Sunflowers

[edibles]

i love sunflowers they look good easy to grow, great for birds and other wildlife, good looking, and easy to harvest. they taste great and are good for you. kids love them. as well as all of this they are very easy to germinate, they take up little space and are good croppers. they were the second thing i ever remember growing.

im quite surprised theirs no thread already

i bought a small pack of seeds yesterday from lidl and sowed them today indoors so i get a early crop

[~Obsidian~]

Ah great thread edibles, I'm just gonna tweak the title a bit to add the year.

I have a pack of about 5 different types of sunflower seeds, I've decided to scrap growing sweetcorn in favour of growing these beauties, can't wait to attract the birdies! (And I just hope that my kitties don't get anywhere near the birdies :eek: inshaAllah! )

[edibles]

almost all the seeds are already showing signs of bulging, i cant wait to repot them on into the garden, hopefully it will be warmer by then

thanks obsidian or riz for moving this thread into the right place hadnt realized it was in veg

[Foz]

oh i love sunflowers too!! am planning on growing some inshAllah!

[edibles]

2nd day in and germination so thats quick germination

[edibles]

right ive got 2 pots in pot one(multipurpose compost) i have 11 out 15 sprouts!
in pot 2(garden soil, mostly clay) i have not counted but i did find one with a 2cm root! and most amazingly of all i got all of this in just under 2 days!!!!

[Riz]

^ hey..

great germination rates !!! what kind of sunflowers are they !! single headed, multi headed !!? or you have a variety, when are you thinking of planting them outdoors !?

[Riz]

did you plant the seeds pointy end down ? cant remember now.. i scattered lots in the ground and 90% came up, and now i am on the 3rd generation of seeds from the sunflowers which i have been collecting for 3 seasons..

[edibles]

^ hey..

great germination rates !!! what kind of sunflowers are they !! single headed, multi headed !!? or you have a variety, when are you thinking of planting them outdoors !?
single headed, the sort of basic sunflower that everyone thinks of when you say sunflower(you know 5 or so ft high yellow), except it a bigger flower-head version of some kind. I'm going to plant them early-mid march, around the same time i'll be planting watermelon threads(i see a new thread coming along)

did you plant the seeds pointy end down ? cant remember now.. i scattered lots in the ground and 90% came up, and now i am on the 3rd generation of seeds from the sunflowers which i have been collecting for 3 seasons..

yes pointy end down(it seems intuitive to do so) i too am hoping to use seeds generation after generation

[Tania]

Multi headed it means are several flowers on the same plant ?

[Riz]

Multi headed it means are several flowers on the same plant ?

yep lots of flowers and lots of seeds.. like a sunflower tree..



here is my collection of sunflower seeds,

[tahir_phoenix]

im quite surprised theirs no thread already

i bought a small pack of seeds yesterday from lidl and sowed them today indoors so i get a early crop


You beat me to it edibles!! I was about to start a thread on the sunflower, was just waiting for the seedling to get a bit bigger, I'll try and get some pictures posted by the end of the week!

[edibles]

nice tahir how many have you got, what were youre sprout times, how big is it

oh and riz how big are those jars they look huge

[tahir_phoenix]

nice tahir how many have you got, what were youre sprout times, how big is it


Here's a pic of the sunflower seedling, it was very quick to sprout it's first leaf, around 4-5 days :eek:

I planted 2 seeds in the same pot and they both sprouted but I've decided just to keep this one as I don't have the space at the mo!

The height of the seedling so far is roughly 5-6 cm and its already struggling to stay upright hence the cocktail stick and thread to hold it in place :GreenThumbs:

[edibles]

that look great.
i myself have gotten rid of most of mine from the multipurpose compost and thinking of getting rid of the rest. because the ones in clay soil are doing much better and they wont need to adapt to my garden soil.

[Riz]

edibles : the jars had pasta sauce in them, not really sure how big

T: that little seedling is stretching for the light it will get even more lanky. i usually cut a McDonalds ( or similar) straw in half and use that to prop up seedlings..

if you leave the seedlings at the window sills they follow the sun and swoon to one side so you will have to keep turning them around every other day

[Tania]

Its growing real fast. But when the plant will be in the ground, later in spring, how will could you prevent to swoon in one side?

