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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Sunflowers
Recipes
Cooking Notes
Just one ounce of sunflower seeds contains about 6 grams of protein and 14 grams of oils. The fats are almost entirely unsaturated with 9g of polyunsaturated and 3g of monounsaturated fats per ounce (NSA). The oil is high in linoleic acid and is a good source of vitamin E.
- Some varieties produce small black seeds used in cooking oil, margarine, cosmetics, and animal feed; they are the best sunflower seeds for attracting the greatest variety of songbirds.
- The bigger, striped seeds are grown for snacking and as an ingredient in bread and health foods. They, too, are used for feeding birds, especially larger species, such as jays and mourning doves.
How to Roast Sunflower Seeds
Re-soak seeds overnight in salted water. Run through a strainer and dry on a layer of paper towels.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 325 degrees on a baking sheet. Seeds should be spread out in a single layer. Stir frequently during the baking and remove seeds when they look slightly browned. Don’t burn!
That’s it! You can add some olive oil, salt, and spices to your roasted seeds if you wish.
Or, you can also make suet cakes for the winter birds! See how to make suet.
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Hi Gloria. Thanks for your question!
For best results, it is best to plant new sunflower seeds each spring. With the being said, you can harvest the seeds from this year’s flowers to grow next year, to eat as a snack, or leave them out for the birds and critters to enjoy.
Whatever you decide to do, you want the flowers to dry—on or off the stem—until the back of the head turns brown, the foliage yellows, the petals die, and the seeds look plump and somewhat loose. If you don’t plan on saving the seeds for yourself or your garden visitors, you can cut them down after the blooms have faded.
There is a chance a seed or two may fall to the ground at the end of the season and take next spring, but you’re better off getting a new packet of seeds in the spring and planting them.
I have a "surprise" Sunflower coming up in my front yard perennial garden! It's right in a corner front of the space. There will be nothing to tie it to or brace it if it gets tall. Should I try and move it? It's about 2' tall now! (we thought it was a weed)
so you can get some twine and you can also get a few bamboo stakes from homedepot and, then tie the twine around the stem of flower and then stick the stake in the ground diagonally and then tie the other end of twin to the bamboo. ANd it should stay. You may have to re adjust from time to time but over unless you got serious winds you should get good to go.
Sunflowers do not like the roots to be disturbed and if u do it u have to be super careful or it may not survive! I would just leave it! Hope all works out for the good of u and the Sunflowers! I’m growing my first set of Sunflowers they are in its 4 stage already! I’m super excited! I’m OBSESSED with SUNFLOWERS and I know all about them!
Well, it can not be that bad a spot if it grew there. You do not give your location but it may not matter: this late in the summer season it is not a good idea to move it and, effectively, ask it to start all over again. It may be a small variety and not get much taller anyway. Just enjoy it while it lasts and try to retrieve and save some of its seeds so you can plant it where you want it next year! (Pls understand that there is no guarantee that it will reproduce because you do not know if it is a hybrid or an heirloom.)
I had three large sunflowers blow over in a storm. It seems the stems were weakened by some type of worm or bore that was eating at the stem. Is this a common problem with sunflowers? Is there a preventative measure I might take?
My granddauther is growing sunflowers in our garden, the leaves are being eating up by something, have check for insects but can not find anything, someone said to spray dish detergent with water on the leaves, but that does not help. Whatever it is is leaving big holes on the leaves, please help.
Every year I have large holes in the leaves of my sunflowers too. The culprits are goldfinch who love the greens leaves which helps improve their plumage. I hope you catch them in the act.....they're really fun to watch. Leave the seed heads on your sunflower and you'll see even more birds.
Hi Kathy, The sunflower does not have many pests. We’d go out at night with a flashlight and take a look under the leaves and see if an insect is munching on them. For most bugs, spraying the leaves with neem oil or insecticides works. Fortunately, the flowers will grow well even if the leaves are a little chewed. Good luck!
Ey