Questions tagged [sunflowers]

Helianthus annuus. New World annual noted for its large flowering head.

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Is Tithonia diversifolia (mexican sunflower) a nitrogen fixer?

Does Tithonia diversifolia (aka "Mexican Sunflower") have a symbiotic relationship with diazotrophs that fix nitrogen in the soil from the nitrogen in the air? Mexican Sunflower is not a ...
Michael Altfield's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
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Dwarf sunflower closing

Can anyone tell me why my sunflower is closed up? It didnt look like this a few days ago, it was completely open, it has a smaller flower on its side so i thought it had to do with that but im at a ...
Joc's user avatar
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Do large varieties grown in a pot yield small fruits or die?

Consider those large varieties of pumpkins or sunflowers eg mammoth sunflower. What would happen if one plants such a large variety in a small container ? Would the plant restrict it's growth and ...
Nichola's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
874 views

Can sunflower be used in Three Sisters planting instead of corn?

The Native American Three Sisters technique traditionally uses corn, beans, and squash as companion plants. The corn provides a trellis for the beans, the beans fix nitrogen for the corn, and the ...
Drake P's user avatar
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2 answers
589 views

What is the fate of this sunflower? Will it produce seeds?

The sunflower in this picture is the only one that survived out of three that my kids grew from seeds as one of their school projects. At the end of the last school year, we brought them home, when ...
StoneThrow's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
42 views

Why are my sunflower leaves getting yellow and rusty?

My sunflower plant is about to bloom. Its leaves are getting yellow and rusty. How will I fix it? I had watered it quite high several days ago as I could not understand the problem. Now I have ...
Sk. Moumita Manjur's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
142 views

Why do my mammoth sunflower leaves look like this?

These are what 2 of my mammoth sunflowers look like out of the 15 that I had originally planted. I live in growing zone 4, in the Minnesota area, and the temperature has been a steady 80 degrees ...
ToxicFlame427's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
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How to tell if sunflower seeds are empty or not

I have some Mammoth sunflowers that I began to harvest today. Many of the seeds are empty inside, but not all. Maybe 50/50. I'd like to keep many of them to sow next year. Is there an easy and ...
pspahn's user avatar
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My sunflowers are too tall (over 5') and butting into the top of my enclosed garden

I planted seeds for 3 varieties of sunflowers: autumn beauty, mexican, sunspot. I'm not sure which but one of the varieties just grew and kept growing and did not flower. At this point, it is over 5' ...
megan b's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Do sunflower seedlings need support to grow upright?

I've planted some sunflower seeds a couple of months ago and now they're growing successfully but they're somewhat slanted currently rather than growing vertically. Do I need to place some sticks/...
JonathanReez's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
837 views

When to harvest sunflower seeds

I’ve got a sunflower which seems to be in the latter stages of its lifecycle. It has started wilting back and the lower leaves have fallen off. I’ve attached an image below. A couple of questions ...
Conor's user avatar
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3 answers
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Sunflower with multiple flowers, is this normal?

I’m not particularly green fingered, however I’ve planted some sunflowers seeds with my kids. They’re both growing well however one of them has a single large flower at the top of the stem whereas the ...
Conor's user avatar
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0 answers
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What is chopping down my sunflowers?

I had a small pot with three sunflowers in it (firecracker). They went down one by one, each with the same thing. See the image below, it looks like a tiny beaver chewed on the stem, just above the ...
Dan's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Sunflower leaves wilting and yellowing

Good day! I would like to ask for some help to determine what I am doing wrong in growing my sunflower. The sunflower was started from seed about 3 weeks ago and now it has grown a few sets of true ...
user71128's user avatar
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1 answer
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How to recognize when sunflower seed are ripe for harvesting?

I want to save my sunflower seed, and not for food, but for reseeding in other areas. Last year, I was too late: Birds ate everything, almost to the last piece of seed. This year I want to be faster. ...
Aleksandar M's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
818 views

Is it true that sunflowers improve soil structure?

