How Often Should You Water A Sunflower Plant

Nothing says summer similar bright rows of vivid Helianthus flowers, unremarkably known of every bit sunflowers. Easy to abound, this N American native is a fun plant to add to your vegetable or bloom garden. Most people think of sunflowers equally the towering varieties filling fields in the prairie states. Nevertheless, many garden cultivars are designed to be compact and grown in a wide range of hardiness zones. You lot tin can choose sunflowers in many unlike colors featuring heights between 4 to 12 feet.

Oftentimes seen as a border institute to give elevation to the back of a blossom bed, sunflowers are multipurpose. They provide beauty to your garden and are a nutrient source for birds and squirrels. Cut them brings their sunny faces within for floral arrangements. Many sunflowers feature big, beautiful blooms and can be harvested for their tasty seeds or a rich sunflower oil. If you're wondering how to plant sunflowers and how to take care of sunflowers in your garden, await no farther. All yous need is a few simple tips to get the about out of your garden sunflowers.

How to Plant Sunflower Seeds
Growing & Caring for Sunflowers
Harvesting Sunflower Seeds
Types of Sunflowers
Mutual Questions Virtually Growing Sunflowers

How to Establish Sunflower Seeds

Planting sunflower seeds is a quick and like shooting fish in a barrel task. By taking the fourth dimension to choose the correct location and prepare the soil, you give these plants the strongest possible kickoff.

Cull a Sunny Spot

It nearly goes without maxim that sunflowers love the sun. Expect for a spot with enough of sun for these fast-growing annuals. Recall about what you'll plant around or nearly your sunflowers. Most sunflowers grow quite tall and may cast shade on other plants. The short growing season of between 70 to 100 days allows for planting throughout nigh gardening zones.

Ready the Soil

Well-draining soil is essential. If your soil is heavy, mix in upwardly to 4 inches of compost. Add together nutrients to soil with a complete fertilizer prior to planting. Mix your compost and fertilizer into the peak 6 inches of your garden bed. Slightly acidic soil with a pH between 6.0 and vii.five is ideal. A home soil test can assist you determine what your garden soil needs.

Time It Right

Choosing when to plant sunflower seeds requires a bit of waiting. Plant sunflowers in late leap, once the ground is nice and warm. Most sunflowers germinate when soil has reached 70 to 85 degrees F. The best time to institute sunflowers is just earlier the soil reaches this temperature. Look for a ground temp of betwixt lx to lxx degrees. For about areas, this volition be approximately three weeks afterward the last frost. Planting sunflowers indoors gives you lot a head start on the growing season. Merely tuck the seeds into peat pots around the fourth dimension of your terminal spring frost. They should be the right size for transplant once the soil is the advisable temperature.

Plant the Seeds

Different sunflowers require different planting depths and spacing. How to grow sunflowers from seed and how deep to plant sunflower seeds depends on your specific sunflower cultivar. In general, plant sunflower seeds at least 1/ii inch deep. Space seeds 6 inches apart. If planting in rows, yous'll desire 2 to 3 feet between each row. Plants should exist thinned out in a few weeks to the proper spacing. If soil temperatures are just correct, sunflower seedlings volition sprout up in 10 to 14 days.

Growing sunflower seeds requires space. To start sunflowers indoors, plant 3 seeds per each 3- to iv-inch peat pot. A soilless planting media will give yous the best drainage. Indoor germination usually happens in 6 to 10 days. You can enjoy continuous blooms through summer by planting seeds every couple of weeks. With consecutive plantings, you'll take beautiful sunflower blooms right up until the first frost of fall.

Give Plenty of Moisture

Because sunflower seeds contain large amounts of natural oil, they require a lot of water for germination. After planting, h2o the ground thoroughly. Keep the soil moist with frequent, light watering until germination occurs. If starting indoors, embrace your pots with clear plastic wrap to keep in moisture. Remove the plastic as soon every bit the seeds sprout.

