Sunflower planting and care in the open field in the suburbs

Sunflower cultivation was also carried out by the Indians, who used seeds to relieve chest pain and treat fever. In the fields of our country, the culture of the Asteraceae family is grown mainly to obtain vegetable oil. In this review, we will consider the main points of planting, care and agricultural technology when growing a plant in open ground.

The timing of planting a sunflower in the country in open ground

Sunflower cultivation provides for a seed planting method. It makes no sense to use seedling sowing, because the grains are aged in spring frosts without risking the future harvest. Some gardeners living in the northern regions manage to grow oil crops using seedlings (seedlings). Sowing is carried out in prepared pots or plastic bottles without a bottom in order to transfer the shoots to the garden bed along with the earthen clod. This allows you to maintain a poorly developed root system. If it is damaged, the plant may not take root in a new place.

Modern high-oil sunflower varieties are sown when the soil warms up to +10 degrees at a depth of 5 cm

Sowing dates are in late April or early May.Seeds of high-oil sunflower varieties sprout well and germinate when the soil warms up to 8-10 ° C. Sunflower is unpretentious to growing conditions, the newly appeared seedlings can easily withstand temperatures up to minus 5 °.

The most popular varieties for the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and other regions

Varietal diversity complicates the seed selection process. When buying, you need to focus on the popularity of the variety and the climate. You are more likely to get a good harvest with proven sunflower varieties. This culture is grown in summer cottages, both in the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and in the southern regions. Which variety to plant, decide for yourself.

Tunka

Sunflower Tunka

The hybrid is characterized by high productivity, resistance to drought and diseases (white rot, ash rot, phomosis, phomopsis). The plant is not afraid of weeds (weeds). The sunflower is of medium early ripening, the growing season lasts 110-120 days. The height of the stem with a basket is 140-150 cm. The variety is recommended for growing in steppes and forest-steppe zones.

Jason

Sunflower Jason

Three-line hybrid with a vegetation period of 100-110 days. The stem height reaches 165-170 cm. Strong immunity contributes to resistance to white and gray rot, phomopsis. The seeds contain a high oil content - up to 55%. The yield is 39-41 kg / ha.

Sanay

Sunflower Sanay

The Dutch breeding hybrid is resistant to herbicides. The peculiarity of the variety lies in the low requirements for soil cultivation. Technical ripeness occurs 100-110 days after germination on the surface of the ground. The oil content of the seeds is about 55%.It is not recommended to sow in fields where there were outbreaks of Phomopsis.

Buzuluk

Sunflower Buzuluk

An early ripe variety with a growing season of about 85 days. 54% oil. Plant height - up to 168 cm. The Buzuluk variety is stable under different climatic conditions, drought-resistant. This is an intensive variety, it requires high-quality agricultural technology and the use of fertilizers.

Sunflower sowing technology at their summer cottage

For planting sunflower, you need to choose areas with the following predecessors: corn, cereals. And it is better to refuse the place where tomatoes, beets, legumes were cultivated.

Seed preparation

Before planting, sunflower seeds are sorted and soaked in a manganese solution

Before planting, the seed must be properly prepared. The process includes sorting (selection of large healthy seeds) and soaking for 14 hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. To accelerate germination and obtain friendly seedlings, the kernels are processed with growth biostimulants. Fungicides and insecticides can be added to the solution to increase the resistance of young shoots to diseases and pests.

Soil preparation

Before sowing a sunflower, you should seriously consider choosing a site for planting. The culture needs sun, so the place should be well lit and ventilated. Fertile soil with a small amount of clay is considered ideal. However, the plant can adapt to any environment except acidic, saline and swampy.

The soil for planting sunflowers after crops and corn is just perfect.

It is better to start preparing the site in the country in the fall, carefully removing all plant residues from it and digging a shovel bayonet to the depth. Simultaneously with the digging, mineral fertilizers should be introduced.

