Tips on growing sunflowers...

[PirateGirl]

Thanks @RUNuts i will look at that variety. I would love to plant something that will be beneficial to the chickens as well as eye candy

 

[oregonkat]

I direct seed my SF's just push the seeds into the ground about an inch deep and 10 -12 inches apart for the giants. I would not call the giants 'eye candy' at least for me. They get huge and rangy and the leaves are usually ugly so these beasts get the back of the garden bed and the wild birds usually get to them before I can give much to the chickens.

 

[Duckstail]

I use sunflowers as row markers in my garden. There is some talk about them being aleopathic, but I will neither agree or disagree with that statement.

I've seen a lot of farms around here do that however I was under the impression it was for Pest Management either way I think you're on the right track. I'm going to start doing that this year !!

 

[lazy gardener]

I use other plants for row markers as well. Nasturtium, marigold, and within the row, radish. My all time favorite radish is "French breakfast". It's super mild and great sliced with a dollop of peanut butter.

 

[PirateGirl]

I use other plants for row markers as well. Nasturtium, marigold, and within the row, radish. My all time favorite radish is "French breakfast". It's super mild and great sliced with a dollop of peanut butter.

I'm not a big radish person but was told I can probably grow them in my climate, so perhaps I will try this variety. If I hate them will the chickens eat them?

I have 3 different spots picked out for sunflowers. I will try a few in each and see. Do critters eat sunflowers? As in the stalks and leaves? As in rabbits and prairie dogs? Do I need a cage around them? It's so hard here because critters can always dig in from far away, a fence doesn't cut it, I swear the tunnels extend for miles. Something already got into my raised bed which is supposed to be critter proof and I haven't even planted in it yet. All that's in there are my strawberries that I hope will come back in another month or so. I'm going to add some compost to one of the spots soon since I haven't planted it in the past.

I have been unable to find marigolds the past two summers and have really been wanting them in my garden Perhaps I need to start them from seed this year inside. hmm... another project.

 

[lazy gardener]

Sunflowers make a great insect trap crop. As for bunnies and gophers, I imagine they would rather eat other things.

Marigolds grow well from seed. I would say they are the easiest flower to start from seed. I was too lazy to start them this year, so will be seeding a row in the garden so I can transplant them elsewhere.

 

[PirateGirl]

Sunflowers make a great insect trap crop. As for bunnies and gophers, I imagine they would rather eat other things.

Marigolds grow well from seed. I would say they are the easiest flower to start from seed. I was too lazy to start them this year, so will be seeding a row in the garden so I can transplant them elsewhere.

The prairie dogs eat EVERYTHING. They eat things I don't expect them to. If I plant flowers/pollinators it's like they've got a buffet. So far I have found they do not eat my sedum or catmint (thank you to my neighbor for that suggestion) and these grow back every year and I don't fence them or have to cover them with plastic when it freezes or anything special. This is lovely, but they are just my landscaping plants and aren't particularly useful to me. I have a few pots/boxes I could start my marigolds by seed inside and then move them out and/or transplant them in a month or so. Supposedly bunnies won't eat marigolds and the chickens will eat them so they are a natural win.

 

[lazy gardener]

Sorry, I don't even have prairie dogs here, so I made a false assumption. My bad!

 

[PirateGirl]

Sorry, I don't even have prairie dogs here, so I made a false assumption. My bad!

They might not eat them, who knows, that's the thing, they will eat random things and not others. As things start sprouting in my "flower garden" I am learning what things will grow into wild flowers and when I'm weeding, I leave them behind. I figure if they can survive the prairie dogs, at least I will have some flowers.

I will protect some of the sunflowers and leave others and see what happens. An experiment.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I bought the mammoth this year.. now I'm wondering if it was a mistake seeing that pic of how big they get! lol I didn't really plan my spot well either and kind of just threw them in a bunch of places so hopefully they don't shade things too much.

I was amazed at how many types of sunflowers there are though. I went into a local store called Ocean State Job Lot and they had a ton of types and all the seeds were 40% off.

But they have red ones, orange ones, dwarf ones, all kinds, so if you want a prettier one or a smaller one maybe look for those. I got the mammoth because it looked to me like it had the most seeds and most edible ones.

And btw, BOSS isn't really a specific type of sunflower but rather if you go to any store and buy a bag of Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, like in the bird food section, those will grow. And they are very prolific. I had a ton sprout last year just from accidentally being left in a seed tray and rained on (squirrels had gotten into my bag and dropped some) and I had some crop up and grow in the yard last year. They didn't get very big and almost looked somewhat sickly, idk, but that was later in the season, but they made seeds and are cheap and good food. This year I have had a ton crop up all over the yard. A bunch in the garden and some randomly in the backyard where the old chicken coop was, etc. Good soil I guess? But those things will grow about anywhere haha

But they are not the prettiest type but good chicken food or possible good groundhog food or bait if you plant some somewhere they might leave your other stuff alone?

I can't wait to see how tall my sunflowers get haha