growing guide

Sunflower growing guide

Sunflowers are our favourite way to bring people joy & although the Kalbar Sunflower festival is only on for 3 days of the year, we have put together this Sunflower growing guide so you can take the sunflower happiness home with you!

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

1) Soil: Any sunny site with good drainage

2) Position in full sun

3) Frost tolerant: Sunflower seedlings often escape damage from light frost, but larger plants have no tolerance of freezing temperatures.

4) Feeding & water: Mix a light application of a balanced organic fertiliser into the soil prior to planting. Sunflowers are quite drought tolerant so only need to be watered 1-2 times per week.

5) Feeding & water: Mix a light application of a balanced organic fertiliser into the soil prior to planting. Sunflowers are quite drought tolerant so only need to be watered 1-2 times per week.

6) Spacing: Plant 30 centimetres between each seed if planting in rows in your garden beds.

7) Sow and Plant: Sow sunflowers from spring to summer. Poke seeds into the soil about 2 to 3 centimetres deep and 8 centimetres apart. Thin to 30 centimetres apart in all directions for dwarf varieties. Extremely tall sunflowers or those that grow into multi-branched bushes may require 1 metre between plants.

8) Harvesting: For flowers - The best time to cut a sunflower for a bouquet is when you see yellow petals and some start to pop open. For seed - Cut sunflower heads when some of the seeds inside the edges appear ripe and fall away when rubbed, or when birds start harvesting them for you. Store in a warm, dry place.