- Author: Erin Mahaney
A few years ago, we grew a mammoth sunflower that my son has talked about ever since. We had planted it in our raised vegetable bed so it had good sun, good soil, and a good water supply. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so good for the vegetables that struggled to compete with it!
We have tried to grow giant sunflowers every year since in other areas of the yard that didn’t require sacrificing a zucchini plant or a tomato crop. But perhaps due to the clay soil, more sporadic irrigation, or hungry birds or squirrels, we couldn’t even get the seeds to germinate.
So this year, I gave up a corner of my raised vegetable bed to growing a giant sunflower again for my son. The seeds germinated quickly and the seedlings happily grew . . . and then we went on vacation. When we returned, the seedlings were so big that I was reluctant to thin them for fear of disturbing the roots of their siblings. (That, and I’m a bit too soft-hearted to thin seedlings like I know I should.) Giant sunflowers should be space 20-24” apart. If they are planted too closely, the seed head will be smaller.
Ultimately, instead of a giant sunflower, we have ended up with a crop of 5 very tall sunflowers with good-sized—but definitely not giant—seed heads. Being contrary flowers, they prefer to face our sunnier neighbor’s yard than our own. We didn’t get the mammoth sunflower that we were hoping for, but I have to admit, the cheery faces of the sunflowers that we do have more than make up for it. Plus, I know my finches will be happy when the seeds ripen! It was definitely worth worth skipping a few zucchini this year.
- Author: Betty Homer
This weekend, I attended the 7th of an 8-class series on Biodynamic Gardening/Farming at a local college. The topic for this month’s class was on “Growing Plants and Weed Management.” With regard to the “growing plants” segment of the class, the instructor (who also farms the land at the college), introduced me to the concept of “pricking out,” which means transferring a newly germinated seedling at the proper time to a larger container (note that "pricking out" is a form of transplanting and is not synonymous with "thinning out"). According to the instructor, “pricking out” is necessary when a plant is grown in tight quarters, say in a tray or pot (see photos), with many other seedlings. Timing to “prick out” is critical. “Pricking out” should only be done after the seed leaves and first set of true leaves have emerged and are fully formed. At that stage, the gardener grasps the seedling gently from its base, leaving as much of the potting mix/compost attached to the root system. If the true leaves have become too large because the gardener did not “prick out” timely, the gardener will trim the tops of the plant slightly as well as the roots, prior to transplanting the seedling into a larger pot/container (the instructor explained that trimming the tops of the plants reduces the stress on the plant’s root system because there would be less for the root system to support). It should be noted that the seedlings should be watered both before and after the transplant.
I have yet to try this out on my own seedlings, but if the plants on the farm at the college are any indication (they appear to be healthy and strong), this method may well be worth the experimentation.