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(Best months for planting Sunflower in United Kingdom - temperate/warm regions)

• Harvest in 70-80 days
• Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 10°C and 30°C.
• Space plants: 20-30cm

Large showy flowers, available in a variety of colours Giant or Russian varieties are best for seed production

Sunflowers do not like to be transplanted.

Grow to 1 - 2 metres (4 - 6 ft) so need staking or protection from the wind. Protect the seed heads from birds when ripening.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Sunflower

Use seeds fresh or toasted

Your comments and tips

26 Aug 09 ian robertson (Australia - temperate climate)

Hello all, i am a high school teacher at urrbrae ag hs down in adelaide. We have a class project to grow sunflowers. I have been allocated a good size plot. I want to make sure i get the correct variety..i want to grow the sunflowers which reach up to 5-6 feet and i would like advice on growing them. we are selling them to raise money for kids cancer and we are making a short film to go with it.

09 Sep 09 Beth (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

This is website give me lots of ideas to help me with planting sunflowers seeds So thanks a lot!

17 Sep 09 helen (Australia - temperate climate)

I've heard of people putting an old stocking (nylon type) over sunflower seed heads to deter birds etc from eating the seeds (while they dry on the plant). Not sure if it works. Worth a try I spose.

11 Dec 09 Taryn (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

peoplez don't plant the sunflower withs no shell plant the black ones (NO white ones!!!)

11 Dec 09 Taryn (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

will they survive autum and spring i know they won't survive winter and they will survive summer but what about autum and springe!

16 Jan 10 Celina (Australia - temperate climate)

We planted sunflowers in late January last year and they still came up, our first crop has just finished and we are about to plant some more, one head will give you about 500 seeds so dont buy any more 3kg bags for the birds if you have planted in 10 plants, to stop the bird put a paper bag over the top of the head to collect the seed

20 Jan 10 funkbunnt (Australia - temperate climate)

Ian Robertson I have grown a 3m tall sunflower this yeat with 30 flower heads! Im niot sure what the trick was - it was planted in November as a seeds in a spot near the potato bed which had been well manured with sheep poo!

25 Jan 10 TD1 (Australia - temperate climate)

My sunflowers grew 6-7 foot, now im not sure what to do with the heads to retrieve the seeds?

26 Jan 10 Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Taryn, in sub-tropical areas they should last well into autumn. You can plant now (January) to ensure they will grow through autumn, and start planting again in early spring.

19 Feb 10 stephen (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Garden centre seeds were too expensive so I planted a whole heap of sunflower seeds which we buy from the supermarket for our cockatoo. Now I have got heaps of seedlings all very close to one another. Should I thin them out by transplanting or by pinching out? And what do you reckon is the minimum space I can leave between seedlings. Thanks