Sowing patterns and planting depth

Let's figure out how to sow a sunflower and what is the optimal planting depth? It is necessary to plant seeds in moist soil to a depth of 6-8 cm. In each nest, you need to lay 2-3 seeds... When planting large varieties of plants, an interval of at least 1 m is observed; for medium-sized varieties, a distance of 60 cm is considered acceptable. The more space remains between the holes, the larger the kernels of the new crop will be.

When plants are planted in a row, the distance between them should not be less than 30 cm

Many gardeners are racking their brains about how to arrange the planting of sunflower. Some have adapted to plant a plant along the fence (leave 65-75 cm between the holes, at least 30 cm from the fence). However, it is necessary to clarify that the fence should be in the form of a grid, so as not to create shading. As an option plant a sunflower between the beds of cucumbers or other vegetable crops that get along well with each other (the square-nesting method 50x70 cm is suitable). Landing along the path (distance between holes 70 cm) is considered no less interesting.

Proper care of seedlings and agricultural technology

To make the seeds in the baskets large, you need to make some effort: provide watering, timely fertilize, loosen the soil and remove weeds, carry out inter-row cultivation. Periodic treatments of the plantation in order to prevent diseases and pests will be a good addition.

Watering rules

It is necessary to irrigate fields or beds with sunflower regularly until 4 pairs of leaves are formed on a young shoot. Further watering is carried out as needed. Increase the consumption of water or increase the regularity of its introduction into the soil should be during the period of development of inflorescences and filling of seeds.

Sunflower needs to be watered every day.

The soil is saturated with moisture to the depth of the roots. In hot weather, irrigation is carried out daily. If a prolonged high temperature with a low level of air humidity is established, then the beds or fields need to be watered several times a day. This will help large nuclei form.

Top dressing

In order to grow and get a good harvest, a sunflower needs regular feeding. The first is entered after the formation of the third pair of sheets. Superphosphate is used as a fertilizer (20-40 grams per 1 m2). It is scattered on the ground, then embedded to a depth of 10 cm and watered.

Mineral and organic fertilizers will increase yields and accelerate the development of sunflowers

The second complementary food is introduced after the formation of the basket. At this stage, potassium-nitrogen fertilizers are more suitable (a tablespoon of potassium sulfate is added to a bucket of mullein solution). When seeds ripen, use the same composition.

If blistering deformations appear on the leaves of the plant, and cracking on the stem, then this is a signal of boron deficiency. Spraying with boron fertilizer should be carried out.

Pests and prevention

Failure to comply with the rules of agricultural technology endangers the harvest. The greatest problems arise when a disease is detected. Among the most dangerous are the following fungal infections.

• Downy mildew (downy mildew) characterized by the following features: wilting leaves, thinning of the stem, white bloom on the underside of the foliage. If a crop is infected twice in one season, then another symptom is added - small oily spots on the tops. With the development of the fungus in the active phase, the basket is damaged, as a result of which it ceases to develop.
• Plants are often affected by black spot, which is recognized by dark necrotic spots, growing over time to a size of 4-5 cm. Other signs indicate infection: numerous cracks at the point of attachment of the petiole to the stem, dark spots on the petioles of an elongated shape.
• Gray spot affects almost the entire plant, forming dark angular spots with a gray outline on the leaves, petioles, and stems. Over time, parts of the plant dry out and fall off.
• With bacteriosis plant tissues rot, covered with mucus. If you do not process the culture, it will wither and dry out.

To combat fungal diseases, systemic fungicides are used: Kruiser, Apron. If a viral infection is detected, then the affected plants must be removed from the garden and disposed of.

Insects-parasites can also harm the crop:

• steppe crickets - they attack the plant at the stage of formation of the first leaves, destroy the growth point;
• weevil - parasites bite off the stem of young shoots, eat out cotyledon leaves, feed on shoots that have not yet appeared on the surface of the soil;
• meadow moths - the larvae are distinguished by their gluttony, eat almost completely the leafy part of the culture, destroy the epidermis in the baskets and stems;
• gnawing scoops - insects at the caterpillar stage eat up the stem at the root zone;
• Chafer - the larvae of the parasite damage the root system of the plant.