Thin the Seedlings

Once the sunflower seedlings take their first ready of true leaves, thin the seedlings to the recommended row spacing for your variety. Small sunflowers may crave merely 6 inches between each plant, while large varieties might demand up to 3 anxiety. Closer spacings are possible for garden aesthetics, just crowded plants will produce smaller flowers.

Indoor sunflower seedlings should be reduced to one seedling per cup. Simply choose the strongest sunflower and pinch back the others.

Growing & Caring for Sunflowers

Learning how to abound sunflowers isn't difficult – they nigh abound themselves. And one time sunflowers brainstorm to abound, they grow quickly. Sunflower intendance merely requires a few basic growing tips.

Water

Although sunflowers require a lot of h2o to germinate, they only crave an inch of water per week during the growing season. Employ a watering nozzle to easily h2o one time a week until the superlative vi inches of soil is moist.

Fertilize

If you prepared your soil with compost and/or manure, you shouldn't demand extra fertilization during the growing season. If yous feel your plants require ameliorate nutrition, you can work a counterbalanced, slow-acting granular fertilizer into the soil surrounding your sunflowers. Sunflower fertilizers are available in a few garden centers, but a basic fertilizer is really all you need.

Control Weeds

Ane of the greatest sunflower challenges is weed command. Weeds compete with sunflowers for moisture and nutrition. Unless you desire to till, hoe or pull weeds by paw, you'll want to put downwardly a generous layer of mulch to fight weeds. Add together up to a 4-inch layer of organic mulch to your sunflower garden. Exit an surface area of bare soil effectually each sunflower stalk to assistance deter pests and disease.

Manage Pests and Disease

Although many pests love sunflower plants, the damage is usually minimal. In most cases, insecticides are not necessary unless damage is severe. Almost sunflowers rely heavily on insect pollinators, and so intendance should be taken to limit whatever use of insecticides during pollination. Some pests you may encounter are sunflower moths, cutworms, weevils, caterpillars, grasshoppers, wireworms and the sunflower maggot.

Disease is a large risk, just information technology mostly affects subcontract crops. New varieties of sunflowers have resistance to many diseases. One time disease occurs, the but option is to remove and destroy the affected plants. Verticillium wilt, sclerotinia rot, rust and featherlike mildew may occur. Your best prevention is proper constitute spacing in well-draining soil.

When growing seeds for harvest, birds can become an issue. Scarecrows, owl decoys and shiny metal pie plates tin help deter birds. Y'all can also found sure oil-rich cultivars, such as Blackness Peredovik, to keep birds away from your seed sunflowers.

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds

Harvesting sunflower seeds is the perfect way to relish both the dazzler of the flowers in your garden and their fragile seeds. Sunflowers produce a bounty of seeds that tin be added to breads, eaten on salads or even turned into a creamy nut-free sunflower butter. Growing a seed product variety will increase your harvest of edible sunflower seeds. Expect to harvest seeds approximately 30 days after pollination.

Crush the Birds

You've spent all this time learning how to grow sunflower seeds – don't let the birds eat your harvest! Begin checking for seed maturity in early fall. The seeds volition brainstorm to face towards the basis every bit the flower petals dry and fall out. In one case ready, just cut off seed heads with a generous amount of stem attached. Hang in a warm, dry identify away from rodents and insects.

Don't Rush Things

Look until the dorsum of the sunflower head turns brown before harvesting the seeds. Although you tin can choice out mature seeds earlier, the browning of the head allows for the easiest and quickest removal.

Comprehend the Sunflower Heads

Seeds naturally fall out of the flower heads every bit they dry out. To catch all the seeds you lot can, place netting or a paper sack with air holes over each head.

Remove the Seeds

In one case thoroughly dry, seeds are like shooting fish in a barrel to remove. Yous can take hold of a sunflower head in each hand and rub their faces together to dislodge the seeds. Or, you may be able to simply castor seeds out with your easily or a stiff brush.

