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Sunflowers

Sunflowers
Introduction
Mr. John Doe

Head Director

Description

Description: The annual Sunflower can grow anywhere from two to fifteen feet tall depending on the variety, and their seeds can be harvested as food. They grow on a hairy, sturdy, upright stem and can hold a single flower or be branched with multiple flowers. Rough, hairy, oval to triangular leaves grow along the stem. Sunflowers face to the direction of the sun’s movement so consider this when planting. To grow sunflowers from last year’s crops (unless the variety you bought was a hybrid) the Heirloom varieties are best for saving seeds which can then be planted as normal.
Optimal Time/Temperature for Germination:
Sunflowers do not like cold weather so avoid frosts. Climates with long hot summers are perfect for growing sunflowers. Plant sunflower seeds at the beginning of summer after the soil has completely warmed. This usually occurs between mid-April and late May. Hardiness zones are 2 to 11.
Optimal Soil Conditions:
Find a plot with full sun and sheltered from the wind. Plant sunflower seeds along a fence, the side of a house, or behind a row of sturdy trees. If possible, plant your sunflowers on the north side of your garden. This prevents the large sunflower stalks from shading other plants in your garden. Sunflowers prefer a slightly acidic to somewhat alkaline soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. However, sunflowers are relatively resilient and can grow in most types of soil so that is not too much of a problem for sunflowers. Well-drained soil with lots of peat, compost, or manure will help them to grow tall and strong. You want the soil to be loose and light when sowing your sunflower seeds. If your soil is low in nutrients or drains poorly, mix in three to four inches of compost.
Seed Planting Depth, Spacing and Procedure:
Sprouting them before planting might improve your chances of keeping them alive. Mist several paper towels in water with a bit of plant food mixed in. The towels should be wet but not soaked and difficult to handle. Place a couple of seeds in the towel with space between them and fold the paper towel up so that they are covered. Give the paper towel a few more drops of water and place it in a resealable plastic bag. Seal it most of the way, with just a small, ~1″ gap at the center. Set the bag in the sunlight and give the seeds time to germinate and then plant so birds may not fly off with the planted seeds. Though sunflowers are extremely resilient, the one thing that can harm them is flooded soil. Be sure that your plot has proper drainage, or opt to build a simple planter box instead. If necessary, build a raised garden box out of cedar boards, which come in 8-foot lengths. Cedar is a good choice for a garden bed because it won’t rot when exposed to water. Dig one-inch deep holes, spaced six to 18 inches (45.7 cm) apart, depending on the varietal size. You can simply use your hands to dig these small holes. If planting in rows, make sure to allow about 30 inches (76.2 cm) of soil between each row. Sunflowers need a lot of space to grow healthily. For large sunflower types, allow 18 inches (45.7 cm) of space between seeds. For medium-sized sunflower types, allow 12 inches (30.5 cm) of space between seeds. Place a few seeds in each hole and cover with soil. You can stagger your planting over a few weeks to experience blooms at different times throughout the summer. Since sunflowers are annuals, meaning they flower once per year, staggering your seeds will allow you to enjoy blooms over a longer time. It is best to leave sunflowers where you plant them. Transplanting does not work well with sunflowers. It is better to plant fewer sunflowers if you don’t have much room because the more they are forced to compete for nutrients, the less strong each plant will be.
Best Companion Plants and Plants that Hinder:
Good companion plants are tomato, cucumber, onion, pepper, garlic, shallots, chives, cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, lettuce, peas, lavender, mint, rosemary and basil. Bad companion plants are potato, corn, fennel, hyssop, pumpkin, melons, and zucchini.