In order to control insect pests, insecticides are used: Akarin, Zalp, Agrovertin, Aktellik. It is impossible to hesitate with processing, parasites can carry incurable viral infections.

Harvesting

The sunflower harvest begins when the plant reaches full maturity. The basket and leaves dry up, turn brown (brown). Ripe seeds accumulate a sufficient amount of oils, the kernels become hard, and the peel takes on a shade corresponding to the variety. The whole planted field as a whole is also evaluated. If the number of remaining plants with yellow petals does not exceed 15%, harvesting season begins.

It is necessary not to overexpose the sunflower, otherwise the seeds will spontaneously begin to crumble from the baskets.

The culture includes minerals and vitamins useful for the body, essential oils. You can use seeds for both culinary and medicinal purposes. When planting in large areas, you can replenish stocks of vegetable oil for the winter. It is not at all difficult to master the agricultural technology of growing sunflower.

Sunflower is a plant of the Asteraceae family native to North America. Sunflower seeds are rich in vitamins E and PP, phospholipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids and lecithin. The sunflower flower is an excellent honey plant.

The genus includes up to 110 species of this plant. The most popular of them are oil and tuberous sunflower (Jerusalem artichoke).

Choosing the best seeds

It is better to buy seeds in a specialized store that has been working for more than one year, values ​​its reputation and purchases products from trusted suppliers. When choosing seeds, you need to take into account the climatic norms of your region.

Sunflower seeds are available with black husk (oilseeds) and striped. The latter are used in the production of confectionery. There are also decorative varieties for planting in flower beds and decorating summer cottages.

The varieties differ in the length of the growing season:

• early,
• mid-season,
• late.

It is worth paying attention to the resistance of seeds to diseases.

Popular varieties:

• Lakomka is a mid-season variety, with large seeds, the vegetation period is 110 days, high-yielding, with tasty seeds, an excellent honey plant.
• Anyuta is a tall plant, reaching two meters, mid-season. From germination to maturation, 110 - 115 days pass. The advantages of the variety are high yield, drought and disease resistance.
• Diamond is a large-fruited variety for confectionery purposes. The stem is high, up to 190 cm. The seeds ripen 110 days after planting, resistant to powdery and downy mildew, to sunflower moth. Withstands prolonged dry periods.

In order not to buy a fake, carefully study the packaging. It should contain:

• manufacturer's address;
• batch number;
• shelf life;
• weight and number of seeds;
• germination percentage.

Remember that 50% of the yield depends on the choice of seeds.

Features of growing in the suburbs

In the central zone of Russia, including in the Moscow region, sunflowers are planted in late April or early May, when the soil warms up to 10 ° C.

Sunflower is a cold-resistant crop and is not afraid of light frosts down to -5 ° C.

It can grow on any soil, but prefers slightly acidic loams and black soil. The harvest is better on them.

For planting, it is better to choose an area where corn or grain was previously grown. Don't plant seeds after legumes, tomatoes, and beets. They will grow poorly and will often get sick. You cannot grow a plant in one place for several years.

The sunflower has a strong root system and needs a lot of nutrients, which it takes from the ground. It is not worth placing other beds closer than 1.5 meters, the seedlings on them will not have enough food and they will wither.

Before planting, the seeds must be held for 12 hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. They are planted in moist soil to a depth of 6 - 8 cm. 2 seeds are thrown into the hole. Tall varieties are planted at a distance of about 1 meter, and medium-sized ones - about 60 cm from each other.

Sunflower is an unpretentious plant, but in order to get a harvest of large seeds, you need to take care of it. It is necessary to water, weed, loosen the soil, feed with fertilizers, protect from pests and diseases.

Watering

Watering is done as needed. During the growth process, there are three periods when you need to monitor soil moisture especially carefully:

1. Until the formation of the fourth pair of leaves.
2. During the formation of inflorescences.
3. During the period of seed filling.

The plant is hygrophilous. Watering must be done daily, at the root, soaking the soil deeply. Sunflowers don't like overhead watering.

