How to Grow Sunflowers

Sunflowers are a brilliant way to brighten up a garden. Their gorgeous yellow petals evoke feelings of warm days and long summer afternoons. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but the seeds within are also edible, making a nutritious snack. 

Another bit of great news for new gardeners and those without much time on their hands is that sunflowers are incredibly easy to grow and care for. 

Today, we explore how to grow sunflowers, including where to plant them and how to take care of them for the best results.

Types of sunflowers

There are a few different sunflowers that you may wish to plant in your garden. We’ll cover four below.

Common sunflower

This is generally the variety people think of when they think of sunflowers. Given the right environment, the stems of the common sunflower will typically grow to around three metres tall. The flowers have a large disk in the centre with florets that mature into edible sunflower seeds. Many yellow petals surround this centre disk. These petals are soft to the touch and brightly-coloured, adding a beautiful splash of sunshine to a garden. 

Mammoth sunflower

For those that want to really make a statement with the size of the plants in their garden, there’s the mammoth sunflower. This sunflower is very similar to the common sunflower; however, the stems can grow over four metres tall! The centre disk is also larger on this variety, and that petals have the signature sunflower yellow. 

Teddy bear sunflower

As you can imagine, these flowers are quite a sight to behold. They have a similar general appearance as the common sunflower, with a large central disk and yellow petals. However, what sets them apart is the furry covering on the flowers. This gives the teddy bear sunflower a unique ‘teddy bear’ like appearance, hence its name.

Maximilian sunflower

Somewhat resembling a daisy, these plants produce more flowers, but these flowers are much smaller than other varieties of sunflower. The stems tend to grow between one and three metres tall, and the leaves are long and thin. Several flowers shoot off each stem, creating a thick wall of yellow flowers.

Where to plant sunflowers

When deciding where to plant your sunflowers, it’s important to take into account a number of factors. This includes the variety you’ll be growing, the space you have available, and how important portability is to you. Common and mammoth sunflowers can grow quite tall, so you’ll need to make sure they’re planted in a spot that allows for this. Growing sunflowers in pots is an option for those that want to be able to move their plants around, or who don’t have adequate ground soil. Once at full maturity, a sunflower will always face east, so keep this in mind when choosing a spot to plant your sunflowers in. 

How to grow sunflowers from seed

When it comes to how to grow sunflowers, the most common way is from seed. Growing plants from seed might have you feeling a little nervous, but sunflowers are incredibly easy to grow. 

Choose your variety

The first step of how to grow sunflowers is to choose the type you’d like to grow. If you have a smaller space, you’ll likely want to select a variety that doesn’t grow as tall. There are lots of different types of sunflowers with a myriad of looks out there to pick from. 

Preparing the soil

After you’ve chosen your variety, it’s time to prepare the soil for planting. Sunflowers are hardy plants and can be placed in a range of different types of soil, however, they tend to do best in soils that are slightly acidic to neutral. These plants can be grown either directly in the soil or in pots. 

Planting your sunflowers

For this step of growing sunflowers from seed, we’ll be focusing on common sunflowers. You’ll want to give sunflowers plenty of space to grow if you’re planting multiple. As such, try to place each seed around 60cm apart. These seeds don’t need to be placed too far into the dirt – around 2-3cm is deep enough.

Watering and care

When you first plant your sunflower seeds, you’ll want to water them regularly, every day if possible. Once they’ve had their major growth spurt and reach around 60cm tall, you’ll be able to scale right back. An established plant should be watered around 1-2 times per week. Plants in pots will naturally require more water than those placed directly in the ground.

How long do sunflowers take to grow?

When you’ve planted your sunflower, you’ll likely be excited to see them sprout and then bloom. Luckily, these plants are fast growing. It’ll take around 8 weeks from planting the seeds for your sunflowers to flower. You should notice the sprouts appearing around two weeks after planting. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how to grow sunflowers. These beautiful plants are super easy to grow, so even those that are new to gardening can enjoy success. Get out there and give it a go!

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