Sunflower... A big mistake

Ok! A stupid, amateur, and beginner gardener that I am planted 60+ sunflower seeds on a cardboard shoe box and within a week and half, they've sprouted and are on their way to give out the second set of true leaves. Most of them grew lanky again due to the recent continuous rains and no sunlight. Now, after reading all the forums online and articles about transplanting them, I got nervous. They're ready to be transplanted but how do I do it without disturbing them? Would I lose them all? Any tips?

 

Yes they are a bit lanky!

I would get a wadge out and gently prise them apart with a pencil. Then use the pencil to create a planting-hole in a pot of fresh compost, and pot them in and firm down gently.

You should plant to the same depth as they were before, but the lanky-stem is not going to support the plant without flopping over, so you may have to bury them up to the first leaf pair, but that may cause them to rot off :(

Water well an hour or so before you start transplanting them (that leaves time for the water to drain so you are not working with a soggy mess! but the plants are not thirsty when you prick out)

 

Regrettably, I think you're too late for this year. I just can't see them putting on the growth you'd expect from healthy plants before the days shorten too much.

You've nothing to lose by transplanting a few, though, as Kristen has suggested. Select only the best ones and tie them gently to supporting canes in their new location.

 

Remember that you learn by your mistakes. I have gardened for years and am still learning. My mum would tell you the same and she is a pretty darned good gardener. Try what the others say and see how it goes :thumb:

 

I think you are a bit late for sun-flower plants mine are already in flower. I put the seedlings in May and now its reached a dizzy height of 8 feet. Most of them on the allotment are as tall as mine.

 

Ok! So I did transplant five of them into a big pot (it might be a mistake to plant five in such a small space, but I'm just guess that one or two might not survive :( )
Will keep updated as to how they fare...

 

Doh! I've just spotted where you live - sorry for not doing that earlier.

What season is it with you at the moment? Are you at high altitude?

I guess you might be able to grow sunflowers anytime you want to if your local conditions are warm enough and daylight hours long enough.

 

Hi Flinty!

It's supposed to be rainy season now, but in the City I live in (Chennai - in southern part of India), the climate is mostly hot and amazingly this year, the season's following its course, but again it's so erratic. It was raining day before, hot the whole of yesterday and today and it started raining this afternoon, but the temperature doesn't go below 15 to 20 deg. Celsius here. The place I live in is at the sea level. We're few miles away from the Marina Beach.

Mouli

 

Greenmouli, I too had not noted where you live and had been wondering why you were trying to grow sunflowers so late in the season.

Being where you are, I'm sure you can most probably grow anyting you want at almost any time of the year.

 

Well, no matter how long I postpone it, it's the truth and I gotta say it and accept it. All the seedlings are dead :(. But I did learn a lesson that it isn't best to transplant sunflowers. Moreover it could have also been due to stem rot as I buried the four seedling upto the first leaves, but I can't be really sure that this is the issue. Also, the seedlings in the box died slowly with their leaves yellowing slowly - I checked the soil dampness - it was not soggy so it might not be the issue; it wasn't dry either as I checked on them twice a day.
One more thing I noticed is that the bottom of the few of the seedlings before dying had thin stems. Could this be due to fungus? I checked that too - turns out no.
Could it have been lack of nutrients? Because I didn't add extra fertilizer except the initial require amount that I mixed with the soil while sowing them.
I still have half of the packet. This time, I'm going to try sowing them directly into the large pots that's going to be their permanent home with three in a pot with their final spacing distance.
Any suggestions or precaustions I should take so that I don't lose the new ones that I'm going to sow?
I'm gonna wait for you all experts suggestions before I get my hands on those seeds. I can't thank you enough for all your valuable suggestions.
And oh yes, I'm gonna place this new pot in the direct sun in my terrace.

Mouli

 

I would plant one or two seeds in a 3" pot. I would then pot-on through the bigger pot sizes. I would remove the "weaker" seedling when the plants start to get big enough that "it matters". (If you don't have a weaker / stronger seedling, you will probably have one that is better positioned in the pot, or similar).

I would NOT sow in a tray and the prick-out (which will disturb the roots etc.) and I would recommend being careful to prevent the seedlings getting too leggy.

 

G/mouli the best way with sunflower seeds is get the cardboard centers out of kitchen rolls or toilet rolls, stand them upright in an empty plastic box or icecream container fill them with compost put a seed in each, water into the carton the water will migrate up the tube into the compost when the seedlings are big enough plant the whole tube in the ground no root disturbance(it never fails)

 

good tip walnut:thumb: