Re-planted Sunflowers - Leaves wilting, generally not as expected
Jim Jams
Posts: 3
Hi I am a complete newbie here and total novice to gardening. I bought Sunflowers which were potted in 6" pots and they looked pretty nice.
I followed instructions on the side of the pots, dug down about 4" and placed some compost at the bottom. I am sure I lifted them carefully enough but not sure how careful I should have been.
Anyhow I replanted them in the holes and put in a mixture of compost and soil and patted them down until I thought they were firm enough and then turned on the hose and gacve them a good old soak...oh and I placed some smaill white stones around them to decorate.
The following day the leaves looked as if they have wilted a bit and in my mind the sunflowers maybe dont look as well as they did in the pots.
Oh I placed the 2 sunflowers at differing parts of the garden
HELP!!!!! Have I done something wrong? 
What can I do to repair/rectify this?
Any help is much appreciated 
Posts
Don't worry too much, they will almost certainy recover - it does not matter how careful you are removing plants from their growing cells or pots, some root damage will be done. Then they go into a new place, with different soils - and then we wonder why they wilt? Wouldn't you? Give them a bit of time and patience, don't over water, that will kill them quicker than most things - now you have watered them in as you planted them, leave well alone - nature will want them to grow and it is very likely that they will. I hope the areas in which you have planted them are sunny, they are not called sunflowers just because of their looks, the love planty of sunshine as they grow (but then, don't we all?)
Thank you for this.
I have placed them at strategic points in my garden. I am very fortunate because my garden area approx 100ft by 40ft gets the sun from maybe 9:30 in the morning right through to sunset and the sunflowers are well away from any shaded areas of the garden.
Thanks once again
Would you mind keeping me updated on this thread on how they turn out?
My son grew 3 sunflowers at nursery and they have just sent them home now for the parents to finish off
I have already repotted them into large pots as there were 3 flowers all in 1 tiny pot. I did see the leaves wilt ever so slightly at first but they seem ok now.
The next stage will be to put them in the garden. Would be interested to see how long it took yours to recover and start to grow again (want to be able to reassure my son i havent destroyed his plants!)
Many thanks
Stuart.
No Probs Stuart, I am happy to do so
Hi JimJams- Bookertoo is right- I'm sure your sunflowers will perk up in no time- the weather this year is making it difficult to grow anything!
Stuart- take a little time to harden the plants off before you put them in their final spot- the weather is picking up a bit now (hopefully!) but it's worth taking a little care. The fluctuating temperature is what causes the problem. Your son will no doubt get lots of pleasure seeing them grow
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hi JimJams, Like the others I'm sure they will be alright . What I will add though is dont replant any delicate seedlings in a realy hot day - wait for cool of the evening- but you problebly know that . I made this mistake a long time ago !
Ive just planted 5 sunflower colossus in the front garden, they are about 2' high and im hoping they will look nice grouped together. I grew them from seed and have put others in different areas of the garden. If children can manage to grow them i should be able to!! Watch this space....
Not sure about that as a cause and effect BBE, children often do things we can't because they don't know they can't!!! I'm sure they will do well and be gorgeous. I'm very fond of the terracotta and orangey ones - 'Velvet Queen' I think they are called, but we have too much in the way of strong winds for such tall flowers here.
They should recover providing we don't have any cold nights. Quite normal for plants to look a bit sad for a day or two after planting out or repotting. Sunflowers are pretty tough, they deal with slug damage etc quite well. One word of advice to you though, I've grown many different types of sunflowers, almost all WILL require some form of support. If you've just planted them now is the ideal time to shove a nice big cane, 8ft normally for the 6ft+ ones, just to the side of your plants roots. Tie the plant in every foot or so and you should be good. If you grow the very large ones, I personally use a cane, and also plant close to walls or fence where I have support wires that I can attach it to as well. Haven't lost any big ones in a good few years. Also, don't forget the ground, when they get bigger, sunflowers are greedy, so I plant mine on a big load of manure in the planting hole. I also feed them tomato feed every week, and twice a week once the flower head is formed. It sounds a lot of work, but the results are always worth it. When the head of your sunflower is over a foot across, it's well worth it!
Do you all reckon it's time I got on and sowed the seeds then
In the sticks near Peterborough