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Sunflower Woes

anyacoloanyacolo Posts: 44
in Problem solving

i am an absolute novice gardener,

i take care of simple plants, hostas, rose bushes, evergreens, etc etc, gardening is not really a huge passion for me,

about two years ago i bought a package of sunflower seeds, without any knowledge whatsoever i literally dug 6-8 holes in an exsisting garden that has hostas and threw a couple of seeds into each hole,

the soil in that garden was pretty much horrible, like clay,

i watered every day and to my amazement and enjoyment, every single seed i planted grew into literally 12 foot tall sunflowers with beautiful big heads/flowers,

this took no effort at all,

this spring i wanted to plant sunflowers again, but this time i made a proper garden in my back yard, i even paid a lot of money for premium soil,

i planted about 60 sunflower seeds,

i water everyday just to keep the soil moist, as i did previously,

it has now been almost 6 weeks since i planted, every seed has come up to the surface but the plants are all only about 6 inches tall and have seemed to be stunted at this height, they simply are not growing anymore, it is very hot over 90F most days,

i am very frusterated that the sunflowers i planted years ago grew so easily with little effort, this time i put extra effort and bought good soil and im not getting the same results,

could it be the seeds that i bought? they were "burpee" brand name and came in a nice sealed foil package

Posts

  • Rinus KRinus K Posts: 67

    Sunflowers need sandy soil and don't like to wet feet. So I guess your soil is way too nutritious. If you've watered them every day the seeds drowned during germination and rooting. So next year poor soil and put the seeds in ca. 2 cm deep holes. You will have sunflowers as Van Gogh painted them in France.

       

  • NorthernLass2NorthernLass2 Posts: 407

    Easy to grow providing they're well drained and in full sun. 

    They are susceptible to slugs and snails though.    Have you noticed those?   

    IF they are a problem in your garden then use a plastic pop bottle cut in two to shield your young plants.

  • anyacoloanyacolo Posts: 44

    thanks for the replies,

    so are you saying you think im watering them too often?

    i only give them a light sprinkle just enough to keep the soil moist, the water very quickly is absorbed into the soil and does not "pool" on top of the soil,

    its just strange that i watered exactly the same way with my previous sunflowers which did so well,

    why would they come up to about 4-6 inches and stay stunted at that height?

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