Alright, I finally bought a packet of dwarf sunflower seeds (which believe me, wasn't easy to find). So now I'll be posting pictures of them as they grow! Getting ready to plant! ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden ) 31 Dwarf Sunflower seeds from the pack. ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden ) Dwarf Sunflower seeds planted! ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden ) Empty clay pots. ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
Well, I found them at Karachi's oldest shopping area. The Empress Market (build almost 150 years ago by the British). It is today one of the last few places left in Karachi, which are still unchanged by modern times. Really, visiting that place is like going back in time - I often end up feeling like Indiana Jones over there! :-D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOrb6opVwxs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J55r9ldid0U Anyway, that market has 2 of the oldest gardening shops in the city. The Garden Shop, and Abdul Seed Store. I found them at the Garden Shop. However they (the Dwarf Sunflower seeds) are imported from France.
The packet says that they will grow to about 40cm (around 1 and a half foot). But will have a single big flower which will be over 6 inches across.
Oh, yes please post photos of their progress. I grew some dwarf Sunflowers last summer but the flower heads on mine were only less than 3inches/7cm across. Good luck with yours.
So far I have nothing to report (as today is the start of their 3rd day). However to insure that all of the 31 seeds get the best possible chance of germinating - I will now put them in a makeshift incubator (see attached picture). It is basically a showcase in the kitchen pantry that has a small 10 watt light bulb in it for warmth. So I will now place the clay bowls (in which the Dwarf Sunflower seeds are planted) in this showcase during night time. Because even though the days outside are still warm, the nights are now becoming a little cooler. Early morning yesterday I touched these clay bowls, and they felt like they had been kept in the fridge all night. Seeds planted and kept in a makeshift incubator. ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
And right now the sun has just come up - So I am watering the seeds with a sprayer. I never water them with a hosepipe (as that often displeases the seeds). Anyway, this is what I will continue to do until they germinate. Put them in the makeshift incubator during the the nights, and keep them moist while under the sun during the daytime. Watering the Dwarf Sunflower seeds. ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
Oho, I'm looking forward to seeing a small sunflower plant with a huge bloom! By the way, which temps are "cooler" to you?
Which temperatures are cooler to me here? Well, in summer we can easily hit +45 degrees C (I think 52 C is the record here). In winter the lowest recorded temperature is +3 degrees C (in 1885). These days the night temperature can fall to between +17 to +20 degrees C. But daytime will still be around +30 C. Sometime in the 1920s, we did have snow over here. But never again. And in 1984 was the first and only time I have seen a hail storm. So usually the weather over here in Karachi is mostly hot and very humid. However at the mountains and valleys of Northern Pakistan, the temperature is always freezing (sometimes peaking at -70 degrees C)!
That's because the city of Karachi is just one degree above the Tropic of Cancer. So at the summer solstice, the sun is directly overhead (giving us a lot of blinding sunlight for over 12 hours) - That's why it's always sizzling hot over here!
SUCCESS!!! Normally seeds at my place take anywhere from one week to 10 days, sometimes even 2 weeks or slightly more to germinate. But I guess the makeshift incubator sped up the process. Anyway, on the 4th day, I now have 6 seeds that germinated (out of 31). So maybe I'll get more in the next few days. But even if I don't, I'll still be content because imported seeds usually don't do as well as local seeds (because no one knows exactly how long the imported ones have been sitting on the shelves). Dwarf Sunflower seeds sprouted! ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
Hey, this is great. I wasn't expecting pictures of seedlings for a while, but your incubator probably did speed up the process. I hope to see more pictures soon.