[Riz]

Its growing real fast. But when the plant will be in the ground, later in spring, how will could you prevent to swoon in one side?

does anyone know when you actually germinate the seeds in uk or europe ?

i just cant remember right now.. you think you guys started them too early ?

end of march or mid april would be better, as when you plant them outdoors makes sure its a sunny spot and they wont droop but grow upwards with a really thick stem...

check this website out, it has nice pics and a helpful tutorial
http://www.jstait.addr.com/sunflowers/howto.htm

[Tania]

In south east Europe the sunflowers seeds can be sow in april- may straight in the ground. Thats is written on my seed pack back :o

[Foz]

i went to buy sunflower seeds and came back with rose bushes lol



tahir the seedling is doing well mashAllah!

[Riz]

multi headed yellow sunflower in my garden in the height of summer of 2008

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/multi.jpg

[Riz]

by the way most sunflowers are multi headed, apart from the single tall ones.. even the african velvet, it has multiple heads.. so many seeds !!!!


when they fully bloom and are at there optimum, they make the seeds, but if it rains for a few days non stop they can mould.. the brown circle in the centre of each sunflower is were the seeds get made, and each seed is in its own little pocket

[farah]

Its growing real fast. But when the plant will be in the ground, later in spring, how will could you prevent to swoon in one side?

we always used to tie them to bamboo sticks to get them to stand straighter..

[Tania]

I like how looks the multi-headed sunflower. I will tie them up too but i think i will use wood sticks.

[edibles]

im going to plant mine outside soon i underestimated the speed of growth and now they are overgrown

[tahir_phoenix]

Its growing real fast. But when the plant will be in the ground, later in spring, how will could you prevent to swoon in one side?

Yes its growing very fast and as mentioned by Fozia I will use some bamboo sticks to support the sunflowers and also try to find an area in the garden where they are protected from the strong winds we'll get later in the year!

Riz - not sure when these are supposed to be planted cos i didn't read the label :rolleyes: - i may have planted it too early but i'll keep it indoors until it gets too big then I'll plant it outside :GreenThumbs:

[Foz]

lol everyones mixing me and farah up!!

[~Obsidian~]

LOL :p easily confused we are :(

I know where to get my hands on 6 foot bamboo sticks, so I'll be using those inshaAllah to keep mine from swooning

[Indefinable]

I'm going to grow Sunflowers this year Insha'Allah. :12:

[~Obsidian~]

What an odd smiley

I plan to grow so many! I have a couple of different colours, how close can I plant them together? It says on the packet they can be about 1 foot close, but I want to plant them about half a foot close, so that I can plant loads :o

[Riz]

Its best to start the seeds of in mid April-may ( always read back of pack) most of the sunflowers will be multi headed so they will branch out and make the space look more busier than it really is... i always grow them next to a fence so i can tie them to the fence in case they swoon

the 6ft skinny bamboo canes are no match for the weight of the sunflower in full bloom :)

but don't worry to much about that, with great sunshine they grow straight up into the sky :) if you grow them together they support each other with there branches..

[Riz]

whomever has received my sunflower seeds, just remember before you germinate them, give the seed a squeeze with your forefinger and thumb, just to see if it has an embryo inside, some of them are just filled with air and are useless ( i checked most of them but one or two might have got through)

when you buy the sunflower seeds from the strore they test the seeds before packing them..

i had so many seeds i coudnt possibly use the "squeeze test" on all of them :)

dont squeeze that hard just enough to feel the firmness :)

[Riz]

Hi..

i grabbed this pic from the members gallery thread ( mine) can you see the multi-headed sunflowers. as you can clearly see... there is only one stem each plant

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/sunflowershow-2.jpg

[Riz]

yellow multi-headed sunflower


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC03049.jpg

[Riz]

african queen or velvet sunflowers multi headed

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC03056.jpg

[Riz]

sunflower ready to produce seeds.. can you see the honeycomb centre of the flower

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC03060.jpg

[Riz]

huge fan leaves.. i love sunflowers they tower over you, and they look so Jurassic !!


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC05070.jpg

[Riz]

you can see the little sunflower heads still forming on some of the plants...

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC05162.jpg

[Riz]

petal formation

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC02961.jpg

[Riz]

yellow sunflower ( red very prominent)

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC03067.jpg

[Riz]

the fence behind is 6ft but hoisted 1 foot from the ground by me, to make it 7ft.. the sunflowers are at least 11 feet tall

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC05642.jpg

[Tania]

They are very tall and the heads are big :) I will plant them around the fences to prevent to swoon. Do they need fertiliser or some treatment?

