Sunflowers for the Birdies: Pot on, wait, or plant out?

[woodlouse]

Nickdub: As a beginner, I decided to use a bit of sandpaper on my Squash seeds today, as they looked rather big. Your words stuck with me when I opened up the packet. Appreciated.

Sowed eight sunflowers seeds yesterday that I pillaged from a birdseed mix.

Yeah, that's what I did, but the seeds were slightly smaller and black in colour rather than the, I guess, classic seed that most people would think of... more gray with lighter stripes. Good luck with the friendly competition. I hope the black seeds are from a variety that don't traditionally grow too tall. I don't think I can be bothered to care for their height. I just wanted to grow some stuff for the birds and just as a noobie experiment.

Thanks again for all the input and personal reflections. Rather than start a new thread, I have a new question which I'll ask here.

The initial cotyledons on my sunflowers seem to be wilting on a few and turning yellow. I assume that is natural, as I have seen the same thing happen with my prickly pear cactus younglings. But want to check anyway. Are they okay?

Regards

P.S. Why does the word "colour" underline red on a UK run (?) forum? Are we phasing out the traditional English spelling with the added "U"?