How to grow sunflower seedlings. How to grow a sunflower in a private area - the simple secrets of a good harvest. Sunflower varieties for Russia

Sunflower plantations are an amazing sight. On an industrial scale, the cultivation of different varieties of this crop in open ground is carried out in order to obtain oil, seeds, halva and other products rich in vitamins and minerals from it. But you can practice planting a beautiful sunny plant in the most ordinary garden plot. With proper care, sunflower will delight the owner of the cottage with a harvest of large tasty seeds.

An elegant, bright sunflower with tasty black seeds well known to most people - a native of North America. Oilseed varieties, unlike decorative inedible "relatives", are annuals. Their height can reach 2.5-3 m. Many summer residents consider sunflower a non-capricious plant, so they often post photos of their plots, on which a “sunny flower” flaunts.

Now at least 60 types of oilseeds are known. Among them:

Anyuta;
Volcano;
Orpheus and others

Hybrid sunflower varieties produce faster crops

These hybrids differ in terms of maturation. On average, seeds can be harvested in 2.5-3.5 months. after planting in open ground.

Planting a plant in a summer cottage

Sunflowers are sown outdoors in the spring. To grow a crop, you need to choose a sunny, calm place with fertile soil. Well, if before that, cereals or corn grew on the site. Legumes, tomatoes and sugar beets are considered bad predecessors for the "solar flower". If the territory does not allow you to "turn around", you can plant a plant between rows of cereals.

Attention! It is not recommended to grow oil-bearing varieties of sunflower in the same place for several years in a row. A break of 3-4 years is needed to restore the soil.

Seeds are sown in the ground, warmed up to + 8 ... + 12 ° C. But do not be afraid of the return frosts characteristic of spring. Sunflower withstands short-term cold down to -5°C. 2-3 seeds are placed in a hole 8 cm deep. The distance between plants should be about 0.5 m for medium height sunflowers and 0.75-0.9 m for tall ones.

sunflower care

To get a rich harvest in the fall, you need to provide the plant with proper care. In the first place in importance is watering. It should be regular, at least 1 time per day. In dry times - 2-3 times a day. In addition, in open ground, a flower sometimes needs support. As a rule, this is true for cases when sunflower cultivation is carried out in a blown area. Due to the wind, a long stem can bend or even break. Also at the heart of care is the regular removal of weeds. It is convenient to do this after watering.

Sunflower shoots

Fertilizer and top dressing of the "solar flower"

Since fertilization is one of the key conditions for competent care, it is important to remember a few rules:

Oilseed varieties of plants love potassium.
Excessive obsession with nitrogen reduces the "immunity" of the culture.
Bees are more likely to pollinate those sunflowers, under which potash-phosphorus fertilizer has been applied.
Manure feeding is excluded.

Advice. It is necessary to fertilize the plant during planting, after watering, and also after the first loosening of the soil.

Plant propagation: options

The propagation method depends on the sunflower variety:

for perennials, dividing the bush is suitable;
for annuals (oilseeds) - only the seed method.

The seed propagation option involves careful selection of material. All specimens must be large, without visible damage. To rid the seeds of harmful microbes, they need to be pickled. To do this, use special preparations or products made according to folk recipes.

One of them is onion-garlic tincture:

Garlic (100 g) is scrolled through a meat grinder and mixed with onion peel.
Pour all 2 liters of boiling water, insist 24 hours and filter through gauze.

For propagation, use fresh large seeds

The seed is soaked in liquid overnight, just before planting. At first, this remedy also helps to repel pests.

Attention! Fried seeds from bright packages with colorful photos that are sold in stores are not suitable for planting and propagating sunflowers. Take only fresh ones. Collected 2-3 years ago will not work either.

Sunflower diseases and pests

White rot. It affects the basket from the inside and reduces the yield of the plant.
Gray rot. Spreads throughout the stem. The first signs are the appearance and reproduction of dark spots on the leaves.
Powdery mildew. If it occurs, it is only at the beginning of the vegetation phase. Appears as white spots on the underside of the leaves.
Phomopsis is one of the most common ailments. Diseased plants acquire a gray-silver color, the trunk becomes empty, the sunflower withers.

