SOWING SWEET PEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 125, 28 May 1932, Page 6 (Supplement)

SOWING SWEET PEAS.

One of the chief means to success in gardening is "doing a job at the right time." However, most of us have a "put it off" streak in our system, which, coupled with climatic and other conditions, results in many gardening jobs getting done St tho wrong time. Sweet peas sown earlier will be now making nice plants, but where the sowing was

not dono then and has been left till now it is best to sow the seeds in pots. Only a few pots will be required, and there is no elaborate structure needed. Tho pots should have some drainage material placed in the bottom and then filled with sandy soil, press it down fairly firm so that it stands within an inch from the top. Sow the seeds singly, allowing them an inch apart and cover with about half an inch of soil. Almost

any size pot can be used that may be handy, the number of seeds in each pot varying according to the size, but the most , convenient size is five-inch. These are deep enough to give the seedlings plenty of root room till they are planted out. The pots can be stood outside on a verandah in a frame pr any convenient place. If stood outside do not stand

direct on 6oil, a board, slates, brick, or bed of scoria should be placed under the pots to prevent worms from getting in and also to give free drainage. Dust horticultural naphthalene between the pots. This will keep off slugs, woodlice, etc. Do not overwater, but do not allow the plants to get dry. They can be shaken out of the pots and planted in spring as soon as the weather gets warmer.