Top dressing

After the formation of the second pair of leaves, the sunflower must be fed. For each square meter of soil, add up to 40 g of superphosphate. Dry granules are embedded in the soil 10 cm, and then watered.

After the formation of the heads, they are fed with potassium-nitrogen fertilizer.It is prepared like this: for 1 bucket of mullein, dissolved 1 to 10, add 20 g of potassium sulfate.

Re-feeding with the same fertilizer is carried out during the ripening of the seeds. With a shortage of boron in the soil, cracks appear on the stems, and blistery curvatures appear on the leaves. The plant becomes brittle. In this case, it is necessary to spray the leaves with a preparation containing boron.

If fertilizers are applied on time, this increases the drought resistance of the plant, the seeds are large, the percentage of oil in them increases.

Diseases and pests

Most often, diseases occur when the weather is warm and humid. It is necessary to monitor the appearance of signs of disease and take action in time.

One of the most common and dangerous diseases is white rot. Occurs in July, affects the cap from the inside. After which it dries up and disappears.

With gray rot, not only the cap rot, but the entire stem as well. It appears in cold, wet weather.

Phomopsis is quite common. With this disease, the vascular system of the plant is affected, it becomes silvery-gray, the trunk becomes empty, the sunflower dries up and dies.

Powdery mildew affects at the beginning of the growing season. The sprout withers and stagnates. The plant does not fully develop. The seeds also remain undeveloped.

All these are fungal diseases and fungicidal preparations must be used to combat them.

In addition to diseases, insect pests also annoy sunflower. One of the most dangerous is the cotton (alfalfa, gnawing) scoop. Its caterpillar gnaws at the root collar, and the butterfly itself eats the leaves, gnawing to the very veins. The sprout weakens and dies.

The larva of the sunflower barbel beetle is dangerous. She makes holes in the core of the stem. Voids are formed there. The stem breaks and the plant dies.

The wireworm rises to the surface of the ground in the spring and eats up the seeds from the inside. He also gnaws young shoots underground.

There are several types of aphids, which flies from fruit trees to sunflowers, sits on the back of the leaves and sucks out all the juices from the plant.

If it is not possible to get rid of insects by biological and mechanical methods, it is necessary to use chemical preparations - insecticides.

Harvesting sunflower seeds

You can start harvesting at the end of August. The ripeness of a sunflower can be determined visually: the hat becomes dry and dark in color. If the weather is sunny outside, it is better to let the cap dry on the stem, and if it rains, cut it off in advance and put it in a dry place to ripen.

Taste the seed. If it has a hard core, then it is ripe. If it's soft, it's not ready yet.

Cut off the stem with a sharp knife, leaving about 30 cm from the cap. Then wrap the heads in clean rags or put paper bags on them, but in no case cellophane. In them, the head will become damp and the seeds may rot. Tie ropes to the stem and hang the plant, head down, in a dry, warm, well-ventilated area. Hang them higher to keep the seeds from rodents.

The heads can dry from 4 days to 3 weeks. When the seeds are ready, you need to remove them from the ropes, put them in a clean place and remove the bags from the hats.

Ripe seeds are easily shaken out of the inflorescence. You can take two heads and rub one against the other. The seeds should spill out.

If possible, it is better to rinse the seeds with running cold water, then spread them in a thin layer on paper towels and dry them completely.

How to preserve the harvest

The seeds need to be stored in the right conditions. No trash. The casing must be completely closed. The room is dry and well ventilated.

Seeds should be packed in dry, clean boxes or containers. If few are available, you can pack and store in the refrigerator.Subject to the storage conditions, they will not lose their taste for up to 6 months, and in the refrigerator they can be stored for up to 1 year and will remain as tasty and healthy.

Sunflower plantations are an amazingly beautiful sight. On an industrial scale, the cultivation of various varieties of this crop in the open field is used to obtain oil, seeds, halva and other products rich in vitamins and minerals from it. But you can practice planting a beautiful sunny plant in the most ordinary garden plot. With proper care, the sunflower will delight the owner of the dacha with a harvest of large tasty seeds.

