Strange isn't it? They are hardly 2 inches tall, yet they are already following the sun. Just look at the first 2 pictures. And you'll see that in the mornings, the Sunflower seedling is tilting towards the East - The sun hasn't even come up yet, but the plant seems to know exactly from where it will come! And the next picture is just before sunset, where the same plant is now tilting towards the West! And in the last picture, you people can see how I'm putting them in separate pots of their own, until they get bigger to be moved elsewhere. The piece of wooden I always place over my seedling - And I tie a string to it, at the end of which I hang a square piece of shiny aluminium sheet (which flutters in the breeze). This is to scare the sparrow away, works 100% of the times! Sunflower seedling tilting eastward in the mornings. ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden ) Sunflower seedling tilting westward at dusk ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden ) Sunflower seedlings, 15 transplanted so far ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
Still going strong (despite the merciless heat)! Which is why I now have to water them 2 to 3 times a day... 6 healthy sunflowers ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden ) Sunflower! ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
Hi S-H..I really like your sunflower enthusiasm! The suns are my fave flower of all, i just love the varieties and everything about them. Good for bee's too.. My wife even got a tattoo of one for me, she said that she wasn't gonna put my name on her but decided to get a sunflower for me instead. I didn't ask for this at all...but i appreciate the sentiment ya know.. Ive had good and bad years with sunflowers. The bad years have been mostly due to watering to little or stunting them in small pots. Its amazing how the pots limit the size of a lot of plants. They bloomed but the giant varieties were like miniature versions of them selves. I have a good collection of sun's...i love variety and all the different colours they can come in. Red, yellow, orange, white.....there are so many different types and choices. Its awesome. I always look for different types in the store and plan to plant a bunch this year. I will be checkin out your thread so good luck with your suns! Oh and i really like this one type of sunflower called a Mexican sunflower. It doesnt get too big and has multiple orange blooms all over it. Heres a pic of a one that never left the small container i started it in. You can only see one bloom but they flower all over it and are very pretty. Mammoth Russian is very common over in this are but i always look for bigger ones if available. I thought i had topped my list of giants with a Skyscraper variety but it seems this other one i have called an "American Giant" gets bigger than those. I guess it will be a challenge to see how big i can get this things this year. take it easy.. G_N
The variety of Sunflowers which I have been looking for (for many years now) - Are the single stem, 10 inch diameter flower size, Dwarf Sunflowers. Which don't grow over 2 and a half feet tall. Hence they can easily be putted. But no matter what I do, they always remain outside my grasp... For starters, majority of the seed sellers are NOT willing to ship seeds outside USA and Canada. And those that do (like on Amazon DOT com), require that payments be made by a credit-card - Which is something we here in Pakistan are really allergic to... We have our own ways of making ultra secure payments online (in which there is zero chance of fraud). But I guess no seed seller is willing to deviate from the norm. Sunflowers are not native to my area. So whenever we grow them, we have to take special care. Also, they are usually treated as Winter or early Spring flowers - They don't do well on their own in our Summers (which last for over 8 months). Unless of course, you take measures to insure that they don't dry out because of the heat. The heat over here in Karachi city is extremely high (by western standards). +45ºC is not at all uncommon at the peak of Summer. However as we go northward, the climate of Pakistan quickly changes to that of central Europe, and if we continue to up further right up to the Himalayas - Than we get sub zero temperatures all year! But here in Karachi, conditions are that of a coastal Arabian semi-desert.
The weather is now becoming very hot. So even the slightest neglect in watering, can be fatal to Sunflowers. Which is why now I've only got 3 healthy plants left. Sunflowers. ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
Gee S-H it does not look good for the sunflowers. At this rate they may not make it to maturity. How about putting them in a tray of water during the day and remove them it night? jerry
S-H, sorry to see you are down to just three Sunflowers,..as Jerry suggested more action is required,..a tray of water,..or a wet math,..or wick. Has anybody sent you the seeds for the big Sunflower?.
Well, up till now I have not received any seeds in the mail. But that is understandable - Because usually packages from the western heliosphere take about a month to reach here (through regular mail).
Well this is it. Only one plant survived. It is now about 16 inches tall, and the flower is 4 inches in diameter. Not what I had wanted, but it can't be helped - The weather is just too hot nowadays... Sunflower! ( photo / image / picture from S-H's Garden )
S-H, perhaps you can plant again when the weather gets cooler? Does it get cooler? I don't have a feel for seasonal weather in Karachi. Jerry
The weather will start to get a bit cooler around mid to late November. In between if the Monsoon season rains come (from mid June to late August) - Than it will bring some temporary relief. Otherwise everything will continue to sizzle endlessly.
S-H, you are persistent in growing your sunflowers. That takes dedication. Hopefully you will get that last one to grow and flower for you. But.... I'm liking Ohio better and better after reading this post. We don't have to watch out for poisonous snakes or many spiders, here where I live, there is the copperhead, which I have never seen in the wild, and the diamondback rattler in southern Ohio, which is not close to here. and only a couple of bad spiders... So keep your eyes open there, and keep your weapon handy!!! UHG!!! and Shudders, is all I can think.
