Sunflowers grow best in loamy soil with good drainage and neutral pH. Plant the seeds. Farmers usually plant large, single-stem sunflowers at least an inch 2. You may thin them later, or lose some seeds to pests. Space the seeds apart depending on desired flower size. Giant varieties may need 2 ft 0. Part 2. Water young sunflowers daily.
Sunflower seedlings need plenty of water while they're establishing themselves. Keep the soil moist, but not soaked, until the seedlings emerge. This usually happens within 5—10 days of planting, but may take longer in cold weather. Once the seedling emerges, water about 3—4 inches 7. Fertilize the sunflowers if the soil is poor. Sunflowers do not need fertilizer, and overdoing the nitrogen can create a leggy plant with delayed flowering. If your soil is poor, add compost or slow-release fertilizer to the surface of the soil.
Protect sunflowers from pests. Protecting your plants against slugs and snails is especially important. You can surround your plants with slug repellent from a garden store, or make your own "beer traps" for slugs to fall in. Look out for yellow leaves. Downy mildew can be a major problem in clay or waterlogged soils. Check regularly for this fungus, which causes shrunken yellow leaves in addition to its namesake down.
If you see these symptoms, reduce water use to keep soil dry, and apply fungicide immediately. Infected plants rarely produce flowers, so you may want to simply remove them to avoid spreading the disease.
Keeping soil dry will help here as well, and the plant will usually be fine. If the leaf looks yellow but still has green veins, the problem is most likely a mineral deficiency. It can be tricky to pinpoint the exact problem, but diluted fertilizer may work. Reduce watering for mature sunflowers. Once they've developed a deep taproot, sunflowers are fairly drought-resistant. They'll still thrive on regular, deep watering, especially while buds and flowers are developing, but allow the soil to dry out between watering sessions.
Over-watering is more likely to harm them than under-watering. Stake the sunflowers in windy weather. Wind can severely damage most multi-branched varieties, as well as any sunflower over 3 ft 0. Tie them to a sturdy support using cloth or other soft material. Part 3. At this stage, the flower petals stick up perpendicular to the central disc. Cut them at this point for maximum vase life usually five days, much longer with some varieties : [23] X Research source Cut flowers in the early morning or early evening.
Use a clean knife or shears. Strip off any leaves that would be below the water line. Place in water immediately. Cut flowers for drying. In this case, it's best to wait until the flower is about half open, and the petals are leaning outward.
The simplest is to tie the stems with twine and hang them upside down in a warm room with good ventilation. Protect seeds from birds and squirrels. If you'd like to harvest the seeds yourself, you'll have to battle the neighborhood animals. Once the flowers start to droop and lose their petals, cover the head with cheesecloth or a paper bag.
Most sunflowers will produce many more seeds if you attract bees to your garden to pollinate them. Harvest the seed head. You may cut off the seed head once the disk it rests on starts to turn color from green to yellow. Store in a dry, cool location until the disk turns dark brown. The seeds are now ready to eat, raw or roasted. Store seeds in a cloth bag to allow air to circulate. This helps prevent mold. Did you know you can get expert answers for this article? Unlock expert answers by supporting wikiHow.
Artemisia Nursery. Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 1. Katie Gohmann Professional Gardener. Katie Gohmann. On average, Russian Mammoth sunflowers are mature sometime between 55 and days after planting. However, it will take a bit longer for your seeds to mature. To harvest the seeds, cutoff the flower heads along with 12 inches of the stalk still attached.
The heads should be drooping and have turned a gray color on the back. You can hang the heads up by the stalks until the seeds have dried. Then you can enjoy them or put them in dry storage for the winter! There are multiple benefits to growing Russian Mamoth sunflowers. Not only do they add intense interest to your garden, but they also attract all kinds of pollinators — perfect for keeping your vegetables healthy and growing well!
There are very few reasons not to grow these flowers — except, perhaps, if you are limited by space. While many of these do still offer the height and beauty you might be looking for, very few are quite as gargantuan as Russian Mammoth sunflowers! Have you grown sunflowers before? Will you grow Russian mammoth sunflower in your garden? Be sure to pin this on your favorite Pinterest board. Over the years, she amassed a wealth of homesteading knowledge, knowledge that you can find in the articles of this blog.
We always grow sunflowers every year. I was actually planning to buy some more seeds this year so will definitely check these out. Pinning this so I remember! WOW, those are beautiful. We grow sunflowers each year but I have never heard of these before. I will definitely be looking for them next time I go to the seed store here.
The Mammoths are heirlooms and perform true to type every year but in order for them to reach their full height and width, make sure you plant them ft apart.
Maybe I should write in an addition in my check register — think my husband would get it? Those are beautiful flowers! I have never planted sunflowers Maybe when we move, I will dedicate an area to some.
I have plans to plant lots of sunflowers this year. In addition to being a great food source and beautiful, they also attract the leaffooted bug which I had a terrible time with last year. I loved these when I was growing up in Pennsylvania.
I think I might just have to try this year. Those are gorgeous! Sunflowers can also heal the land! You have to handle the full sunflowers carefully after and they need to be handled as toxic waste, but the land is safe again after.
These sunflowers are so pretty! I have always loved sunflowers and wanted to grow some of my own! Oh, what cool flowers! I bet they are simply gorgeous when in full bloom! And I love that they are so practical — they provide additional fee for the animals. How cool! They die after they bud out of the ground. These are beautiful though! We have never intentionally grown them. Depending on your soil, you may wish to add, in addition to composted manure and an organic slow-release balanced fertilizer, an organic amendment containing trace minerals such as greensand or dried seaweed.
To sow seeds, water your soil, and press seeds 1 inch deep in clumps of seeds about in. Put snail bait in a circle around the clump I like the product Sluggo because it is non-toxic to humans, pets and wildlife , and cover loosely with netting to protect emerging seedlings from birds. If the soil is kept moist, seedlings will appear within days.
When the plants grow to 3 inches, thin them to the most vigorous 3 or 4. When they are a foot tall, thin them to 2, and when they reach 2 feet high, select the best, most vigorous candidate. The point of this gradual thinning method is to ensure that you're left with at least one good seedling in the event that predators damage any of the others.
Remember, it's critical to thin back to the best single seedling if you're going for giant sunflowers. Leaving even several seedlings growing too close together will keep you from growing a giant in your garden. Feed often and water regularly. While the plant is small, water around the root zone, about in.
For larger plants, scrape out a small doughnut-shaped moat about 18 inches around the plant and about four inches deep. Pour several gallons of properly diluted fertilizer into the moat every week. Sunflower roots can grow to 4 feet below the soil surface. Avoid pouring fertilizer directly on the stems, since this can cause them to rot. Fill the holes with properly diluted liquid fertilizer. Tom uses Miracle Grow or Schulz's growing solution, but as an organic gardener, you can use properly diluted fish emulsion or other liquid organic fertilizers.
Tom recommends that you care for giant sunflowers as members of your family. Be attentive to weather reports, especially, as your plants become taller and more top-heavy. When heavy winds are predicted, delay watering to reduce their chances of blowing over. Staking isn't usually necessary for sunflowers, but it can be helpful in extremely windy areas or if they must be grown in conditions that are too crowded or in too much shade.
Growing giant Sunzilla sunflowers is a great way for getting children inspired to enjoy the garden.
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