Advice. Disease prevention is a combination of proper care and optimal conditions for the development of crops in the open field. For treatment, select fungicides.

Gnawing owl. Damages the root neck of young sunflowers.
Meadow moths. They "hunt" the leaves of the plant.
Wireworm. Gnawing on germinating seeds and shoots.
Different types of aphids. Harm leaves and baskets. They often fly to sunflowers from fruit trees.

Insecticides must be used to control insects. If birds encroach on the harvest, you should act more cunningly. Place a scarecrow or stretch ropes with strips of fabric, newspapers, foil along the beds, hang old discs. You can close the basket with a gauze cover with holes. But this method is only suitable if the plant is already pollinated.

Protect crops from birds

Combination with other plants in the garden

One of the most successful options for joint planting is a “duet” of sunflower and corn. Their roots lie at different levels of the soil. For this reason, plants do not compete for water and useful material, which both of them require quite a lot. A combination of sunflower with curly beans, cucumbers and lettuce is considered successful.

You should not engage in the cultivation of "solar flowers" next to potatoes. It is also important to remember that oilseeds greatly deplete the soil. Therefore, the site after it needs careful care and the application of organic fertilizers in the fall. Next season, in place of the sunflower, it is best to plant green manure or legumes: peas, beans. It is recommended to sow other vegetable crops not earlier than in 1-2 years.

Growing sunflowers in the country: video

If you like roasted sunflower seeds, then a great option is to grow sunflowers in your country house. In addition to a useful harvest, this culture also has a decorative function; it will enliven any area with its brightness no worse than flowers. In care, this plant is not whimsical and will not take you much time, but the result will please you.

Popular varieties

The most popular varieties of oilseed sunflower for growing in Russia and its middle zone are:

SPK grade- is one of the most popular and in demand on the market. Among all varieties and hybrids, sunflower stands out as the best honey plant. Seeds mature in an average of 90 days. Prefers a spacious area. Before planting SPC seeds, it is recommended to treat them, because the variety is susceptible to various diseases.
Variety Anyuta- differs in height of plants that reach two meters. Seeds ripen in 110-115 days. The advantages are its resistance to disease, drought, bird damage and high yields.
Sort Lux- appeared as a result of careful selection of sunflowers of the Donskoy large-fruited variety. Thanks to a good parent, Lux plants are resistant to many diseases. The culture of this variety is highly productive and early ripe (100–105 days). Also, one of the advantages of this variety is large seeds that do not fit snugly against the walls of the achene and, accordingly, are easily removed.
Sort Nut- obtained as a result of breeding varieties SPK and Lakomka. Also applies to early maturing sunflowers (103–105 days). It is characterized by relatively low plants that can grow in any climatic conditions and still bring a good harvest. They have genetically acquired immunity to various diseases, such as sunflower moth, etc.
Sort Lakomka- refers to a mid-season variety that brings a crop of large seeds. They ripen quite quickly (105–110 days) and delight with high yields. The seeds grow very tasty, it is not for nothing that the variety is called that. In addition, Lakomka is an excellent honey plant.

Soil and planting requirements

One of the significant advantages of a sunflower is its unpretentiousness in care and growing conditions. It can survive short frosts down to -5°C and is drought tolerant. But to get large and tasty seeds, you still need to create certain conditions and pay attention to this culture.

To obtain a high yield, sunflower should be planted in fertile soil with an average amount of clay near the roots and a sufficient amount of moisture under them. Acidic, swampy and saline soil will not work. Also, do not plant the plant on the soil where legumes, sugar beets and tomatoes grew. It is not recommended to choose the same place for planting sunflowers, you must definitely take a break to restore the soil and get rid of pathogens. Well suited soil after planting cereals and corn. A landing site should be chosen sunny and protected from the winds.

Seed preparation and planting

Before landing, you need to calibrate and seed dressing a special remedy or garlic infusion with onion peel. To prepare it, take 100 g of garlic, pass through a meat grinder, then add onion peel and pour 2 liters of boiling water. The mixture must be infused for a day, then strain and leave sunflower seeds in it overnight on the eve of planting. With the help of this treatment, you can scare away rodents and other lovers of seeds for the first time.

