giant-sunflowers

lennyboy

A friend of mind gave me some seeds from a 10ft giant sunflower that mysteriously grew in his veg patch several years ago. Since then I've been growing them, harvesting seeds and continuing the bloodline however I'd really like to know what variety they are. 

The tallest one over the last few years was about 11ft and as you can see from this year's batch, they've done pretty well too. Any help in identifying would be really appreciated. 

Thanks in advance, 

Mark

 

 

 

Dovefromabove

I grow Russian Giants which, in our sandy loam get to about 7ft and the size of a breakfast plate if we're lucky.   However, I know people who grow them much bigger than that.  I think they're probably the most usual variety grown for size in the UK.

I think growing conditions have a great deal to do with the eventual size as well as variety.  You've obviously been selecting seeds from the best plants, and as this article states, it's as much to do with selection for strong stems as height and size of flower 

http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/grow-sunflower.html

Goodness knows what type the original one you grew was, but as the years go on you're developing a refined selection 

lennyboy

Thanks for the swift reply. Yes indeed I've been selecting the best ones and will again this year. I like the sounds of 'developing a refined selection' 

You're right the Russian Giants do seem to look very similar however I've noticed a few other varieties that are similar. I'll grab a few links and post to see what you and other might think. 

Thanks again! 

The potty gardener

No idea what they are but wow

lennyboy

Thanks Potty! 

I've been researching all night trying to see if I could find some images to see if I could identify this sunflower but as people just seem to use stock images it's proving really difficult! 

In my reasearch I did find these giant sunflower varieties: 

Mammoth
Russian Mammoth
American Giant
Titan
Skyscraper
Humongous
Giant Grey Stripe
Giant Sungold
Mongolian Giant
Taiyo
Tarahumara ( white seeds)
New Jersey Giant

I'm also finding that people call different varieties different things like mammoth, Russion Giant, Mammoth Giants etc.

Would love to find out once and for all! All help appreciated

lennyboy

Another clue that might prove helpful to identify is that the seeds are white! Does that help anyone?