The sunflower cycle

Sunflowers are one of the biggest flowers we can grow in our gardens. Why not challenge you friends and family to grow the tallest ones? You can use your new growing knowledge to help

For this activity, you’ll need:

Sunflower seeds – we recommend LG Sunny Giant Sunflowers, RHS Sunflower Teddy Bear, or Sunflower Van Gogh varieties
Small pots
Compost
Fertiliser
Wooden stakes (you can also use branches)

Step 1: Planting your seeds

Fill your pots with compost
Sow one seed into each pot making sure it’s 1.5cm deep
Place them in a cool, bright spot in a greenhouse or porch
After the shoots start to appear, keep them well watered

Step 2: Transferring seedlings

Once your plant grows sets of leaves, they’re ready to plant outside
Prepare the soil by removing weeds and add fertiliser or manure
Plant the sunflowers as deep as they were in the pot and water well

Step 3: Helping your sunflowers grow

As your plants grow towards the sun, add stakes to protect them from the wind
They’ll need plenty of water, and you can keep adding fertiliser until the flowers bloom

Step 4: Collecting seeds for next year

Each flower head is full of seeds
Let the flowers dry out before removing them
Store them somewhere cool and dry so they can be planted again next year

What else can I do with my sunflower seeds?

Sunflower seeds have so many other uses. Here are a few of our favourites:

Tie up your dried flower heads so birds can eat the seeds
Use them for baking bread or muffins
Add them to salads
Use them in crafts

We’d love to see how tall your sunflowers grow. Take a picture and share them with us by using #DobbiesLittleSeedlings and tagging us

@dobbiesgardencentres
@DobbiesGC
@dobbies