How to Preserve Sweet Pea Seeds: A Step-by-Step Guide for Gardeners

Saving your own sweet pea seeds is simple, sustainable, and deeply satisfying. It lets you keep favorite varieties, share them with friends, and ensure next year’s garden blooms with the same colors and fragrance you love.

1. Choose Healthy Plants

Select plants that produced strong growth and richly scented blooms. Avoid any that showed disease or weak stems — their seed may carry the same traits.

2. Let Pods Mature Fully

After flowering, leave a few pods on the vine to dry. They’re ready when they turn brown and brittle and you can hear the seeds rattle inside.

3. Harvest Carefully

Snip mature pods with scissors or pruners before they burst open. Collect them into a paper bag or basket — avoid plastic, which traps moisture.

4. Remove and Clean the Seeds

Open pods over a tray and free the seeds. Choose firm, round seeds without blemishes. Discard any shriveled or split ones.

5. Dry Thoroughly

Spread the seeds in a single layer on a paper plate or mesh screen in a cool, airy place for about a week. Proper drying prevents mold in storage.

6. Store for Next Season

Once dry, place the seeds in labeled envelopes or small glass jars. Store them in a cool, dark, dry place — a cupboard or sealed tin works well. Properly dried seeds remain viable for two to three years.

Tips from Sweet Pea Gardens

• Sweet peas rarely cross-pollinate, so saved seed generally stays true to variety.
• Avoid freezing; steady, cool conditions (around 50 °F / 10 °C) are ideal.
• Include silica gel or dry rice grains in jars to absorb residual moisture.

Ready to Grow Again?

• How to Grow Sweet Pea Seeds — eBook
• When to Start Sweet Pea Seeds — Interactive Zone Tool

Written by Georgina Wee, founder of Sweet Pea Gardens — growers of rare and heirloom sweet pea seed in southwest Washington since 2018.