Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:35 pm
In schools is often common to sow various flowers and vegetables. If there is still birdseed from the winter, then you can simply grow the beautiful sunflowers from the sunflower seeds.
It is not necessary to have a large garden to grow sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). Even in a pot or on a small area grow the decorative flowers. The only important things are the right location and the right time for sowing. Then the sunflowers grow almost by themselves with a little water and the children can watch. Thus, the instructions below can be followed and the children will see the success of their efforts in the summer. The seeds for this can be obtained as follows:
- from remaining birdseed
- select all sunflower seeds
- prepare for sowing quite normal
- alternatively seed mixture from the trade
Right time
When to put the seeds in the ground depends on whether the sunflowers are to be cultivated in a tub or directly in the garden bed. For example, in a tub, seeds can be sown early in the year, when the container can remain in a warm and bright room for the first few weeks before being moved outside. When sowing in the garden bed, it should be noted that the temperatures, especially of the soil, have already risen a little. Therefore, the following times are ideal for sowing:
- in pot from February
- place the pot on a bright windowsill
- on warm days outside
- in the garden bed at the end of March or April
- soil temperature should be about 8 ° Celsius
- protect with fleece on cold days/nights
Prepare sowing
In order for the sunflower seeds to be sown, they should be dry. Seeds from tit dumplings are therefore not so suitable, because they were usually held together with fat in the dumpling. This could also have caused fat to get into the seeds and make them stick together. Sunflower seeds from birdseed from the bag are suitable for pulling the flowers but well. These are usually already dry enough. Further preparation of the seeds before sowing is not necessary.
Sowing
When sowing the seeds, the bed, alternatively the pot should be prepared accordingly.
Since the sunflowers later need enough space, how many flowers should be sown here depends on the size of the container. So, in a pot with a circumference of about one meter, you can put two to three seeds. However, it is ideal to grow only one plant in each pot. In the bed, the following should be observed when sowing seeds:
- about 75 cm distance between individual rows
- spacing of seeds in the rows about 45 cm
- Plant the seeds deep in the soil
- about four to six centimeters
Soil condition
Right from the beginning from sowing, the decorative sunflower needs a lot of nutrients. Thus, the plant as well as the flower head will grow beautifully large. Therefore, even before sowing the garden soil must be well prepared according to the following instructions:
- Create drainage against waterlogging
- very important especially in the container
- mix sandy soil with compost and horn shavings
- sandy soil has too few nutrients
- mix normal garden soil with compost
- ideally already four weeks before sowing
- compost can decompose in this way
- nutrients are available directly at sowing time
- normal potting soil can also be used in the container
Location
As the name of the plant suggests, it must be placed in the sun. But this is not the only requirement that the decorative sunflower puts on the ideal location. This should also look like this:
- protected from the wind
- very high sunflowers can break
- in front of a high fence
- in front of a wall
- always on the south side
- alternatively tie to a trellis
Care
After sowing begins the care. Here, the children in the kindergarten can also be well involved. Because the seeds as well as later the plants need a lot of water to thrive and grow big. Therefore, care should pay attention to the following:
- water daily on warm sunny days
- directly in the morning when the nursery starts
- check potted plants also on rainy days
- often not enough rainwater gets into them
- check soil on windowsill also daily
- if leaves and flowers are drooping, watering is necessary
- fertilize once or twice a week
- add liquid fertilizer to the irrigation water
- make your own nettle liquid manure with the children
It is important that the sunflower gets a lot of everything. Here in this case, the motto is once, a lot helps a lot. This applies to both fertilizer and watering.