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Home and Garden > Gardening > Flowers on April 10, 2012

Growing Sunflowers

Growing SunflowersSunflowers are beautiful, easy to grow, and attract many kinds of birds to the garden. This is a guide about growing sunflowers.
     

Solutions: Growing Sunflowers

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Tips for Growing Sunflowers

Sunflower Tips for growing sunflowers from the ThriftyFun community.

Basics For Sunflowers

Here are some basics on growing sunflowers:
  1. Plant them in full sun.

  2. Plant seeds 1 inch deep and 6 inches apart (or according to package directions). Water well after planting.

  3. Seedlings usually germinate within a week or two and take 80-90 days to reach maturity.

  4. For taller plants that flower earlier, start them in 4 inch peat pots indoors.

  5. Seedlings are usually thinned to 12-18 inches apart, but can be plants more closely together in containers.

  6. Russian Giants, Kong and Mammoth varieties grow as tall as 15 feet and have flower heads as large as 20" in diameter. You'll need a pot at least 15" inches deep and 15" in diameter (or larger) to grow these giants.

  7. Sunflower roots grow deep and spread wide so make sure you use a large enough container.

  8. Tall plants may need staking.

  9. Keep the soil in your containers moist and fertilize them with a 1/2 strength organic liquid fertilizer every two weeks.

  10. Sunflowers need lots of water (plants 6 feet tall can consume 8 gallons per week), but over-watering them can cause deformed seed heads. Use well-drained soil and keep the soil in your containers evenly moist. Water seedling deeply once per week for the first month so they develop deep roots. After that, water your sunflowers lightly every day.

Good Luck!

Ellen

Soak The Seeds

Try soaking the sunflower seeds in warm water the night before you plant them.

Remove Wilting Foilage

It helps also to take off any foliage that is wilting or being eaten by bugs. Of course deadhead those plants to get blooms throughout fall!

By Wendola

Coffee Grounds

My nanny used to fertilize hers with some old coffee grounds once every couple of weeks and they grew and bloomed beautifully! Just sprinkle the grounds around the base of the plant and water.

By Michelle

Sunflowers Need...

Lots of sunshine and water!

By Frugalelf

Grow From Seed

Sunflower are super easy to grow. In Canada, it is cold most of the year, I plant the sunflower seeds in my garden the end of May. By the end of August, my heads are mature and ready for drying, for eating or feeding the birds. I would not buy a mature plant. The beautiful yellow flower only lasts a few days.

By Maggie

Grow In Potting Soil

I have grown sunflowers since I was young. I am wanting them to grow big and use them in senior pictures. I started them in regular dirt and one in potting soil. The ones in the dirt were eaten, I think by something, and the one in the potting soil is amazing. Since then, I have planted 11 in cups with potting mix and potting soil. When you plant them in this, make sure you make a hole in the bottom or near the bottom. They look amazing, I just planted them 5 days ago and they are coming along great.

By Sunflower Queen

Balcony Tips

Sunflower seeds aren't that costly. I'd go to a garden section of a hardware store and buy them. If you are going to grow them in a planter on the balcony, first invest in a heavy planter to put them in. They'll grow tall and would be top heavy. Nice soil, sun, some water and patience, and voila! Good luck!

By Badwater

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Sunflowers From Bird Seeds

Sunflowers From Bird Seeds I feed all birds and they always leave me a gift of Sunflowers. I have hundreds of sunflowers, just from birdseed.

By PJ from Oklahoma

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Questions

Here are questions related to Growing Sunflowers.

Growing Sunflowers

Any tips for growing sunflowers?

By Billy

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Most Recent Answer

By Viktorija 04/10/2012

We live on a hill, good breeze & wind all the time and our soil is a bit on the clay-ey side. I just plant the seeds, water them every now & then and basically leave them alone. They grow beautifully. The ones I planted on Mar. 3rd are about 4" tall now and doing great, even with a couple of late season light frosts.

Yes, they're quite easy! Good luck & have fun with them!

Growing Mammoth Sunflowers

I raised Mammoth Sunflowers this year, and they were beautiful. I would like to try to do it for a living, what spray should I use for the bugs that get into the seeds?

