(Sun) Flower Garden (3/19/22) Ended

[lynnee]

Jun 10, 2022 17:30:28 GMT -5 maskedsonnet said:

I got curious and Googled it lol - results all seemed to agree that there are no poisonous varieties of sunflower. Another interesting tidbit was that all parts of them are edible in addition to the seeds - the flower head, leaves, etc. And now I’m super curious about what they taste like!!

Thank you! Now it's on you and Sher!

I'll let you know how they taste if seeds develop.

[Shawn]

Ok no deaths will occur for eating the seeds!  LOL  Thank goodness

[lynnee]

Yesterday (Day 86 6/13/22) the Bambino sunflower stalk was vibrating along with the pump, which was a pretty good indicator that the plant was dead. We had a day of 97-degree heat last week, and that's probably what finished it off.



There were seeds in the non-yellow area around the rim, but they were still somewhat green. Apparently sunflowers bend down towards the ground when the seeds are ready to harvest. The seeds were about 3/8" long, but not as black or as plump as the seeds in the seller's envelope.



I chewed one seed, but it was tasteless or bitter. I don't think that the Bambino seeds are really edible, because they're so small. Even if you dried and roasted them, there would be only a tiny seed inside the seedcase.

My plant basically self-pollinated, because I never thought about pollination until last week. Humans can speed the pollination by gently rubbing the flower from the outside toward the center to distribute pollen.

Bambino makes a beautiful display flower, and fits easily into a Bounty or Harvest XL.



The bluebells were leggy, and had roots that were two-thirds black, so I decided not to bother with transplanting them outdoors. They were beautiful in the AG for a long time!

[Sher]

A stunning success all the way around, lynnee.

Sometimes I like it when a project doesn't last too long. That way I can move on to new things.

[lynnee]

Jun 14, 2022 12:52:59 GMT -5 Sher said:

A stunning success all the way around, lynnee .

Sometimes I like it when a project doesn't last too long. That way I can move on to new things.

Yes, it's nice to have an empty Bounty again! I'm not going to replant it right away. The room heats up with all the AGs going, so I may have to wait for cooler Fall weather. Maybe the swamp cooler will fix things, maybe not.

[Shawn]

What a wonderful life it had.  Beautiful. 

[areyoukittenme]

Thank you for sharing this with us! I love all the pictures of the sunflower.

[naveljessyn]

Those are some seriously wonderful sunflowers! They're like a mini California super bloom in your house! I always see incredible pictures of those fields of wildflowers, but they seem to happen way out west most of the time.

An indoor sunflower garden sounds way more manageable than fighting for a spot amongst the crowds. Plus, you get to enjoy these beauties year-round, not just for a short window. Do you find the Aerogarden makes growing sunflowers pretty easy? My apartment doesn't get a ton of sunlight, so I've never ventured past herbs. But your sunflowers are tempting me to try something new! Any advice for a newbie gardener? Thanks for the inspiration! Good luck!

[lynnee]

naveljessyn, Yes, it's easy to grow sunflowers in an AG. It was actually easier to grow the Bambino than the six-footer that started in an AG and then went outdoors.

Just be sure to select dwarf sunflower varieties, like Bambino. Sunflowers bloom at the top, so the plant must have a maximum height of 24" for a Bounty or 36" for a FarmXL.

I think that a Bounty could handle 2, or possibly 3, of the dwarf varieties. If you want to cultivate more than one sunflower, you will probably want to check the amount of dissolved nutrients frequently, because sunflowers are heavy feeders.