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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 26, 2020 20:00:51 GMT -6
Last year, I had a Mammoth Sunflower plant that did extremely well, so I saved seeds from it and replanted it this year. Unfortunately, the deer ate almost all of them, but of the few that survived, this one has particularly interesting merit. First, branching okra ... Now, branching Mammoth Sunflowers. I'll definitely be saving seeds from this one.
This same plant is putting on double and triple seed heads at the end of each branch. It will be very interesting to see what this turns out like. Anyone have any idea how to keep the birds off of this thing until it matures?
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Post by macmex on Jul 27, 2020 6:26:57 GMT -6
We're just going to have to conclude that Ron has "the touch!" Everything he touches ... branches!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 2, 2020 14:35:05 GMT -6
It's probably just some of the after-glow from the time I worked at Sequoyah Fuel Corp...
You guys probably don't want any of that touch.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 3, 2020 21:24:34 GMT -6
Bon,
The birds will love you for that. I enjoy growing sunflowers for that very reason.
I enjoy the birds. There's a lot of peace in knowing they are having a good time out there.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 12, 2020 23:16:44 GMT -6
My mutant sunflower has 5 blossoming heads on it right now. It just makes me happy to see it every morning when I go out there!
I always try to plant a few flowers out there to cheer me up when hard times come. (It's surprising just how much that really works).The stem on the right is the first branch of the three branches that this mutant sunflower has. There are three heads on that one branch alone.A little sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy. Oops! Wrong photo. How'd that get in there? Here it is ... the mutant sunflower with three arms and five heads.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2020 23:51:24 GMT -6
So it's true, everything with you touch branches out. I'm thinking you blessed the sunflower more than visa versa. <3
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 15, 2020 22:07:15 GMT -6
I've got twenty-two sunflower seed heads on the table for processing this week. I got this many good heads and still left seeds out there for the birds to enjoy. This morning, I caught a few birds enjoying these on my makeshift tabletop before I got back from lunch. I cut a large hole in the backside of the seed heads to let moisture evaporate more quickly. (The sunflower heads are hollow inside, so the hole lets air circulate better. The second day on the table, I flip them, after rubbing all the spent blossoms loose from the seeds. That lets the seeds get better circulation from the front side. On day three or four, the seeds will start to loosen up some, so I can begin rolling them out of the seed comb. Once the seeds are separated from the seed heads, I'll spread a large sheet of plastic on the ground and pour the seeds slowly, from a bucket, in front of a large fan. The fan will blow away most of the chaff, so what I end up with on the sheet of plastic will consist mostly of good seed. That way, the hollow ones blow away.
After that is done, I boil them in salt brine for about half an hour or so, then spread them out to dry. Then, I'll bake the salted seeds in the oven until crisp and dry the way you find them in the grocery store.
I just wish I had planted peanuts this year. I miss my boiled peanuts!
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Post by buzoval on May 17, 2021 5:29:13 GMT -6
I used to grow sunflowers when I lived with my parents. We had a whole field, and it was great. But the soil after them was bad. It was a good experience. Thanks for your pictures.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 17, 2021 20:29:30 GMT -6
Sunflowers are heavy feeders. So, you kind of need to alternate planting sites each year. I just grow them around my borders because I like seeing them there. My borders are usually full of weeds, so that all helps to replenish the soil when I plow the weeds under in Winter. Usually, the birds get all of the sunflower seeds before I do, but last year, I had a bountiful harvest for the birds and for us too.
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Post by chrysanthemum on May 23, 2021 16:13:10 GMT -6
I don’t have lots of extra space in my garden beds, but I, too, love seeing sunflowers. I have a pack of mixed seeds, and I planted just one this spring and tucked the plant in the very corner of my asparagus bed where I had some room. I love what it grew. It’s about five feet tall, maybe a little taller.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 23, 2021 21:55:40 GMT -6
I love that!
I don't think there is a better 'feel good' plant in the whole garden than a sunflower.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Oct 31, 2022 23:08:32 GMT -6
Last year I grew 6 Mammoth sunflowers in a small bed. One of them grew secondary flower buds in many of its upper leaf axils. I saved seed from this plant and planted some of them this year. Initially about 30 were growing, then the Javelina visited and 4 plants survived and are blooming now. I'm fairly certain the original seed had a degree of hybridization, since 2 or 3 of the original seedlings (grown to about 3-4 inches tall) had red tinted stems and leaves (none of those survived). Of the 4 survivors, 2 grew to about 3 feet tall, one with a skinny stem, the other with a thicker stem. The flower on the skinney stem had wide yellow petals, the flower on the thick stem had narrow petals. The other 2 plants are betweeen 5 and 6 feet tall, and one of them is producing secondary buds on most of its upper leaf axils. Many pollinators are swarming these flowers all day long; honeybees, butterflies, wild bee species, and even a few flies. I'm hoping the multifloral plant will produce some ripe seed before the first frost kills it. Then I can see what it gets to doing, next year. I'm sure it needs at least another couple of weeks, yet. I was just reading how the sunflower is native to North America, but many varieties were developed in Russia, beginning in the 1800's. And it's now the national flower of the Ukraine.
My stereotype of Russians is a very nationalistic people. I guess they can't be all that nationalistic if they're choosing a North American plant as their national flower.
I'd sure love to see branching like heayhitterokra had in his Mammoth sunflowers.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Nov 5, 2022 22:18:12 GMT -6
Update: The first to bloom, short one, with the skinny stalk, has finished blooming and is trying to finish its seed before frost. The other shorter one is almost finished blooming, while the two tallest, bloomed last and are not yet finished getting all their florets pollinated, but close. We haven't had our real first frost, yet, but it has been close.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Nov 17, 2022 12:38:31 GMT -6
Update #2: The two smallest ones have dropped all of their bright yellow outer ring of petals and have bent over to face the ground, each of these are between 3 and 4 inches in diameter. Of the two larger ones, the earliest one to bloom is beginning to drop its ring of bright yellow petals. They too have bent over to face the ground, each of these are 8 to 10 inches in diameter. Their bright and sunny appearances have been subdued by their present posture, but they're still a reminder that winter has not yet arrived, here in Picture Rocks. And the one with buds in its leaf axils, is trying to blossom some of those buds.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Nov 19, 2022 21:37:00 GMT -6
Update #3: Nearly all their petals haver dropped, now. The plant with leaf axil buds is opening one of those buds. All of the buds are 1 inch in diameter or less, but one of them is progressing rapidly into an active mini flower head. Since our forecast lows are 40F or above, I hope it can continue to make good progress.
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