Read More...

By Ellen Brown

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Growing Sunflowers from Seedlings

I'm trying to grow sunflower from seeds using cut plastic bottles and paper egg tray. These are the seedlings after 1 week. FYI, the seed package was written "Sunburst Mixed" and can grow as tall as 180 cm. Actually, I was looking for the kind that can grow about 3 feet height or less but couldn't find them. My questions are, why are they "bending" like that? Is it normal? What can I do to make them straight? Although some of them grow straight and are not bending like that. Should I move them to pots? I can't plant them out yet because they are so tiny, weak and will be destroyed by rain or wind. Any tips will be appreciated. Thanks before.

Hardiness Zone: 11

Susan from Surabaya, Indonesia

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Most Recent Answer

By Red (Guest Post) 03/21/2008

They do need direct sunlight. When starting plants indoors like that, it's helpful to put a "grow" light right over them so they don't have to stretch so far to find sunlight.

Advice for Growing Sunflowers

Are sunflowers perennials? Do they re-grow each year or do you have to plant new seeds every year?

Hardiness Zone: 6a

By Mark from Birmingham, MI

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Most Recent Answer

By pergammano 10/09/2010

Sunflowers are annuals, but do self-seed! Mulliens look like overgrown Foxglove, are annuals too, and also self-seed prolifically. They are not nearly as pretty as sunflowers, and can be quite invasive and do only come in yellow! Helleniums are family members and some are perennials. There are so many beautiful Sunflowers, it is just fun to plant different colors/versions each year. They are varied from creamy whites, to beautiful deep burgundies, even multi-colored!

Worm Casings for Sunflowers

My brother said that the poop of African worms is organic and in their school they have something like a pig pen, 3 meters wide and 2 meters tall and inside of that is full of soil and African worms. Every month their teacher harvests the poop using it like soil for planting. My brother got some and put it in our backyard. I got some of it and put it on my sunflower; is it good or what?

By Eunel from Philippines

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Growth of a Sunflower

How many leaves should a sunflower have if it is more than one month old?

By Eunel from Philippines

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Growing Sunflowers

The plant has two or more sucker flowers heads. Should I cut them out or trim the bottom leaves?

By Erik

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Sunflower Growing Advice

My sunflower just keeps growing! The head hasn't come out yet and I am wondering if there is anything I should do to ensure that the head gets big as well. I've tied it up loosely to the garage so it won't fall over.

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Most Recent Answer

By kattankerous 07/28/2005

It looks like a "maximimus", or something similar to that name...lol
We grow regular sunflowers by the acre here and we just use ferilizers, 10-10-10.
But in my small gardens and flower beds i plant these also and i use the above fertilizer and every now and then a dose of the liquid for flowers. And the heads get so big and heavy if it is not tied to something it will bend and break.
But yours looks like it is gonna be a normal size head. This is what you want.
Will you post a picture of it when it does bloom???
I am a sunflower fanatic....lol.

~kat

Archives

Here are archived discussions related to this page.

Advice for Growing Sunflowers

I am planning to grow sunflowers in my dryland. Please give me some advice to grow a perfect harvest.

Regards.

Srinivas

Hardiness Zone: 1

By Srinivas from India


RE: Advice for Growing Sunflowers

Srinivas, I live in Phoenix, Az., US. It is low desert and very hot in summer. I grow sunflowers here with a little water. I grew up in Kansas where it gets pretty hot, but has more rainfall than here and sunflowers grow wild there. Good luck with them, I love them and there are many kinds. Pat (05/18/2010)

By desertgal


Advice for Growing Sunflowers

I grew some mammoth sunflowers and have seeds. Can I plant those seeds? How do I use the seeds for planting?

Hardiness Zone: 7a

By Venman from Ocean County, NJ


RE: Advice for Growing Sunflowers

Dry seeds and remove from heads. Do not remove from shells. Store in cool, dry location and plant outdoors in the spring after frost, just like purchased seed. Or start in pots a few weeks before last frost, then transplant. (09/11/2010)

By Contester

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