sunflowers

[nomates]

Ok ...not the hardest to grow .....


but just for a bit of fun ....my father in law and I are having a competition to see who grows the biggest and best sunflowers ...(the bog standard yellow ones) ...

his have got off to a better start as his has been in a greenhouse .....my greenhouse is now finished and the missing panes of glass were fitted today ....

so what can I do to beat him .......anyone got any good feeding tips for sunflowers ect ....they are still quite small and in 5-6 inch pots

I've got to beat him,his gloating is persistant......(and quite amusing)

cheers

[Sweepster]

Sneak round to his greenhouse at night and... um... arrange for his sunflowers to have a little accident

[IgglePiggle]

Feed them loads! I planted some last year were a tree lupin had been the year before and it grew great! I think it was down to the lupin putting nitrogen in the soil! It kept going all the way into December

[nomates]

Feed them loads! I planted some last year were a tree lupin had been the year before and it grew great! I think it was down to the lupin putting nitrogen in the soil! It kept going all the way into December

cool ...if I water them with pond water (should be high in nitrates) do you think this will help?......its this or tap water

[jackie j]

I grew some last year that were over nine feet tall and one flower head weighed over 5lb it was huge, I didnt do anything special to any of them. just started them off in pots and put them on my allotment in a bed of compost, the trunks were like trees.

[nomates]

Sneak round to his greenhouse at night and... um... arrange for his sunflowers to have a little accident

I like your style ,but I can't get passed his dog

[nomates]

I grew some last year that were over nine feet tall and one flower head weighed over 5lb it was huge, I didnt do anything special to any of them. just started them off in pots and put them on my allotment in a bed of compost, the trunks were like trees.

what type of compost?

[jackie j]

Just normal garden centre compost with peat in, I had planted some bulbs in a bed and when they died down I put sunlowers in but topped up the bed with compost. I might have added some soil conditioner but cant remember.

[IgglePiggle]

Add some fish blood and bone into the soil, when you plant them out and that will help.

[suziqnewby]

We are also having a competition to see who can grow the biggest sunflower. Am gonna use some of the tips in here for mine. My hubby cheated when he planted his and put the fish blood and bone in the soil. So now the knives are out and i will do anything to win and seeing as i'm in the shed more than him it looks good for me hahahahahaha! I think his may have a little accident xx

[nomates]

this is really cool ....I can hardly believe I got any replies ...let alone somone doing the same as me .......fair play to you suziqnewby .....fun with gardening ehh? ...I always thought it was a chore

[seasprout]

Dont let it go to flower too soon!!

Once the bud starts to swell it stops growing and puts all its energy in the the flower and seeds, plenty of water too. Wind damage is a real problem, make sure it is staked well.!!

[elizajay]

Can you plant a snail or a slug next to his plants? Could be done quite surreptitiously while admiring them.

[seasprout]

Just as an aside, another competition you can have with them is the largest diameter flower.

(widest flower face)

[nomates]

Dont let it go to flower too soon!!

Once the bud starts to swell it stops growing and puts all its energy in the the flower and seeds, plenty of water too. Wind damage is a real problem, make sure it is staked well.!!

how can I delay it flowering?.....?I never thought growing sunflowers would get so technical


thanks again for all your replies