Sunflowers

Link to buy Sunflower seeds here

Seed saving 

Remove the seed heads

How do you know when your sunflower seed heads are ready for harvesting?

Drying and preparing the seeds

Drying the seed heads and removing the seeds from them. 

Planting the seeds

Planting Indoors

• If you want to start early then you can plant sunflowers indoors starting in Early April.  . 
• Plant 2 seeds in each container   in small pots or modules in April indoors. 
• Keep in a heated greenhouse or on a windowsill. 
• Keep the compost moist but not sodden . 
• Move into to larger pots when the roots start to show through the holes in the bottom.   
• Use a bamboo or such to support the plants when they get to about 6 inches.
• Plant our to their final position in the ground or in a large pot when they get to between 30 and 60 Centimeters in early June

Planting Outdoors

• Sunflowers should be planted  3 centimeters deep and about 15 centimeters apart in May when the soil is warm where you wish to grow them.
• You can plant in a sunny spot that is not too windy.
• They like a bit of a feed so work some well rotted manure or home made compost into the soil before planting.
• You might need to stake the taller ones with a bamboo cane.  

Benefits of sunflowers

Sunflowers are extremely  beneficial to pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and butterflies because they produce asses of nectar and pollen ...and they look great!     One of our customers enjoying a sunflower!