Sunflowers

[Salina]

My sunflower plan is now about 1.5' tall but the stems are really thin.....is it going to have a flower on it soon does anyone know?

[dexterdoglancashire]

Mine are about 1.5" tall - a way to go methinks! Should I tie them to a stake? Mine are in the greenhouse at the moment - is this the best place to get them to grow and should I then harden them off? Bernie

[Alice]

Yes, you should give them a cane for support DDL and start hardening them off.

[dexterdoglancashire]

Thanks Alice. I must check out the ones I got my niece for her birthday - reckon she must be doing much better than me! Bernie

[Salina]

oh I suppose I should tie mine to a cane then? I have a load of other sunflowers in different pots but they are kind of bending over and fall out the sides of the pots whereas my ''best'' one is quite straight, I'll put a cane in and make sure it stays that way lol.

[terrier]

I grew some giant sunflowers last year just to see what they would do. They germinated quickly in small pots but stayed very small (six inches at the most). I started leaving them outside during the day. This was about mid June. They still did nothing, no more than 8" high and very weak and leggy. In the end I thought I may as well plant them in the ground. That's what they were waiting for, as soon as they had their feet in the ground, the stems started to thicken up and we could almost see them growing. I planted them alongside the runner beans and they made fantastic bean poles.

[Salina]

ooo, cool! haven't really got a sheltered place to plant them here, they would probably get snapped in half by the wind! would a large pot fool them? lol.

[joel]

hello
last year I had 2 really nice sunflowers going –I used canes for support. They were both around six feet (one was more chunky) and started to bloom when we had a windy night. Stupidly I hadn't re-tied the larger plant and my string had actually cut into the stem. This created a weak spot and the wind snapped it off cleanly at that point, which was a shame. Keep an eye on the binding!

Sunflower facts:
http://www.indiancommodity.com/grain/sunflower1.htm
all the best
J

[Waffler]

ooo, cool! haven't really got a sheltered place to plant them here, they would probably get snapped in half by the wind! would a large pot fool them? lol.

I don't know whether a pot would be ok or not - I'm sure someone will advise you. However, a word of warning if you do go that route - makes sure your pot has a low centre of gravity, or your sunflower will act as a sail and it'll all get blown over - resulting in a broken flower and probably a broken, or at least damaged, pot
The sunnies definitely want to be moved out of diddy pots though; we always grow them with the kiddlies at school, and you end up with these awful leggy little things for them to take home - I'm sure none of them ever make it to 'adulthood' (the flowers that is, not the children!)
As far as how long it takes for them to flower, I have a feeling they take at least 3 months from sowing - and that assumes they've been in the ground (or somewhere comparable) for most of that time. When did you plant them?

[Salina]

I *think* I planted them about a month ago.....

[Waffler]

Probably got a way to go yet then. I reckon if you put them in a large pot against a sunny wall you should be ok. You may not get 7 footers, if that was your aim, but I'm sure they'd produce reasonable flowers. Just remember to stake them well.

[Madasafish]

I had luverrly sunflowers last year. They were about 10cms tall in June and ended up over 2 metres (as the instructions said).

This year mine are about 9cm tall. I expect them to frow to over 2 metres again.

Not staked yet: too small.

I staked and staked mine as each had about 20 flower heads...If I could post a picture...