Make your Summer garden look incredible and attract pollinators to your garden with stunning sunflowers. 

• Quantity: roughly 20 sunflower seeds per packet. 
• Season: Plant late Winter if starting indoors or in Spring for Summer flowers. Seeds or seedlings can go outside once soils have warmed to around 20 degrees celsius. 
• Sow depth: roughly 1cm below the surface
• Family: Asteraceae
• Life Cycle: Annual

How to grow sunflowers from seed 

Seeds can be sown in seed raising trays or directly in their final place in large containers or in the garden. 

They thrive in well-draining nutrient rich soil with lots of direct sunlight and may need staking support as they get bigger.

How to sow sunflower seeds 

Sow 1cm deep. If direct sowing, space seeds roughly 30cms apart.

Ensure containers or garden beds have good drainage, so that soil can be kept moist but never wet or dry.

Water frequently so that soil doesn't try out. 

Seeds should germinate in one to two weeks if the soil temperature is warm enough (around room temperature or above). If seeds are sown outside when the soil is too cold, they may still germinate but will just take longer. 

Once seedlings are 5cms tall they'll require access to nutrients. This can be achieved by transplanting into larger pots with added compost, or by "feeding" with a diluted liquid fertiliser like diluted worm tea or Growing Healthier Futures liquid plant food. 

Sunflower soil and sun requirements

Sunflowers thrive in sunny locations with nutrient-rich well-draining soils. 

In poor soils, mix through good quality compost before planting. Sunflowers can benefit from the addition of slow release fertilisers, or liquid fertilisers every couple of weeks.

When do sunflower seeds produce flowers?

If sunflower plants have adequate water, sunlight and soil health, they should produce flowers around 3 months after seeds have been sown. 

How to save sunflower seeds

Once the Sunflower petals begin to die, cover them with a protective netting or mesh to deter wildlife. Sunflower seeds aren't just delicious for humans, they're an ideal bird food too! 

Seeds will form in the centre of the sunflower. 

Once the seeds start to become loose and easy to dislodge, the sunflower seeds are ready to harvest. That's just a fancy way of saying "take". You can remove them by hand, scrape them off with a fork or hold the flower head over a container and bang it against the side to dislodge the seeds.

Sunflower seeds can be eaten raw or roasted, or saved to plant next season. To save the seeds, allow to dry completely by placing on paper towel for a few days, then store in a dark airtight container in a cool place.