When do you start sowing sunflowers outdoors?
You can only sow sunflowers in the open air when the soil is no longer too cold. If even more severe frosts occur after sowing, the seeds often do not germinate. If the first plants have already sprouted, they will quickly freeze to death again in the night frost.
also read
- Harvesting sunflowers for consumption or for sowing
- When is the best time to plant sunflowers?
- Sunflowers are not poisonous, they are even edible
So wait until the end of April before sowing the sunflowers.
In order for the sunflowers to bloom earlier, it is worth giving preference to sunflowers indoors. The seeds can then be sown in seed trays from the beginning of March.
Sow in the field
- Loosen the soil deeply
- Incorporate mature compost or horn shavings (€ 6.39 at Amazon *)
- Put seeds in the ground
- Cover with earth
- Possibly. put a layer of leaves on top
The distance between the sunflowers should be between 40 and 70 centimeters, depending on the subsequent size of the sunflower variety.
Put three to five seeds two to three centimeters deep into the soil and then cover them. Keep the seed site moderately moist.
As soon as the plants have formed the first pairs of leaves, all weaker sunflowers are cut off, so that only the strongest plant remains.
Prefer sunflowers indoors
Prepare a seed tray or small pots for sowing sunflowers indoors. Put three to five seeds into the ground at least two inches apart.
The sowing depth should be around two centimeters. Cover the seeds and place the vessels warm and bright.
After emergence, the weaker plants are trimmed, as is the case with outdoor sowing. Put the leftover sunflowers in individual pots. Keep the pots moist but not too wet.
Plant out after the ice saints
Since the sunflower does not tolerate frost at all, care for the preferred plants in the house until the middle or end of May.
After the ice saints, you can plant the small sunflowers in the desired location in the garden or in the tub on the terrace.
If, contrary to expectations, it gets really cold again, put planting hats over the young plants.
Do not plant too densely
Sunflowers are heavy consumers and need a lot of nutrients. Since they can also get very large, the roots must have enough space. Sunflowers should therefore not be planted too densely.
Maintain a planting distance of at least 40 to 70 centimeters. You should never grow more than four sunflowers per square meter.
Tips & Tricks
You can also sow perennial sunflowers, but propagation works better by dividing the perennials. Since the perennials form many runners, you can also use these to multiply the sunflowers.
