How to Take Care of Sunflowers

Sunflower is a gorgeous flower with thousands of tiny flowers gathered into a round disc in the middle. ^{[1] X Research Sources} Many popular sunflower varieties grow very quickly, have good drought tolerance and disease resistance. Shield your plants from the wind and protect them from pests, and you’ll have a beautiful garden all summer long.

Table of Contents

Planting sunflowers

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Choose a flower variety. Sunflowers come in a variety of varieties, ranging from tree trunks up to 5.5 meters tall to knee-high shrubs with flowers that look like tassel balls. In addition to the size and shape of the tree, you also need to consider a few factors:

The classic yellow-flowered sunflower with only one stem is usually very fast growing and easy to grow. Sunrich and Pro Cut are sunflower varieties suitable for beginners. ^{[2] X Research Source}
In branched sunflower varieties, each seed can produce many flowers, but the plant will grow more slowly. If you’re picking flowers, choose a pollen-free or low-pollen variety like Cherry Rose to avoid soiling. ^{[3] X Research Sources}
Large-flowered sunflower varieties such as Mammoth Gray Stripe and Humongous typically produce better-tasting seeds, and can support climbing plants. ^{[4] X Source of Research}^{[5] X Source of Research} (Some smaller varieties will produce seeds of only a quality suitable for bird food).

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Determine when to plant sunflowers. You can plant sunflowers starting in late spring, when the last frost has passed. However, many daylight-sensitive sunflower varieties can grow thin and slow to flower if not planted at the right time. There are 3 types of sunflower: ^{[6] X Research source}

Short day plants: These plants need a long night time to stimulate bloom. You should plant this plant in late summer (or start growing indoors in mid-spring).
Long-day plants: Long-day plants usually bloom in mid-summer.
Medium-day plants: Plants of this type can be planted at any time of the growing season.
Plan ahead based on when the plants bloom. Most single-stemmed sunflower varieties will bloom 60 days after seeding, while branching varieties will bloom after 90 days. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

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Choose an area with good drainage and full sun. Sunflower thrives when grown in loose, well-drained soil with a medium pH. ^{[8] X Research Source} More importantly, you need to choose a location with at least 6 hours of full sun a day, 8 hours or more is better. ^{[9] X Research Source}

If the soil is barren, add about 7-10cm of compost to the topsoil. ^{[10] X Research Source}

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Drills. Flower farmers often sow sunflower seeds with large flowers with a single stem at a minimum depth of 2.5 cm. ^{[11] X Research Source} In a home garden with high-quality soil (not too dry or too sandy), you can sow seeds to a depth of more than 1cm. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Sow more seeds if there is plenty of room. You can prune after the seedlings have sprouted, plus some seeds may be lost to pests.

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Sow the seeds at a distance depending on the size of the flower you want. The longer the distance between the plants, the larger the flowers will bloom:

Sow the seeds 15 cm apart for small flowers suitable for bouquets, or 23 cm or more apart for larger flowers. ^{[13] X Research Source}
If the flower variety you are growing has a maximum height of more than 1.5 m, you need to plant the plants at least 30 cm apart. Giant sunflower varieties can grow to more than 50cm wide. ^{[14] X Research Source}
Most branched sunflower varieties need a width of up to 45 cm. ^{[15] X Research Source}

Sunflower care

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Water the seedlings daily. Sunflower seedlings in the rooting stage need to be watered a lot. You need to keep the soil moist but not soggy until the seedlings emerge. This process takes about 5-10 days, but it can take longer if the weather is cold. When the seedlings grow, water them about 7.5 – 10 cm away from the plant to stimulate root growth. ^{[16] X Research Source}

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Fertilize if the soil is barren. Sunflower plants don’t need fertilizer, and too much nitrogen can make the plant skinny and slow to flower. If the soil is barren, you can add compost or apply a slow-release fertilizer to the top of the soil. ^{[17] X Research Source} This will help plants grow stronger without overdosing.

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Protect plants from pests. Protecting the plant from snails and slugs is especially important. You can use store-bought slug repellents or make your own “beer traps” to catch naked slugs.

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Pay attention to the yellow leaves. Powdery mildew is a big problem for plants grown on clay or waterlogged soil. In addition to the phenomenon as the name of this fungus, you need to regularly check the leaves for wilting and turning yellow. If you notice these symptoms, reduce watering to allow the soil to dry out and apply a fungicide immediately. Infected plants rarely bloom, so you may need to simply remove the infected plant to prevent it from spreading to other plants. ^{[18] X Research Source}^{[19] X Research Source}

If the leaves appear normal but have an unusually prominent yellow color, the plant may have a bacterial infection, not a fungal infection. Keeping the soil dry in this case also helps, and usually the plant will be fine.
If the leaves turn yellow but the veins remain green, the problem is probably a mineral deficiency. Finding the exact problem is a bit tricky, but diluted fertilizer can work.
Note that when the sunflower begins to take root, it is normal to lose the first pair of leaves. Don’t worry if the lower leaves wilt and fall, but the rest of the leaves are still healthy.

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Reduce watering as the plant matures. Sunflower plants are quite drought tolerant when the roots have penetrated deep into the ground. They will still do well with regular and deep watering, especially during the bud and flowering period, but you should allow the soil to dry completely between each watering. Overwatering often harms plants more than watering too little. ^{[20] X Research Sources}

Try not to get the flower wet to avoid damage to the flower. ^{[21] X Research Source}

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Plant stakes for trees in windy areas. Wind can severely damage most branched cultivars and trees over 90 cm tall. You should use cloth or soft material to tie the tree trunk to sturdy poles. ^{[22] X Research Source} You may need to put up windbreaks for sunflowers that are too tall.

Harvest sunflower seeds and flowers

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Cut flowers when they bloom ¼. At this stage, the petals stab upwards perpendicular to the central disc. You should cut the flowers at this time to make the flowers last longer (usually 5 days, some flowers last longer): ^{[23] X Research Source}

Cut flowers in the early morning or early evening.
Use a knife or scissors to cut the tree clean.
Remove any leaves that are below the water level in the jar.
Put the flowers in the water right away.

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Cut flowers to dry flowers. In this case, it’s best to wait until the flower is half open and the petals are leaning out. ^{[24] X Research Sources} After cutting flowers, you have many ways to preserve them. The easiest way is to tie the flower stalks into a bunch and hang them upside down in a warm and ventilated room.

Advice

Prune the plants by removing the weakest seedlings if you want the flowers to bloom to their full potential.
The seeds that fall to the ground can harm the following year if you are not careful. To control the number of plants, you should prune dead flowers before the seeds fall.
Sunflowers will shade themselves to overwhelm the weeds. You only need to weed when the seedlings are growing.
Sunflowers usually do not need to be pruned. Prune away the bottom leaves if they are wilted and cut off dead flowers on branched plants. ^{[25] X Research Sources}

Things you need

Sunflower seed
Water
Pile

Steps

Planting sunflowers

Sunflower care

Harvest sunflower seeds and flowers

Advice

Things you need

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