Description: varieties and varieties of sunflower

An elegant, bright sunflower with delicious black seeds well known to most people is a native of North America. Oil-bearing varieties, in contrast to their inedible decorative "relatives", are annuals. Their height can reach 2.5-3 m. Many summer residents consider the sunflower a non-capricious plant, so they often post photos of their plots, on which the "sunny flower" flaunts.

At least 60 types of oilseeds are now known. Among them:

• SPK;
• Anyuta;
• Volcano;
• Orpheus, etc.

Hybrid sunflower varieties yield faster

These hybrids differ in terms of ripening. On average, the seed crop can be harvested in 2.5-3.5 months. after planting the plant in open ground.

Planting a plant in a summer cottage

In open ground, sunflowers are sown in spring. To grow a crop, you need to choose a sunny, windless place with fertile soil. It is good if before that grain or corn grew on the site. Legumes, tomatoes and sugar beets are considered bad precursors for the "sunny flower". If the territory does not allow "to turn around", you can plant a plant between the rows of cereals.

Attention! It is not recommended to grow oilseed sunflower varieties in the same place for several years in a row. A break of 3-4 years is needed to restore the soil.

The seeds are sown in the ground heated to + 8 ... + 12 ° C. But don't be afraid of the return frosts that are typical for spring. Sunflower can withstand short-term cold weather down to -5 ° C. 2-3 seeds are placed in a hole 8 cm deep. The distance between plants should be about 0.5 m for medium-sized sunflowers and 0.75-0.9 m for tall ones.

To get a rich harvest in the fall, you need to provide the plant with full care. In the first place in importance is watering. It should be regular, at least once a day. In dry time - 2-3 times a day. In addition, in the open field, the flower sometimes needs support. As a rule, this is true for cases when sunflower cultivation is carried out in a blown area. The wind can cause the long stem to bend or even break. Also at the heart of care is regular weed removal. It is convenient to do this after watering.

Sunflower seedlings

Fertilizing and feeding the "sun flower"

Since fertilization is one of the key conditions for proper care, it is important to remember a few rules:

1. Oil-bearing plant varieties love potassium.
2. Excessive enthusiasm for nitrogen reduces the "immunity" of the culture.
3. Bees are more willing to pollinate those sunflowers, under which potassium-phosphorus fertilizer has been applied.
4. Feeding with manure is excluded.

Advice. You need to fertilize the plant during planting, after watering, and also after the first loosening of the soil.

Plant propagation: options

The breeding method depends on the type of sunflower:

• for perennials, dividing the bush is suitable;
• for annuals (oilseeds) - only the seed method.

The seed propagation option involves careful selection of material. All specimens must be large, without visible damage. To rid the seeds of harmful microbes, they need to be pickled. To do this, use special preparations or products made according to folk recipes.

One of them is an onion-garlic tincture:

1. Garlic (100 g) is rolled through a meat grinder and mixed with onion skins.
2. Pour all 2 liters of boiling water, insist for 24 hours and filter through cheesecloth.

Use fresh large seeds for propagation

The seed is soaked in liquid overnight, just before planting. At first, this remedy also helps repel pests.

Attention! For planting and breeding sunflowers, fried seeds from bright packages with colorful photos that are sold in stores are not suitable. Take only fresh ones. Collected 2-3 years ago will not work either.

Diseases and pests of sunflower

• White rot. It affects the inside of the basket and reduces the yield of the plant.
• Gray rot. It spreads throughout the stem. The first signs are the appearance and reproduction of dark spots on the leaves.
• Powdery mildew. If it does, it is only at the beginning of the growing season. Looks like white spots on the underside of the leaves.
• Phomopsis is one of the most common ailments. Diseased plants acquire a gray-silver color, the trunk becomes empty, the sunflower withers.

Advice. Disease prevention is a combination of proper care and optimal conditions for the development of crops in the open field. Pick up fungicides for treatment.

