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Sunflower hearts

floraliesfloralies Haute-Garonne SW FrancePosts: 2,170
in Wildlife gardening
Hello all. I have friends driving over from the uk in August and they will bring me a bulk order of sunflower hearts. Can you please help me decide which company is the best/cost effective to order from. Many thanks.

Posts

  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 21,138
    If they’re bringing you a bag as a gift it doesn’t really matter where they get it from,, if you’re ordering them yourself, I always use this company, best value, good product and free next day delivery.  Did your friends want to know where to collect them from?
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30KG-2x15Kg-Sunflower-Hearts-Bakery-Grade-Dehulled-Kernels-for-Wild-Bird-Food/121343302994?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 49,086
    I've used this company.

    https://www.gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk/bird-straight-foods/sunflower-seeds-hearts.html

    However, I found them even cheaper at my local branch of Home Bargains, so if your friends have one of those, they maybe available, although I'd guess more likely to be in stock  heading into winter.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 21,138
    Good price, mine are slightly cheaper.
    Wilco are very expensive. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • floraliesfloralies Haute-Garonne SW FrancePosts: 2,170
    Thanks Lyn and Fairygirl, I am buying the seeds and having them delivered to their house, weight apparently doesn't matter. I had a look at this site seems reasonable do you think?
    https://www.thecornmill.com/sunflower-hearts-60kg-27

  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 21,138
    Ah, I see what you mean, that price is much the same, but what will you do with all that seed, they could go a bit off before you’ve used it all? 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • floraliesfloralies Haute-Garonne SW FrancePosts: 2,170
    Mmm, maybe Lyn. I can get through easily 35 kilo of hearts in a winter here, we have so many goldfinches overwintering plus the locals. Seed usually keeps ok in a cool dark shed here from one winter to the next.
  • BijdezeeBijdezee BPosts: 1,484
    You can get them in Belgium quite easily, so I'm surprised that you can't get them near to you in France. 

    I'm always amazed at the things I can't get here though, a John innes type of soil for instance, liquid seaweed, Hormone rooting powder... 
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 28,564
    I have never found sunflower hearts in our new place and rarely saw them in Belgium.   No goldfinches either and the local birds are happy enough with whole sunflower seeds.

    Good garden centres did hormone rooting powder in Belgium but I rarely used it and still had successes.

    I find French and Belgian planting composts a lottery and baffling.  No standard ratios for texture or nutrients and lots of weed seeds.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • floraliesfloralies Haute-Garonne SW FrancePosts: 2,170
    You would think that with all the sunflowers grown around here the french would have sunflower hearts for sale, but only large sacks of the whole seeds are for sale. The goldfinches seem to prefer the hearts to the nyjer seed which you can't buy here either.
  • BijdezeeBijdezee BPosts: 1,484
    @Obelixx - Aveve do sunflower hearts, I know ur in France now though  :)

    I have never found any rooting powder in Limburg or Brugge area. I can wholeheartedly agree about the composts, they always do Composts aimed at what is being grown, if I did that I would have a shed full of various bags and the multipurpose is horrible. Can't wait for those worms to do their work on my compost heap. 
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