[tahir_phoenix]

lol everyones mixing me and farah up!!

Sorry Farah - I mean Fozia :p I'll check more carefully the names on the posts.

Riz - these are great photos !

[Riz]

They are very tall and the heads are big :) I will plant them around the fences to prevent to swoon. Do they need fertiliser or some treatment?

i never give them anything, they are quite hardy and can take even the poorest of soils...

[~Obsidian~]

Great pics Riz, mashaAllah, inshaAllah I'mma have some as purty as that!!

[farah]

Page four was lovely lotsa pics alhumdalillah they grow so tall :natur011: & the fence ideas actually better long as the neighbourinos don't mind might go grow sunflowers insh'Allah

[Foz]

whomever has received my sunflower seeds, just remember before you germinate them, give the seed a squeeze with your forefinger and thumb, just to see if it has an embryo inside, some of them are just filled with air and are useless ( i checked most of them but one or two might have got through)


ok will do inshAllah

SubhanAllah is that how big they get??? wow....

(foz goes off to check where exactly in the garden she should put hers.......lol)

[edibles]

Its best to start the seeds of in mid April-may

whoops mine are already outside, long story they were overcrowded, no soil/pots, local b&q/ homebase quite far. they have survived though.

[~Obsidian~]

How are they doing now edibles?

[edibles]

well after a couple of days some had died, although i dont think it was cold, because i found them with broken semi-eaten stems. so the rest were put under a plastic tub which used to have fruit in it. they were doing fine until one day recently which was very windy, i thought they'd fine for one night without the tub, you can guess the rest.:(:(

oh well:)

[~Obsidian~]

D'oh! Ah well never mind, plenty of time to start some more!

[~Obsidian~]

I planted out the 'Giant Yellow' and 'Earthwalker' (large red) strains today :D, I hope they all germinate! I'll keep the little strains for later, and I'll see where I can fit them in (after all of my plants have been established).

[Kirsten]

I actually bought sunflower seeds and I'd been looking forward to growing them for so long until I realized that I have ZERO space for them at all :(

[Foz]

ive been debating whether to get mine started yet or not

[Tania]

I will leave them until mid-april.

[~Obsidian~]

ive been debating whether to get mine started yet or not

I thought I'd just get it over and done with, I want them to have pleeeenty of time to grow

[Foz]

have you done them in pots or straight into the ground?

[~Obsidian~]

Straight into the ground

[edibles]

I've found a survivor!!!

[~Obsidian~]

:eek: is that what they look like?! I've got one then so far :D woohooo! Although my cat dug it up I tried putting it back :o hope it survives

[tahir_phoenix]

My "test" sunflower is doing ok so now I'm gonna follow your guys lead and throw some seeds outside but I'm watching out for the cats :eek:

[Nife180]

Yay! 30 days later. I can see the flower bud, on the top. Unfortunately the one my brother sprayed with WD-40 has been losing some of it's leaves and the new leaves have gone brown. But It has formed another stem at the top to make up for the dead one, so I'll wait and see. It's only 40 centimeters long, Is that the normal height for them to flower?

[Riz]

what variety of sunflower seeds did you sow? the dwarf variety ?

and why is your brother going around spraying stuff with wd-40 !!?

[Nife180]

Well I can tell you it's not a dwarf variety. As It had the name Gigante on the packet. But I tore the top off a long time ago so It maybe Huge Sunflower/Girassol Gigante.

Lol, My brother. Sprayed it on the Sliding door and some of it got on the plants. Lost one corn only.

[Riz]

So is it really warm in Bahrain right now !! ?

[Nife180]

Yeah, lol it's hot. After some heavy rain the weather started changing. It was 43C today bloody hot...

[Tania]

I begin to sow the sunflowers :) I hope in 1 week to see the seedlings.

[~Obsidian~]

Sowed some more seeds today after the first lot flopped :sunny: (sowed some last weekend too I think).

[Foz]

how long do they take to germinate....

i only sowed 4 seeds as an experiment and nothing yet...and that was 2 weeks ago

[ze leetle elper]

mine took quie a while...about 2 weeks as well? Maybe more I forget...but now they are growing nice and healthy and strong! They were outside the whole time.

