So you want to grow a giant sunflower?
An expert told me you need two things to grow a giant sunflower - the right seed and luck!
Which seeds?
Hopefully you already have your seeds from the Horticultural Society, if not, please contact Margaret Gilliam,
We are using the same type of Giant Sunflower seeds as last year, when they grew really tall, you may have seen them popping over fences around the village.
How to make your own luck?
First chose the location. As the name says, they like sun – as much as possible, ideally at least 8 hours per day.
The soil should be cleared of weeds, fertile and well drained. Consider adding well-rotted manure, or one of the slow release fertilisers.
Plant the seed directly into the ground to a depth of around 1 inch (2.5cm). Sunflowers have long tap roots which don’t like to be disturbed by transplanting, or dried out, even temporarily, which often happens in pots.
The recommended spacing is between 18 and 24 inches apart (45cm – 60cm). Some people suggest planting a bit closer together initially as this can encourage competition between the plants resulting in longer stalks (but the flower heads will be smaller). Once the plants are established remove all but the strongest.
Plant as early as possible for the maximum growing time – but after any frosts. Some suggest you should delay planting until the night time temperature doesn’t drop below about 10oC but that isn’t really practical in the UK. If there’s a risk of a frost protect the seedlings.
Protect the plant from slugs. One way is to cut the top off a plastic bottle and place it over the seedling. This has the extra advantage of keeping the plant a bit warmer which will encourage it to grow even more strongly.
Sunflowers are greedy so feed and water regularly with a liquid fertiliser. Don’t let the soil dry out (but don’t drown them!) and don’t water onto the stem (It will rot). Try making a ‘moat’ around the plant and filling that with water, moving it out as the stem grows. Starting around 4 inches (10cm) from the plant, by the middle of the summer, the moat is likely to be about 18 inches (~45cm) from the stem and about 4 inches (10cm) deep).
Another way of feeding and watering is to push a drainpipe around 12 inches (30cm) into the grown and fill that.
Expect to be adding several litres of liquid fertiliser each week.
Some people stake their plants but others don’t. If you decide to stake you will need a strong, stout cane or post positioned close to the plant. Tie the plant loosely to the cane using string that is softer than the stem. Tie the string in a figure of eight so the plant doesn’t rub against the cane. Some people recommend watering less when winds are forecast to reduce the risk of the plant blowing over.
What can you expect?
The world record for the tallest sunflower is 30ft 1 inch (9.17m) and was grown by Hand-Peter Schiffer in Karts in Germany in 2015. Hans-Peter is clearly an expert as he has broken the record 4 times, first in 2009 when he was the achieved 8.03m. He has extended the record by more than 1 m in 6 years!
The UK record is around 26ft (7.9m) tall and the heads can reach 2ft 6inches (~75cm) in diameter (more than 75 cm)
1 of 1Growing a giant sunflower / Last saved on 03 May. 16