• Gnawing scoop. Damages the root collar of young sunflowers.
• Meadow moths. They "hunt" for the leaves of the plant.
• Wireworm. Gnaws germinating seeds and seedlings.
• Different types of aphids. Harm leaves and baskets. They often fly to the sunflower from fruit trees.

To fight insects, you need to use insecticides. If birds are trying to attack the crop, you should act more cunningly. Place a scarecrow or pull rope with strips of fabric, newspaper, foil along the beds, hang old discs. You can cover the basket with a gauze cover with holes. But this method is only suitable if the plant is already pollinated.

Protect crops from birds

Combination with other plants in the garden

One of the most successful joint planting options is the "duet" of sunflower and corn. Their roots lie at different soil levels. For this reason, plants do not compete for water and nutrients, which both of them need quite a lot. The combination of sunflower with curly beans, cucumbers and lettuce is considered successful.

You should not be involved in the cultivation of "sunny flowers" next to potatoes. It is also important to remember that oilseeds are very depleting of the soil. Therefore, the site after it needs careful care and the introduction of organic fertilizers in the fall. In the next season, instead of a sunflower, it is best to plant green manure or legumes: peas, beans. Sowing other vegetables is recommended no earlier than after 1-2 years.

Growing sunflowers in the country: video

Sunflowers in the country: photo

Do you like roasted sunflower seeds? Then why don't you grow

sunflower

at your dacha? After all, your own, "environmentally friendly", good harvest can be obtained even for 10 square meters. m of a summer cottage.

In addition, these little suns will perfectly decorate your site and give it a unique flavor. And now we will tell you in detail how to plant a plant and care for it, which varieties will give the best harvest 🙂

Sunflower

Planting a sunflower

Sunflower is unpretentious to growing conditions (for example, it can tolerate short-term spring frosts down to -5 ° C), drought-resistant. But so that you get large and beautiful seeds when harvesting, you will need to pay enough attention to it.

Firstly, for a good harvest, it is necessary to plant sunflowers on fertile soil. A soil with a medium amount of clay in the roots of the sunflower and with enough moisture underneath is the best option. On acidic, swampy and saline soil, planting is not worth it. You should also not plant a sunflower in areas where legumes (beans, peas, soybeans), sugar beets and tomatoes (due to the excess nitrogen in the soil after these plants) used to grow before, but the land after planting cereals and corn is perfect ...

Also, we do not advise you to plant a plant for several years in a row in the same area (it is advisable to take a break for 3-4 years altogether), since the sunflower is very actively consuming the nutrients it needs from the soil, literally sucking them out of the ground. In addition, sunflower is susceptible to various diseases, so such a respite will get rid of most of the pathogens (from which the plant suffers) remaining in the ground. Another important factor is that the chosen landing site should be sunny and calm.

Planting a sunflower Oilseed sunflower (namely, we are talking about it, you can read about a decorative sunflower in the publication Decorative sunflower - sun in a flower bed) is an annual crop that will take from 70 to 150 days to ripen, depending on the variety and place of growth. Planting sunflower seeds is carried out in warm, warmed soil (when the earth warms up to + 8 ... + 12 ° C), usually in April.

Seeds must be pickled and calibrated before planting. For etching, you can use special disinfectants, but there is also an effective folk remedy that will help get rid of harmful microorganisms.

To make this product, you will need garlic and onion peels. Garlic (about 100 g) is passed through a meat grinder, then mixed with onion peel and poured with two liters of boiling water. This mixture is infused for about a day, then the infusion is filtered through cheesecloth.

We leave sunflower seeds in this infusion overnight before planting. Such treatment of seeds before planting will bring additional benefits: at first, it will scare away rodents and other pests who love to eat seeds.

The greater the distance, the larger the achenes with seeds will be.
When planting, the seeds are sown to a depth of 8 cm; we leave 2-3 seeds in each nest. The distance between the planted sunflowers is also very important and depends on the sunflower variety. The interval between large sunflowers should be 75-90 cm, between medium-sized plants 45-50 cm.

The greater the distance between the sunflowers, the larger the achenes with seeds will be. In small areas, sunflower can be planted in the aisles between cereals.

