Hi, I have just moved into a new house and the sweet peas have now stopped flowering. They are standing around 3 feet high and I'm not sure if I need to pull the entire plant out, or cut them down.

Any advice would be great..

Thanks

Ruby

If they are sweet peas (ie scented), they won't over-winter. So pull them out (they come out easily) for tidiness, which is quicker than cutting.

There is a slight chance that they are perennial peas, which are not scented, and tend to be uniformly either light or dark pink, and tend to be a larger plant. If this is the case, then cut them, and they'll grow up again next year.

In both cases you are just doing it for tidiness - the plant won't mind if you don't bother.

Just noticed you said 3ft high - perennial peas would be taller than that, provided they had something to climb up.

Sacha wrote:
Really, you need to know if you have the annual or perennial sweet
peas. Annuals would be looking a bit tatty by now, may have a bit of
mildew, whereas (here at least) the leaves of the perennials ones are
still quite fresh looking and green. If in doubt, take a photo and put
it on something like Photobucket and post the link to it.

You say that, Sacha, but my annual sweet peas have just put in another huge
growth spurt! I have new branches of leaves all over the show! It's been a
/really/ funny year this year.

Janet wrote:
Annual or perennial is irrelevant as both die back in winter, so cut
them off at ground level and compost the topgrowth.
Pea/bean roots are best left in the ground because they
have fixed small nodules of nitrogen.

I've always wondered about this nitrogen fixing business. (And I hadn't
realised it applied to peas as well as beans)

Does the root /have/ to be left in, or does it work if you take most of it
out and just leave 'bits' in? Does it help the compost if you compost it?
And what's a beneficial recipient of post-bean sowing? (I've always assumed
beans then brassicas, but I rarely get to test my plans out, as things tend
to get planted in the 'whatever spot is available' location)

On Oct 29, 7:11*pm, wrote:
Janet wrote:
* Annual or perennial *is irrelevant as both die back in winter, so *cut
them off at ground level and compost the topgrowth.
*Pea/bean roots are best left in the ground because they
have fixed small nodules of nitrogen.

I've always wondered about this nitrogen fixing business. *(And I hadn't
realised it applied to peas as well as beans)

Does the root /have/ to be left in, or does it work if you take most of it
out and just leave 'bits' in? *Does it help the compost if you compost it?
And what's a beneficial recipient of post-bean sowing? *(I've always assumed
beans then brassicas, but I rarely get to test my plans out, as things tend
to get planted in the 'whatever spot is available' location)

I always find it strange that the frost will kill mature sweet pea
plants but you can sow the seed in the Autumn and the young seedlings
will survive the winter.

Janet wrote:
I've always wondered about this nitrogen fixing business. (And I hadn't
realised it applied to peas as well as beans)
almost all legumes do it. If you lift a root and shake off the soil you
can see the small white blobs.

I did wonder if it was them.

Does the root /have/ to be left in, or does it work if you take most of it
out and just leave 'bits' in? Does it help the compost if you compost it?
Why take any of the root out of the soil, when all of it will directly
benefit the next crop? Apart from the nodules, the rest of the root will
decomposed into humus

Why? Because if I'm yanking a bunch of bean plants out to throw in the
compost, they often come out with the root. If I want to leave the root in,
that takes the extra effort of going along and chopping them all. It's
just a laziness thing, really.

And what's a beneficial recipient of post-bean sowing? (I've always
assumed
beans then brassicas, but I rarely get to test my plans out, as things tend
to get planted in the 'whatever spot is available' location)
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/...e.aspx?PID=124

So "yes, brassicas are the right things to do next", then? :-P

Thank you. Useful link, I suspect I've seen it before, or at least the
info, and that's where the idea got stuck to do brassicas after beans.

Oh wow, thank you so much for all your advice .

Ruby

On 29/10/2011 22:08, Dave Hill wrote:
On Oct 29, 7:11 wrote:
wrote:
Annual or perennial is irrelevant as both die back in winter, so cut
them off at ground level and compost the topgrowth.
Pea/bean roots are best left in the ground because they
have fixed small nodules of nitrogen.

I've always wondered about this nitrogen fixing business. (And I hadn't
realised it applied to peas as well as beans)

Does the root /have/ to be left in, or does it work if you take most of it
out and just leave 'bits' in? Does it help the compost if you compost it?
And what's a beneficial recipient of post-bean sowing? (I've always assumed
beans then brassicas, but I rarely get to test my plans out, as things tend
to get planted in the 'whatever spot is available' location)

I always find it strange that the frost will kill mature sweet pea
plants but you can sow the seed in the Autumn and the young seedlings
will survive the winter.

I always thought the seedlings needed a cold frame (or in my case a
sandwich bag hanging on a hook).

In article ,
Janet writes
I've always wondered about this nitrogen fixing business. (And I hadn't
realised it applied to peas as well as beans)

almost all legumes do it. If you lift a root and shake off the soil you
can see the small white blobs.


I believe there's new thinking Janet, that the nodules are not as has
always been thought, helpful to other plants. Can't remember where I
heard it, might have been a lecture or in a gardening magazine.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk