SWEET PEAS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 620, 23 March 1929, Page 30

SWEET PEAS

FOR BEGINNERS Here are a few lines devoted to one or two important questions often asked by sweet pea beginners. Sweet pea culture is a comparatively easy and fascinating hobby. From time to time simple instructions will be offered through these columns. Can Sweet Peas be grown on the same plot year after year? —This is a question that is frequently asked. The answer is “Yes.” Sweet peas can be grown on the same site year after year if the soil is properly prepared each season. As the sweet pea gathers free nitrogen by means of Us nodules, and stores this in the surrounding soil. the plot becomes richer and richer in uitrogen each season, especially if nitrogenous manures (such as animal manure) be used in the trenches. A good dressing of lime should be given duriug the winter and the balance restored by using pliosphatic and potassic artificials. What are the Nodules on a Sweet Pea plant? —These are the little, knob-like formations on the roots of the plant. They are a sign of a healthy seedliug. * You will notice them in spring when you shake out your young plants. In these nodules the free nitrogen from the air is stored. You will see the same nodules on clover, lupins and all members of the pea family (legumes). Why is it an advantage to Trench for Sweet Peas? —Because the plant is deep-rooted. Look at a seedling at planting-out time. Measure the length of its root and compare it with the total length of the -whole plant. You will notice that the root is longer than the top growth. Unless the sweet pea has a deep and cool root run it cannot attain full height and retain its vigour throughout the growing season. Why is Animal Manure put in bottom of a Trench? —To maintain this cool root run, to provide a source of nourishment in the growling period and to give the plant a foundation or a kind of anchorage. How should the Animal Manure be Trenched? —lt should be well forked in. The bottom spit need not be taken out. Refuse from the vegetable plot, old cabbage stalks, soft surface weeds and decayed leaves can all be used in a similar manner.