Ever wanted to have a garden full of big, beautiful sunflowers? Well now you can! We'll show you how to grow sunflowers in your garden with these easy to follow steps. Sunflowers make great garden decorations, and they also provide you with yummy, nutritious sunflower seeds that you can eat! If that doesn't bring up childhood memories I don't know what does!
How to Grow Sunflowers
Sunflowers look like giant daisies and can sprout as high as 16 feet! These flowers are tough too! Drought and heat resistant, they can grow easily in almost any type of soil and also attract beautiful birds. They make excellent cut flowers and you may harvest the seeds for consumption!
Planting Sunflowers:
- True to their name, sunflowers LOVE the sun. Choose a spot with full sun to plant your sunflowers in.
- Dig about 2 feet deep and about 3 feet wide of loose, well draining soil. Sunflowers have deep, long roots and they love to stretch out.
- Sunflowers aren't very fussy, but they do thrive in slightly acidic soil (6.0-7.5 pH).
- Work in a slow release fertilizer or aged manure as sunflowers are heavy feeders.
- Because sunflowers grow so tall, choose a spot where they're sheltered from strong winds such as near a fence or a wall.
- Sow seeds right after the last danger of spring frost.
- Make each row about 30 inches apart – sunflowers love their space.
- Plant seeds about an inch deep and about 6 inches apart.
- You can plant multiple seeds as long as you thin to the strongest seedlings once they've reach about 6 inches in height.
- Mix in a light application of fertilizer after seeds have been planted to encourage strong root growth.
Care:
- While the sunflower plant is growing, water frequently around the root.
- Once the plant is established water deeply into the root but infrequently.
- Support your sunflowers if need be with stakes.
- Fertilize only sparingly – over-fertilizing can cause stems to break in the fall.
Happy Planting!