Growing Instructions

Crop Maintenance

Moisture Requirements & Solutions:
Water thoroughly after planting and fertilizing. Make sure you wet the soil, but do not drench or flood the seeds. Water the plants thoroughly once or twice a week. Sunflowers have deep roots and prefer infrequent, heavy watering to frequent, shallow watering. Adjust your watering routine on particularly hot or cloudy weeks. Your sunflowers should bloom in mid to late summer, between two and three months after planting. If your sunflowers are drooping and the soil is dry, that’s often a sign they need more water.
Weeding Needs & Solutions:
Keep the area around the sunflowers weed-free, and do not use chemicals or sow grass seeds near them. Once the seedlings are tall enough to mulch without breaking them, cover the soil with a layer of seed-free straw or other mulch to retain moisture and prevent weed growth. Top up the mulch after heavy rain. If you’re growing sunflowers as a seed crop or to display in flower shows, mulch with 1.5 inches (4 cm) of well-rotted manure or compost once the plants are 20 in. (0.5 m) tall.
Feeding Needs/Optimal Natural Fertilizers:
Mix a thin layer of fertilizer after planting the seeds. Choose an organic fertilizer when possible and spread it over the seeding area to promote strong stalks.
Pests, Diseases & Solutions:
Though relatively free of insect susceptibility, a small gray moth may lay eggs in the sunflower face. Simply pick out the small worms to remove them. Sunflowers also can contract mildew and rust. If either of these issues occurs, spray your flowers with a natural fungicide. To avoid such diseases, provide adequate air circulation around your plants. Deer and birds love sunflower plants and squirrels may take off with planted seeds. Birds may peck at the seeds right after they are sown. Place netting over the seeding area for prevention. Later on, if you have birds picking the seeds out, place poly spun garden fleece over the sunflower heads to prevent that. Also, perhaps netting can prevent animals from eating them or even build a nice, painted wooden fence with a gate around the bed, then attach chicken wire or wire fencing to the inside of the wooden fence. You will have a beautiful sunflower patch with a beautiful fence protecting it. Apply a hot seed spray to your sunflower. These sprays are non-toxic and can keep the squirrels from eating the sunflower seeds or you can sprinkle cayenne pepper directly onto the blooms.
Sunflowers typically will reach their flowering maturity around 80 to 120 days after the seeds germinate. If you want edible seeds, cut the flower heads off when they begin to droop, or when the back of the head begins to turn yellow. Hang them upside-down by the stem in a dry, breezy place and cover with cheesecloth or a paper bag to catch seeds as they fall out.
When to Harvest/Number of days to maturity:
The only sure way to tell whether the seeds are ready to harvest is to pull a few out and open them. If the seed kernels inside the shell are plump, they’re ready for harvesting.
How to Harvest:
To enjoy the flowers in a vase, cut the stalk at an angle in the morning before the flower fully opens. Change the water in the vase every other day to keep the flowers looking fresh. For delicious roasted seeds, soak overnight in water and salt. Then drain and place on a baking sheet. Roast in a low-heat oven (between 200°F and 250°F / 90 to 120oC) until slightly browned.
Optimal Storage temperature and conditions:
To make sprouts – gather some raw, unsalted, hulled sunflower seeds. Hulled sunflower seeds (those without shells) will sprout more quickly. Gather unhulled sunflower seeds, collect these in a bowl and allow them to soak overnight. In the morning, toss the seeds then pour them into a strainer. Try to pick out hulls as you go. Do not worry if some hulls remain. Place the sunflower seeds in a large, open-mouth jar such as a canning jar or something slightly larger. Fill the jar with water so that the seeds float on top. During this period, the seeds should begin to sprout. Wait until the seeds have nearly doubled in size and the sprout has begun to emerge. When sprouting sunflower seeds, always periodically check them so that you do not allow them to soak for too long. Rinse and return them to the jar. Make sure to cover the jar again. Let them sit in the jar, in a warm or room temperature location with no direct sunlight, for one to three days until they’ve finished sprouting. Rinse them and return them to the jar one or two times a day until they are done. When they’ve started to sprout and look like little V’s, they’re ready to eat. Rinse the sprouts you plan to eat and store the remaining sprouts in your refrigerator to enjoy later.
Optimal Preserving Procedures:
Seed Saving:
If a sunflower plant drops seeds, they can grow on their own the next year. If it is an heirloom variety and not cross-pollinated with a different variety, they will retain all of the characteristics of the mother plant. Or you may end up with a hybrid, which can be interesting but may not produce seeds that you would want to snack on. Sunflowers can be propagated by taking cuttings and rooting them, but the easier method is simply to collect some of the seeds and store them in a dry, cool location until spring planting time.

Harvest and Storage

Notes

If you live in a windy area or your stalks lack strength, consider staking the plants with wood or bamboo stakes to support the weight of the plant. To fix a broken sunflower snapped at the base, if the damage is not too severe, use velcro tape and wrap the damaged parts together so they’re snug but not too tight. Remember to take it off once it has healed or you might strangle the plant. Some popular varieties, large and small are: Mammoth – can reach a height of 9 to 12 feet (2.7 to 3.7 meters). Autumn Beauty – variety produces large flowers that grow up to six inches in diameter. Bronze and mahogany flowers on large stalks that can reach seven feet. Sunbeam – medium sized variety at about five feet tall and produces flowers about five inches in diameter. Sunbeam flower petals are long and asymmetrical, and the flower center is often yellow. Teddy Bear – miniature variety caps out at three feet tall.

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