How tall sunflowers

Each year, Tom saves his longest stalk and largest seed head of this variety in his garage to measure against the following years. He currently prizes a foot stalk and a 24 in. In this article, Tom has generously agreed to share his method of growing giants like these in your home garden. Sunflowers need full sun; see hours of direct sunlight per day — the more the better if you are trying to grow them to their maximum potential.

Choose a well-drained location, and prepare your soil by digging an area of about feet in circumference to a depth of about 2 feet. Sunflowers are heavy feeders and deplete the soil more than many other crops — especially if you are growing them to reach a massive height so the nutrient supply must be replenished each season.

Work in a slow release granular fertilizer — one that also contains trace minerals — about 8 in. Tom uses Osmocote, but since I'm an organic gardener and raise rabbits, I plan to mix in a bucketful of composted rabbit manure plus a balanced slow-release granular fish fertilizer. 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. Rachel Lovejoy has been writing professionally since and currently writes a weekly column entitled "From the Urban Wilderness" for the Journal Tribune in Biddeford, Maine, as well as short novellas for Amazon Kindle.

Home Guides Garden Gardening. By Rachel Lovejoy. Related Articles. Are Dandelions Annuals or Perennials? Annual Sunflowers Most people are familiar with sunflowers such as "Mammoth Russian," characterized by broad flower heads on tall stiff stalks.

Characteristics It takes about 11 days for an annual sunflower seed to germinate and appear through the soil, and roughly 90 days to reach maturity.

Culture All varieties do best in loose, rich, well-drained soil and tolerate a broad range of soil pH, or acidity, values ranging from 5. He managed to hold the title of the tallest sunflower twice. Sunflowers come in a variety of shapes and colors. However, the ones that usually reach maximum heights are the good old yellow-golden species. Here are some tips that help your seeds grow to reach their maximum height during the blooming season. Tall sunflowers can become more sensitive to weather conditions, particularly wind, due to their tall height.

Keeping an eye on weather reports is a good idea so you can avoid unfortunate accidents. If the wind is expected to blow strongly, you should delay watering as this will prevent the plants from blowing over. However, it might help sunflowers survive in windy conditions. The typical blooming season starts in the spring. Sunflowers will continue to grow throughout the warm season of summer and they will begin to die out with the frost of fall as the temperature starts to drop.

In order to make sure that you have sunflowers for a longer period, plan to plant the seeds over a few weeks. Most of them are. The seeds will sprout and the flowers will fully bloom within one growing season that typically lasts from the spring until the end of summer. Dwarf varieties grow beautifully in a pot or a container. More than one bloom can appear per plant.

When the sunflowers are blooming, they will turn to face the sun throughout the day. But as the stem grows, it becomes woodier and the movement becomes less noticeable. Taking care of your sunflowers and showing them love and care is great fun and I always love the challenge of trying to grow taller sunflowers each year.

How Tall Can Sunflowers Grow? The backs have turned black on some and some of the seeds have mold on them. Can they still be harvested and eaten? Do I need to bring them in where it's warmer or is it too late? We would not advise eating the moldy seeds. Unfortunately, if the others were kept in the same bag, they may have mold spores on them despite looking alright.

Planted six seeds this spring. Five survived and now are from eight to ten feet tall. One of them has a head about ten inches in diameter and drooping over. What, if anything do I do with it? My first time for Sunflowers. What do I do with them this fall? We have been stationed in Germany for almost a year. I decided to buy some bags of sunflower seeds for the birds and one of the seeds germinated in my flower bed. I left it alone to see if it would grow. It is now approximately 4 feet tall.

The interesting thing is that it is one stalk with 3 flower heads on it. Is this a normal thing? One head is now opened, second is half opened and 3rd is just starting to open. I can send a photo if you need to see it. Yes, this is normal!

Many sunflower varieties produce more than one flower, while others typically the giant ones only produce one. Planted year old seeds. Plants instead of growing leaves on the main stock new arms with leaves and very small flowers grow. First time this has happened to me. Plants are six feet tall now, and very bushy, four feet wide.

Unless the main stem was somehow damaged…? Sunflowers will branch out if damaged. We got a small package of sunflowers in July to plant. Will they last until next year or should we go ahead and plant them now and try to retrieve some of the seeds for next year? Sunflower seeds will last until next spring without issue, as long as they are kept in a cool, dry place.

Skip to main content. You are here Gardening » Growing Guides. How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Sunflowers. By Catherine Boeckmann. In most regions, this will fall between April and mid-July. In the south, this will probably occur in mid-March or early April. Sunflowers dislike having their roots disturbed, which is why we recommend direct-sowing instead of transplanting.

Sunflowers grow best in locations with direct sunlight 6 to 8 hours per day ; they require long, hot summers to flower well. Choose a location with well-draining soil. They have long tap roots that need to stretch out; in preparing a bed, dig down 2 feet in depth and about 3 feet across. Sunflowers thrive in slightly acidic to somewhat alkaline soil pH 6. Sunflowers are heavy feeders, so the soil needs to be nutrient-rich with organic matter or composted aged manure.

Or, work in a slow release granular fertilizer 8 inches deep into your soil. If possible, plant sunflowers in a spot that is sheltered from strong winds, perhaps along a fence or near a building. Larger varieties may become top-heavy and a strong wind can be devastating.

Before planting, decide whether or not you want to grow a fun sunflower tower. If you wish, you can plant multiple seeds and thin them to the strongest contenders when the plants are six inches tall. Give plants plenty of room, especially for low-growing varieties that will branch out.

Make rows about 30 inches apart. For very small varieties, plant closer together. A light application of fertilizer mixed in at planting time will encourage strong root growth to protect them from blowing over in the wind. Experiment with plantings staggered over 5 to 6 weeks to keep enjoying continuous blooms.