[Tania]

From the 1th may seeds i have 0 seedlings. From what i sowed around 9 days back i got 2 seedlings. I hope more will sprout.

[Foz]

mine took quie a while...about 2 weeks as well? Maybe more I forget...but now they are growing nice and healthy and strong! They were outside the whole time.


yea mine are outside as well

will give it another week or so and see what happens

saw a multi headed sunflower plant in town today..small sunflowers on it already...£3.49

[tahir_phoenix]

My sunflower has been kept indoors in a small pot and growing nicely but its still a bit minature. Not sure how big this will get if I keep it in this pot :)

I hope the weather improves so I can plant it outside :natur011:

[Foz]

they look good mashAllah

i think i may try some indoors...not having much luck with the ones outdoors

[tahir_phoenix]

Wooohoooo I now have a sunflower with the flower on it :)

The good weather we've had last 2 weeks has really helped - but how big can this sunflower go, its only in a small 8" pot and stands about 1 and half feet tall at the moment?

[Tania]

I discovered after 5 days of rain that the sunflowers needs soil with very much water for germination. They begin slowly to sprout.
Your sunflower its pretty and delicate.

[Riz]

wow T

thats the smallest sunflower i have seen :)

[~Obsidian~]

I discovered after 5 days of rain that the sunflowers needs soil with very much water for germination. They begin slowly to sprout.
Your sunflower its pretty and delicate.
Good expression! How are yours doing now?
wow T

thats the smallest sunflower i have seen :)

http://www.ummah.com/forum/images/smilies/lachen70.gif It's sweet, tiny little thing. Tahir, I don't think it'll get any bigger unless you repot it, maybe it's stunted? Because its in such a tiny pot? The size that they usually grow to, they must have a massive root system! Mine aren't doing much.:rolleyes:

[TRUREL]

I killed my kids ones. :(

[~Obsidian~]

Dare I ask how?

[Riz]

i germinated some seeds last week outdoors ( african velvet) sunflowers and got 90% germination rates :)

[TRUREL]

Dare I ask how?

One of them seem to just get really thin and then die.

The other one was abot 2" high when I went on holiday for a weekend so I put it outside. Unfortunately it was that really warm weekend and it died of lack of water.

[Tania]

My sunflowers:
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5425/043egf.jpg - they grow very slow

[Riz]

here are some of my seedlings in a pot, i will take them out later and plant them in the back of the garden :)

[ze leetle elper]

I have 3 that have grown, they are about 7 inches tall each!! I took them out of the pots now and put them in the ground, I hope they grow to full size inshaallah! :)

[~Obsidian~]

The ones I put in the ground are tiny, the ones in pots much taller! I might stick them in the ground too though, because the pots are so small there is no way they would reach a good size in them.

[ze leetle elper]

Sunflowers...at the back behind the tomatoes!

[Riz]

still need to pot my sunflowers on :)

[Riz]

Hello everyones.

how are your sunflowers !!!?

mine are bulking up and now are in the ground in the flower bed :) i planted them close together as the multi-headed ones don't grow over 8 feet and they branch out as well thus can support each other :)

[Tania]

Ohh-yours are growing fast - mine are around 8 cm tall and very slim. delicate.

[ze leetle elper]

They look good Riz, loads of leaves! I have 3, mine are each about 2 feet high now? but not as many leaves as yours! they were the giant flower type (I dunno :p Obsidian gave me the seeds :p ) Will take some pics later.

[~Obsidian~]

Erm...giant yellow I think? The name? I labelled the envelope, should check that :p (my own packets have gone walkabouts, don't really need them anymore but still!).

I still remarkably have a few of these growing :confused: one tiny one in the ground, a few that keep surviving in pots despite attempts by the cats/hailstones to beat them down. I hope they survive to flower!

[Riz]

i grew three really close together.. they are looking good

[Foz]

i THINK i have a sunflower...will take a pic of it later...weird thiing is its not in the pots i used...none of them have germinated...but its at the side of the garden...and i didnt plant one there...............

[Riz]

lol fozia :)

here are mine, i grow them in bunches

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/IMGP2241.jpg

[~Obsidian~]

i THINK i have a sunflower...will take a pic of it later...weird thiing is its not in the pots i used...none of them have germinated...but its at the side of the garden...and i didnt plant one there...............