Sunflower propagation

Since the oilseed sunflower is an annual plant, there are no special breeding methods for this species - only by seeds 🙂 We strongly advise you to carefully choose the seeds when planting - the sunflower is a cross-pollinated plant, so you should not take seeds from sunflowers that you plant for the third year in a row.

Sunflower propagates only by seeds. Due to cross-pollination with other varieties and hybrids, you will have a lot of empty seed baskets, and the seeds themselves will be small, and the "gnawing" qualities of the seeds will be worse.

Sunflower care

To get a tasty and large sunflower seed, you need a lot of care. The land under it must be properly fertilized, the plant itself must be watered on time and abundantly and taken timely measures against various pests, because many of them will not just give up sunflower seeds 🙂

Garter

A sunflower garter is needed only in one case - if you planted the plant in an open place with strong winds. Since the plant is usually tall, without a garter it can break or bend.

Watering

For a better harvest, watering a sunflower needs regular. Usually one watering per day is enough. If the weather is dry or the plant is planted in an area where there is not enough moisture, it is advisable to water it 2-3 times a day.

Watering needs regular

Top dressing

Sunflower is a potassium-loving plant. But with nitrogen fertilizers, you need to be careful. With an increased dose of nitrogen in the soil, the sunflower becomes more susceptible to various diseases. Even if plants on such land grow large and beautiful, their baskets usually turn out to be empty.

The fastidious bees prefer sunflowers fed with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers for pollination. In their opinion, their nectar is much sweeter 🙂 It is necessary to apply fertilizers to the soil simultaneously with planting, after watering or after the first weeding.

Pest control

Sunflower seeds are loved not only by people, various rodents and birds are also not averse to eating them. When planting for a while, the above tincture for seed dressing will help to protect the seeds from these dirty tricks.

White threads stretched on small pegs will serve as additional protection from birds. After a few weeks, the emerging seedlings will no longer be of interest to the birds.

A pest outbreak will begin when the seeds are ripe A new outbreak of these pests will begin when the seeds are ripe. To scare them away, fabric strips, gauze and newspaper ties, strips of foil are useful. If you have old CDs, you can use them too - as long as they shine brightly in the sun. There is another option for protecting seeds from birds: a light gauze bag with holes for ventilation is put on a pollinated seed box.

Harvesting

As soon as the seeds are ripe, we completely cut off the achene with a sharp knife. If the seeds in the achene are wet, leave the cut head to dry in the sun, putting it on the remaining stump.

Annual sunflower varieties (Helianthus annuus)

• SPK grade

The SPK variety is the most popular and demanded on the market. It is rightfully considered the best honey plant among the known sunflower hybrids and varieties. The period of active vegetation is up to 90 days. He loves space, it is advisable to pickle the seeds before planting, as he is susceptible to disease.

Sunflower, SPK grade.

• Variety Anyuta

Plants of this variety are tall (up to 2 m), their seed box is medium in size. Seeds are ready to harvest 110-115 days after planting. The variety is resistant to most diseases, widespread in the south of Russia and Ukraine.

Sunflower, grade Anyuta.

• Vulcan variety

Another hybrid with good yields. The variety is resistant to diseases, it is recommended for planting in the Stavropol Territory and the Republic of Adygea.

Sunflower, volcano variety.

• Orpheus variety

Medium early variety, characterized by stability in growth and high productivity. Resistant to most diseases affecting sunflowers.

Sunflower, grade Orpheus

• Variety Lakomka

The seeds are large, ripen in 105-110 days. Plants of this variety are excellent honey plants and are adapted to pesticide-free cultivation methods.

Finally, I would like to note that growing a sunflower for "gnawing" seeds will not be difficult. At a low cost, you can provide yourself with homemade sunflower oil, and fried seeds will help you while away the time in the evening watching the TV, satisfy your hunger and supply your body with a lot of nutrients and vitamins. Yes, and they calm the nerves and help to quit smoking - this is certainly checked 🙂

Have a nice harvest!