Cut the dried heads, leaving a few inches of the stalk, tie the stalks together then hang them in a shaded and ventilated space. Extract the seeds by rubbing the two loosed heads together to let the seeds comes out once they're dried after a month.
They belong to the Asteraceae family with a unique characteristics of an aggregate of two different types of flowers, namely ray and disk flowers, which look like a single blossom. They are a native to the American continents.
Sunflowers consists of many types. Basically, they are separated by their sizes, such as the giant type which grows to a height of over ten feet and miniature type that grows from two to four feet tall. The miniature type is gaining popularity in Asia as border plants.
 |
| Sunflower for Seeds |
Planting.
The seeds should be sown directly in to the field with the following spacing requirements: Giant type, 3 feet apart in rows 3-4 feet apart; Intermediate type, 2 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart; and Miniature type, 1 foot apart in rows 3 feet apart.
Soil requirements.
If you're growing the giant type, Sunflowers thrives best with a soil rich in organic materials especially. Being a deep rooted plant, they don't withstand with a sandy soil since they're easily uprooted by strong wind.
Harvesting
For seed purposes, sunflowers are ready for harvest 80 -120 days after planting or sowing. There are also some specific time of maturity for variety you bought based on the labels specifications.
When the flower starts to die back and all the petals have fallen down, the exact time for the seeds to be harvested is.
Being a hardy plant, sunflowers have no serious problem with insect pests. Only the squirrels and birds are sometimes the one that invades the flowers.
The mid-sized type are planted by gardeners to attract birds and some insects for pollination to other companion crops.
Fertilizer needs. To promote a bigger size flowers, you should apply Phosphorous and Potassium fertilizers before the start of the flowering stage.
Methods to grow sunflowers.
To get good flower formation, you should plant them in an open field with sufficient sunlight distribution during the day. For seed purposes, sunflowers are ready for harvest 80 -120 days after planting or sowing.
Before this was domesticated, sunflowers were spread throughout the North and Central American continents growing wild. The use of sunflower for human consumption is known as early as the 19th century.
Another use of sunflower seeds was to produce a purple dye used for decoration, body and face painting and on cloth. They also made oil out of sunflower seeds for both skin and hair care, and even the dried plant stalks were used as materials to construct the building.
They belong to the Asteraceae family with a unique characteristic of an aggregate of two different types of flowers, namely ray and disk flowers, which look like a single blossom. The seeds were prepared by grinding them to make flour, and sometimes mixed with beans, squash and corn to make a meal. Usually they pressed the seeds for oil and cracked open for the kernels.
Sunlight. To get good flower formation, you should plant them in an open field with sufficient sunlight distribution during the day. They may tolerate in shaded areas, however, there should be at least 4 - 6 hours of sunlight a day.
The natives use sunflowers for ceremonial and ornamental use, as well as for food and flavoring. The seeds were prepared by grinding them to make flour, and sometimes mixed with beans, squash and corn to make a meal. Usually they pressed the seeds for oil and cracked open for the kernels.