I read that sunflowers can have up to 3m deep dense roots. Is it true that sunflowers improve soil structure, by penetrating its roots through the ground?
Aleksandar M's user avatar
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1 answer
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Why did a dwarf mammoth sunflower grow?

I planted at most three dozen mammoth sunflowers last spring. They are all coming up fine, some even blooming. However, one in particular is a tiny, what I would describe as dwarf, that is less than ...
just trying to figure this out's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
701 views

My sunflower is dying what do i do?

I have a potted sunflower and it was overwatered. Is there any way to revive it? It hasn't been watered in a week and the soil still seems very wet. Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!
Elisa's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Repotting sunflower to bigger pot?

This is what my sunflower plant looks like. Its in a 4" pot. Should I repot it to a larger pot? I've been told that a sunflower in a pot (like mine) will eventually die, so I'm not sure if repotting ...
rbhat's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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Sunflowers: Young leaves turn yellow and die

These sunflowers are on my window ledge getting ca 8h of sunlight per day. When they lack water the leaves start hanging dramatically. 30 minutes after watering they correct themselves. Plants look ...
AzulShiva's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
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Why do sunflowers move only flowers towards the sun?

We all know that sunflower's flowers move so that they face the sun. But the photosynthesis happens in leaves, not in flowers. Why is then so important for a sunflower to move its flower, if its ...
VividD's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
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How to make sure a sunflower produces seed?

I started a single sunflower, a giant cultivar called 'Titan', it's been doing well so far. I want to have valid (or, is the better word 'viable'?) seeds from it at the end of season. They don't have ...
VividD's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
332 views

What kind of sunflower is the best for making a flute?

Probably like many other gardeners, I like and plant many kinds od sunflowers - I've got many dry sunflower stalks from the previous year, and I would like to do something useful and creative with ...
VividD's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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A single large sunflower among herbs - a good or a bad idea?

My idea is to start no less than a giant sunflower ('Titan', I plan just a single plant) on the northern border of my small herb garden with thyme, salvia, arugula, parsley and such. The reason is to ...
VividD's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
194 views

Do plants react differently to artificial light than to sunlight?

Sun light is 5700Kelvin and up to 100 000 lumens per square meter. If I was to use Halogen or LED light's with similar properties would plants (sunflowers in particular) know the difference?
AzulShiva's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
17k views

Can young sunflower transplants take a light frost?

I realize that sunflowers can grow easily from direct-seeding, but to get some earlier sunflowers, I thought I'd try starting them early (since I've heard that works well, too). I've heard that ...
Brōtsyorfuzthrāx's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
638 views

How should I grow mexican sunflowers (Tithonia) from seed?

I want to put Mexican (Tithonia) sunflower seeds directly in the ground. If they were regular sunflower seeds, I would sow ithem directly in the garden, and I would put twice as many seeds close ...
VividD's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
7k views

How long do sunflower seeds stay viable?

How long do sunflower seeds stay viable? I'm thinking about getting several kinds, but I might not want to grow every variety every year. These are mostly large-seeded varieties meant for eating.
Brōtsyorfuzthrāx's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
596 views

Can you recommend any short, large-seeded sunflowers?

I'm wanting to grow a lot more sunflowers (Helianthus) for food, these days, but one of my concerns is they get really tall, and sometimes I like shorter plants. If you know of any sunflowers just ...
Brōtsyorfuzthrāx's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
4k views

How can sunflowers be grown in a squirrel and chipmunk rich environment?

I'm trying to grow sunflowers from seed and have been unsuccessful due to chipmunks and/or squirrels eating all of the seeds. So far I've tried the following: Spread a lot of seeds and maintain an ...
John's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Should I use epsom salt foliage spray on giant sunflowers?

I'm currently growing some giant sunflowers. I really want them to be as big as possible. I'm wondering how good it would be to spray them twice a week with a epsom salt, gypsum and / or saltpeter ...
Neil Meyer's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
502 views

Cutting sunflower teddy bear

I grow sunflower named (teddy bear) It was so amazing but now its stop making a new flowers What should i do to make it grow more flowers? And what the good way to cut them? I don't want dry the ...
Amal's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
3k views

How do you tell the difference between sunflowers and sunchokes?

I think I have some sunflowers on my plot from a previous owner in the community garden, and was wondering how I can tell the difference between sunflowers and sunchokes. Please provide images.
black thumb's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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I've read that butterflies like sunflowers, do they also like sunchokes?

With "adopting" a lot of monarchs last year (to see them grow), and starting a sunchoke patch, has anyone had any luck with their sunchoke patch attracting butterflies and caterpillars?
black thumb's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
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Why is the stem of one of my sunflower seedlings shriveling?

I recently planted some sunflower seedlings and they have been doing fairly well. The only problem I had noticed was that the tips of the leaves were slightly burnt, but even then, the burns weren't ...
Morella Almånd's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
398 views

Harvesting sunflower seeds and planting the same year

I live in NY State and planted ~30 sunflower plants this year. I started them very early indoors so had early blooms - I've had seeds on the faded flower heads for ~ 4 weeks now. Is it possible to ...
kataob's user avatar
  • 105
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

How can I grow sunflowers that will produce seeds in the shells, for my pet bird?

I grow sunflower plants where the flower is not pollinated, and they produce empty seed shells. How do I get the plant to produce seeds shells with a seed inside?
Galah's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Using Sunflowers as living bean poles

About a month ago I got the idea to try growing pole beans (Kentucky Wonder) and using my sunflowers as support instead of bothering to put up a trellis. Of course it wasn't until after I bought the ...
GardenerJ's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
18k views

How do I propagate sunflowers?

I have a sunflower plant growing flowers, and I want to grow more sunflowers in my garden. How do I grow more sunflowers from the current plant?
Rajat Jain's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
3k views

Will sunflower seeds that have been left out all winter germinate?

I forgot to remove a large sunflower before winter and after the snow hit I was unable to get to it. The seeds were left in the head all winter but the plant is high enough that it wasn't buried in ...
OrganicLawnDIY's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
21k views

Do these sunflower seedlings need to be thinned?

I have two questions regarding the sunflower seedlings in the picture below. I think my sunflowers are too close together. How much should I thin them and based on their height, does now seem like a ...
amol's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
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What is the best sunflower for seed production in Pennsylvania zone 6b?

I have been growing mammoth grey stripe sunflowers for a while, but I want to know if there is a better producer for my climate. The area I would plant them in is a heavy, clay base soil. The average ...
J. Musser's user avatar
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16 votes
5 answers
24k views

Are the seed pods of giant sunflowers normally empty?

So, I'm attempting to harvest sunflower seeds from some giant sunflowers I planted an age ago. Unfortunately, there's nothing inside the seed pods! I believe the sunflower was a 'giant', it may ...
Peter Turner's user avatar
  • 9,171
17 votes
2 answers
7k views

When should sunflower seeds be harvested?

I've got a few giant sunflowers that are hanging pretty low. I peeled off a few seeds around the outside just to see what they looked like and they look pretty big. They're fairly light though, not ...
Peter Turner's user avatar
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14 votes
3 answers
16k views

How do I provide support to a growing sunflower?

I am growing sunflowers and they grow quite high, sometimes toppling over. What kind of support can I give to them in this case?
lamwaiman1988's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

How many bean plants will corn / sunflower support?

I planted a section of my garden three-sisters style this year: corn, squash/pumpkin, and pole beans (for dry harvest). I also have a 25' row of "Mammoth Gray Stripe" sunflowers (9-12 footers) in the ...
bstpierre's user avatar
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