Store for Flavor

To proceed sunflower seeds every bit fresh as possible, store in closed glass jars in the refrigerator. This keeps moisture levels depression. If storing exterior of the refrigerator, consider adding desiccant packages to blot excess moisture. Many people store raw seeds in cloth numberless in nighttime, dry out areas to encourage air circulation.

Growing Sunflowers 02

Types of Sunflowers

Sunflowers come up in a broad range of sizes and colors. Some of the about popular garden sunflowers include:

Mammoth – the behemothic of garden sunflowers. This heirloom institute grows upward to 12-feet alpine and features huge 12-inch wide blooms with arable seeds. Quick growth makes for a perfect hedge, screen or sunforest for children. Plant seeds ane-inch deep and space ii-feet apart for the best results.
Autumn Beauty – a vibrant option for blossom gardens. The bold flowers feature viii-inch wide blooms in bright yellowish, bronze and purple combinations. Growing up to 4-feet tall and featuring multiple branches, Autumn Beauty makes an fantabulous cut flower for floral arrangements. Too known equally the common sunflower, the plant has edible flower buds which are succulent when battered and fried. Seeds should exist planted 2-inches deep and spaced 18-inches apart.
Moulin Rouge – not your typical sunflower. The night blood-red petals only have a slight hint of yellow at their base, which is highlighted by an ebony heart. It'south a reliable bloomer and like shooting fish in a barrel to abound. Reaching just 4-feet tall, the dark blooms are just 4-inches broad. Moulin Rouge is an excellent cutting bloom because it is pollenless.
Teddy Bear – features fully double, fluffy flowers reaching up to half-dozen inches in diameter. Without the flat centre, the bright deep yellowish flowers wait like large powder puffs. This dwarf sunflower is ideal for borders and containers. Plant in groups of 3 to 4 seeds at a depth of ½ inch. Sparse to ane inch one time seedlings are three weeks sometime.

Common Questions About Growing Sunflowers

How much sun practise sunflowers need?

Sunflowers need full sun for the best growth. Although only vi hours of lord's day is required, the more sun a sunflower gets, the ameliorate the growth. If you crowd plants too closely together, the leaves will be starved for sunlight. This causes the institute to grow too quickly and produce weak stems every bit plants attain upward for more than light.

How fast do sunflowers abound?

Sunflowers grow quickly. Many can achieve up to 12 feet of growth in simply three months. With the proper growing conditions, sunflowers should reach maturity in 70 to 100 days after planting.

How long do sunflowers live?

Nigh sunflowers are annuals. They germinate in late spring, flower during the summertime and die back at the starting time frost of autumn. When considering how to grow a sunflower that lasts all summertime, the all-time plan is to plant your sunflowers every few weeks to extend bloom time.

Are sunflowers annuals or perennials?

While virtually varieties of this brilliant beauty are annual sunflowers, pregnant they will not come up back the post-obit growing season, they may self-germinate from dropped seeds if you exit the heads on the plants throughout the wintertime. The perennial Maximillian sunflower features small blooms in late summertime and early fall. It can exist grown every bit a perennial up to hardiness Zone iii.

Can you grow sunflowers in a pot?

Y'all can grow many small varieties of sunflowers in pots and containers. Dwarf sunflowers are perfect for growing in pots. Instead of featuring one sunflower on a single stem, dwarf varieties are bushy and may feature more than than 1 blossom per plant. The sunflowers grow upward to five inches in diameter on stalks up to iii feet tall. No demand to wonder about how to care for sunflowers in pots, this annual plant has the same needs for water, fertilization and sunlight in either gardens or containers.

Why do my sunflowers brainstorm to face the basis?

When sunflowers are young they exhibit heliotropism. This ways their flowering heads track the sun as it moves beyond the sky. Every bit the stalk matures and becomes woody, the tracking usually becomes less noticeable. The leaves may nonetheless follow the sun, only the flower will not. In many varieties, maturity causes the sunflower to face the basis, which reduces the risk of bird impairment.