Sweetpeas

My Sweetpea haven't done well at all. Not really that many flowers, foliage not green and healthy and they have been covered in greenfly. I have had a few pickings off them and the perfume from the ones I've picked have been glorious. I've loved them, watered them, fed them and this is how they repay me. Has anyone else had the same problem. Other years they have done so well. Still, there is always next year.

I share your experience- mine have behaved the same way you describe-  I've stopped bringing in cut blooms because of the greenfly.

I will still grow some for next year though, lovely flowers, great scent - I'll be doing my own trial on Autumn/Spring sowed Sweetpeas. The weather has been awful, this has an effect on everything but next year........

A little soap spray will sort the greenfly out, If you want to get rid of them that is.

I have to admit, my sweet peas have done really well with loads of flowers but they are starting to look quite manky and mildewed now. The greenfly have been in abundance though - my house is now full of them as they were hiding in the flowers I have been cutting!

Hi Leggi- What do you mean by soap spray?

HI Hollie Hock, a soap spray is just a small squirt of washing up liquid in to a spray bottle topped up with water. It will rid you of the greenfly and works on black fly too.

 Leggi- Does that really work?

Yes, I bought two Lupins home from a little shop a couple of months ago, potted them up and noticed they had greenfly on two of their stems. I used the soap spray and they went straight away (within a few hours you'll notice them turn from green little things to black specks).

I always use the spray now as it's such an easy way to get rid of them.

donutsmrs-mine didn't do well at all. October sown one's, went through the winter and were looking fab in the spring, best I'd ever grown but I had so much other stuff to plant out by mid spring they'd become a tangled mess. Untangled some, but they never really recovered and when the flower stems started to grow curly, as they were grown to cut I gave up, composted them and planted something else in their place.        

May sow them again in October for next year as I've some seeds left but the jury's still out on that one.

Hi, Hollie - I use garlic or seaweed spray (along with other stuff) to deter pests like slugs/snails, green/blackfly in the garden only because one year,to much detergent was put into a spray used, in an attempt to kill blackfly on a blossom tree, the tree nearly died, hence, soapy spays aren't used in Zoomers garden any more although washing up water is poured on the floor of the GH  

Yes, do be careful with how much soap you use, you really only need a little squirt. As a rough estimate I'd say no more than a teaspoon of washing up liquid to a pint of water. I've read that some people use old washing up water once they've finished the dishes.

Mine never got above 2 inches this year. They looked so good when they went in and then nothing. I wil try again next year ever the optomist

Is someone trying to tell to tell me something?

I took the trouble to open a thread in The potting Shed to help you peeps with sweet pea queries.....perhaps not a good idea, eh?

I don't think David that anyone is shunning you it is just that the design of this forum does not seem to lend itself to a dedicated thread unless it get constant questions/answers to keep it near the top of the page-new posters come on start a new thread without realising you have started one to help them because that is pages back.

What is the solution?

Totally agree, Geoff and I'm likewise sure no snub is/was intended. (note to oneself, use more smileys)

'What is the solution' - I think given the nature of the beast, perhaps random threads is the way to go, although given the time I spend reading these boards, probably I'll not notice many of them.

Hi everyone, thank you for your answers, David, I'm sorry I didn't know about your thread    Leggi, I have used soap spray and it hasn't shifted the little devils at all. Hollie-Hock, I too have given up bringing them into the house because of the greenfly and this time I am going to do Autumn sowings, these were spring sowings. Hopefully next year will be brilliant for sweetpeas. Thank you everyone.