Oh the irony :p the ones you have planted haven't flowered yet, but some random one does!
lol fozia :)

here are mine, i grow them in bunches


Niice :D those are poppy things next to them right?

I have a couple of sunflowers that look like yours :cheerleader: no flowers yet though.

[Riz]

yep poppies..

i have thousands of seeds, if you wanna next season, just let me know :)

[Foz]

[QUOTE=~Obsidian~;7395]Oh the irony :p the ones you have planted haven't flowered yet, but some random one does!
QUOTE]

its in the worse place too....right under my daughters sand table.....going to have to move the sandtable soon IF it is a sunflower

[Foz]

the random sunflower.... :eek:

no idea how it turned up there

[Foz]

that IS a sunflower isnt it?

[Riz]

that IS a sunflower isnt it?

yep... :p

[Foz]

:p

good job I didnt pull it out then...initially thought it was a weed but was lazy to pull it out...thought the sand may kill it....:rolleyes:

[Riz]

here is a bad pic of the sunflower.. sorry about the quality :)

the one next to it, is multi-headed and i can see small buds forming

[Foz]

the sunflower has just become a casualty to the rabbit

he is this close to being cooked.............









kidding

[Riz]

^ i was thinking rabbit stew sometime in ramadhan :)

[Foz]

hmm its a possibility....hes even cut off some of my chillis and dug up some of my coriander...... think its time to ground him!

[Riz]

sunflowers over 6 feet tall... sorry about the quality of the pic

[~Obsidian~]

Beautiful, masha'Allah! :)

[Riz]

well over 6 feet tall now ;)

[Riz]

gonna harvest the seeds too :)

[ze leetle elper]

2 of my 3 sunflowers survived till the end lol, cut the heads off today and picked out the seeds :D will keep some for planting next year and feed the res to the birds :GreenThumbs:

[Tania]

I like the sunflowers seeds. They have a good taste :)

[Foz]

is it a bit toooo early for sunflowers?

when i was starting off the tomatoes and peppers i did a few sunflower seeds as didnt have much luck last year and ive already got 2 come up!

[~Obsidian~]

is it a bit toooo early for sunflowers?

I don't know Foz. Anybody?

[Riz]

you can start to sow them outdoors in the beginning of April onwards.. but you can sow them indoors now.........

they need the most light you can give them in the garden and good drainage and they will grow big.

here are some of mine in pots outdoors

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC00586.jpg

[Foz]

ok cool... mine are bigger than those so im thinking i need to get them outside soon

[ze leetle elper]

Here are mine, I had hundreds of seeds from last year and my daughter got excited planting them lol! I don't know what I am going to do with so many, but it makes her happy watering them everyday! :D

[~Obsidian~]

Here are mine, I had hundreds of seeds from last year and my daughter got excited planting them lol! I don't know what I am going to do with so many, but it makes her happy watering them everyday! :D
I can imagine :D

[felicity]

You guys are inspiring me I began sowing planting plants flowers which I wouldn't have otherwise, I am so glade I found this website; well I brought a seed packet around 20seeds each of three varieties of sun flowers, Inshallah will sow them tomorrow, what's the best way to get them to germinate surely and quickly?

[Riz]

you can germinate them in the ground, they love full sun and good drainage and they will grow huge

what variety did you get ??

or you can sow them in pots and when they germinate you can transfer them in the final position were you wish to grow them.....

[felicity]

There are four type of sunflowers, teddy bear,colour fashion,giant single and dwarf topolino, well thats the names on the packet.

[Riz]

sunflower seedlings :)


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01128.jpg

[Riz]

i potted my sunflowers in the ground a while a go.. looking good :)

[Riz]

pics of the sunflowers :)

[Riz]

they are getting bigger and the head is forming :)

[Riz]

the flower is growing,, the leaves are huge :)

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC03557.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC03558.jpg

[Riz]

slugs ate most of the leaves :) but the seeds are forming in the head of the sunflower so i shall save some :)

[Foz]

my parents sunflowers did well (my rabbit ate mine)

and they kept noticing the flower heads disappearing! :eek:

then one day we were sitting in the conservatory and a little head popped out from under the gate.... it was a squirrel. He summoned up enough courage to run past to the sunflower and grab a flower head (it wasnt too high) snapped it off and sat on the fence eating the seeds!

[pomegranate]

Last year My sunflower grew 9ft, but this years crop is only approx 7ft, may grow little bit more, never know.;)
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