The biggest complaint I hear about growing sunflowers is, "I planted sunflowers, but they never grew." If you've heard that sunflowers are easy to grow, you've heard right! But keep this in mind: We already know that sunflower seeds are a delicious snack for humans, and their seeds and seedlings are just as delicious to little creatures that creep and crawl and forage the earth. This is the biggest reason why people who plant sunflowers fail to eventually see the bright blossoms they hoped for. I'm going to give you 3 tips on how to successfully grow the sunflowers you're dreaming of.
1. Start sunflower seeds indoors. Contrary to the common reccomendation for direct seeding sunflowers, I've had the most success when I start mine inside. The problem I and many others face with direct seeding sunflower seeds is foraging birds. The space we currently grow our garden is an old city lot that had overflowed with weeds for years before we cultivated it. The land attracts a lot of creatures including many birds. Birds natrually poke around the ground for yummy treats so you can imagine that finding a sunflower seed is like hitting the jackpot! And once they find one, they're certain to come back for more. To start sunflower seeds indoors, I simply plant them about 4 weeks before I plan to transplant them into the garden. This way they don't get too big and their roots aren't too established. Last summer we successfully grew hundreds of beautiful sunflowers all that were started indoors.
2. Place deterrents. Happy little creatures like deer and rabbits don't know the difference between your lush garden and the wild growing plants they eat every day. That doesn't make it any easier when we go out to the garden in the morning only to find our flowers and veggies were last night's midnight snack. Deer and rabbits will glady munch your sunflower seedlings so keeping them at a distance is important. You can protect your seedlings by buying or making your own protective coverings made of chicken wire, garden mesh, or even milk jugs. You can also plant aromatic plants around your garden like lavender, snapdragons, sage, mint, and even garlic. The tastes and smells of these plants are not enjoyable to most animals so they should keep your sunflowers safe. And finally, scarecrows. Using scarecrows, reflective tape, or pinwheels in your garden tend to scare away crawling creatures. One tip for this method is to move your scarecrow every few days to every week in order to keep creatures on their toes.
3. Natural pest repellents. Bugs and slugs are another frustration when it comes to growing healthy and beautiful sunflowers. I don't like using chemicals in our garden so I always try to stick to natural methods. For slugs and snails, sprinkling diatomaceous earth around and even on your sunflowers will keep them from creeping and eating. I've also DIYed my own pest sprays using vegetable oil, mild soaps, chili pepper, and garlic. Choose a soap, one extra ingredient, and then add water to create your bug spray. Super easy and used with ingredients most families have in their homes already!
If you've got questions or other tips about growing happy sunflowers, share them in the comments below!
Happy growing. :)
