The 2017 Great Bigleggy Sunflower GrowOff

18 watchers

McGoohan Sep 2017 4:52pm, 13 Sep 2017 31,032 posts	0 McGoohan THEY WERE MAGIC!!!
McGoohan Sep 2017 4:52pm, 13 Sep 2017 31,033 posts	0 McGoohan And had a reasonably small man in a castle at the top of them...
Wriggling Snake Sep 2017 5:26pm, 13 Sep 2017 16,376 posts	0 Wriggling Snake Sara Raven says:- "For statuesque sunflowers, sow them into a modular, divided seed tray full of multi-purpose compost in early March. When the seedlings are two inches tall, move them into three inch pots. Grow them inside until they reach about a foot and then plant them out deep in the garden, adding a good barrow load of manure to the soil where they are to go. Don’t pinch them out, you dipstick McG, start tying them into the support as soon as you can. If you want to pick your sunflowers, you grow them in a different way. Rather than wanting to maximise their height, you stunt the plants to make them easier to pick and increase the production of flowers. To do this, pinch out the growing tips. When they reach about eight inches tall, remove the tip between your thumb and forefinger. It feels brutal, but within a week you’ll see lots of buds breaking from the space between the remaining leaves and central stem. The sunflowers then grow to about six or eight feet tall, and rather than producing one king flower to top the stem, and ten or fifteen sub flowers, you’ll quadruple the number of blooms, each one with a perfect long straight stem with one slightly smaller sunflower at its end. " Honest, that what it says on her website.
McGoohan Sep 2017 5:37pm, 13 Sep 2017 31,034 posts	0 McGoohan Wow, she's very specific. Well, if that's what she says, that's what I'll do next year.
alpenrose Sep 2017 7:35pm, 13 Sep 2017 28,551 posts	0 alpenrose All in the bin now, to be collected and sent to that big compost heap tomorrow.
Garfield Sep 2017 12:40pm, 14 Sep 2017 8,081 posts	0 Garfield Sounds intriguing!:)
Wriggling Snake Sep 2017 1:40pm, 14 Sep 2017 16,399 posts	0 Wriggling Snake In direct contrast to Raven I checked my poor specimens with the idea of berating them for being pants. That the last flowering on has developed 2 side bubs. No pinching. What the hell does Raven know?
Wriggling Snake Sep 2017 1:40pm, 14 Sep 2017 16,400 posts	0 Wriggling Snake I wish I could type......
Fizz :-) Mar 2018 12:45pm, 9 Mar 2018 2,659 posts	0 Fizz :-) When do we start for 2018?
sallykate Mar 2018 1:35pm, 9 Mar 2018 5,390 posts	0 sallykate Good question! This weekend or next?