How to Plant Sunflower Seeds

In a hot summer it can take only 60 days from sowing the sunflower seeds to the flowers fully blooming! So, how tall can you grow yours?

You can either plant your seeds directly into the garden from April/May or, to get really tall plants you could plant them earlier indoors – anytime from March onwards.

To Sow Outdoors

Sow your seeds thinly, about 1/2 an inch deep and approximately 12 inches apart.
Make sure your soil is well composted and raked finely. The germination process takes only 21 days, so make sure you keep a close eye on your seed! Regularly water – but don’t saturate - and keep protected from any potential frost.

To Sow Indoors – For Earlier Flowering

Use 3 inch pots (yoghurt pots are the perfect tool) and the sowing compost supplied by Frosts.
Plant one seed per pot (about one inch deep) Add some water to the pot and then cover with polythene to retain the heat - only remove the cover when the green shoots appear!
When the seedlings are large enough to be handled re-pot them, or plant them outside when all risk of frost has passed. If possible, gradually acclimatise your seedlings to life outside. To really thrive they will need plenty of direct sun and good drainage. When the 2nd set of leaves appear, feed them once a week for three weeks and then once a fortnight. All your sunflower plants will need to be staked, and tied so that they grow tall and strong. To do this, tie them every six inches with soft ties

Remember – your plants can grow up to 12 inches every day and the person who grows the tallest sunflower wins a great prize!

Happy Planting!

BE CAREFUL
Over the years many planters have reported their sunflower seedlings disappearing overnight! The main causes of these have turned out to be hungry rabbits and pigeons.