a month.

I kept reading that they could be put out here in Vancouver. So I planted my seedlings out this past Sunday. Sadly, just in time for a huge windstorm off the Pacific and dropping temperatures. There was frost. In addition to the wind and cold, our hummingbird feeder blew over and landed in the pot, breaking most of them.

I have been nursing them and am hoping they survive and sprout from the stems, but I have also ordered more seed.

I think the advice to wait is very good.

Pinch out the tops and put sticks in the pots if you haven't already.

Thanks all. I didn't know about pinching out the tops. Does that stop them growing up?

Pinching out the tops does two things:

1. it stops the plant growing straight up, and encourages side shoots for a bushier plant with more flowers.
2. because you are physically reducing it's size it combats leggy-ness which most sweet peas will naturally be if left.

This also makes them more manageable if you are keeping them inside!

Great . Thanks so much for the advice folks. I 'll go and do it now!

Monty planted out his sweet peas this week on Gardeners World! I was pleased to see this because I rashly planted mine out during the warm weather last week.