Sow seeds it is necessary immediately into open ground, which should warm up to 8–12 ° C, the optimum air temperature for sowing is 20–25 ° C, as a rule the best time for landing - April or May. It is necessary to make shallow furrows, moisten them, and then plant 2-3 seeds in each hole to a depth of 5-8 cm. The distance between large and tall sunflowers should be 70-90 cm, and for medium-sized ones - 50 cm. The freer they will grow sunflowers, the larger the seeds will grow.

Care

Sunflower - cultivation and care

Even for an unpretentious culture, care is important. As for sunflowers, they need to be watered, fertilized, tied up and treated for pests.

Watering

Since sunflower is a very moisture-loving plant, watering is needed plentiful and regular. As a rule, one watering per day should be enough, but with a severe drought, their number increases to 2-3 times a day.

Garter

The garter helps the tall sunflower not to break or bend from the wind and the weight of the seeds. Since the plant is usually tall, without a garter, it can fall and be damaged. If the culture is planted in a calm place, next to a fence that has a protective and supportive effect, then you can do without it.

top dressing

Sunflower loves potassium and does not tolerate nitrogen fertilizers well. When there is a lot of nitrogen in the soil, the plant is more susceptible to various diseases and it may turn out that the seeds of a sunflower grown on such land will be empty. When fertilized with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers, bees pollinate sunflowers well, and the seeds grow full, large and tasty. Fertilizer should be applied during planting, after watering or the first weeding.

Pests, diseases and how to deal with them

To the main diseases sunflowers include:

Appearance white rot, which affects the basket from the inside and greatly reduces the amount of the crop.
Emergence, which is able to spread throughout the stem. The first signs are dark spots that appear on the leaves.
Appearance at the beginning of the vegetative phase, which appears as white spots at the bottom of the leaf.
emergence phomopsis- the most common disease of sunflower, which leads to the fact that the plant becomes gray-silver in color, the trunk is emptied and the sunflower dies.

Main pests:

meadow moths that affect the leaves of the plant;
nibbling owl, which produces damage to the roots of young plants;
, gnawing growing seeds and shoots;
, which harms leaves and baskets;
birds and rodents.

Help from insects insecticides. And in the fight against birds, a scarecrow, stretched threads with cloth, foil or old CDs can help. Baskets of pollinated plants can be covered with gauze with holes for ventilation.

Harvesting

When the sunflower's head turned to the east and stopped like that, it means that it's time to harvest. Baskets filled with seeds are cut, the seeds are knocked out, dried and stored in paper bags. You can tilt an uncut sunflower over a bucket and knock on it, the seeds will fall out on their own. Harvesting should not be delayed, as a lot of seeds can crumble to the ground, the box will become damp and appear. Sunflower stems must also be removed from the beds and burned so that all pests and diseases are destroyed. After harvesting this crop, the soil must be fertilized, as sunflowers greatly deplete it.

Video about growing sunflowers in the country

It is not difficult to grow sunflowers, if you follow all the rules and recommendations listed above, then a rich harvest will not take long. Seeds can be made at home sunflower oil or eat them fried. The use of this product supplies the body with important vitamins and minerals.

An elegant, bright sunflower with delicious black seeds well known to most people - a native of North America. Oilseed varieties, unlike decorative inedible "relatives", are annuals. Their height can reach 2.5-3 m. Many summer residents consider sunflower a non-capricious plant, so they often post photos of their plots, on which a “sunny flower” flaunts.

Now at least 60 types of oilseeds are known. Among them:

Anyuta;
Volcano;
Orpheus and others

Hybrid sunflower varieties produce faster crops

These hybrids differ in terms of maturation. On average, seeds can be harvested in 2.5-3.5 months. after planting the plant in open ground.

Planting a plant in a summer cottage

Attention! It is not recommended to grow oil-bearing varieties of sunflower in the same place for several years in a row. A break of 3-4 years is needed to restore the soil.

sunflower care

Sunflower shoots

Fertilizer and top dressing of the "solar flower"

Since fertilization is one of the key conditions for competent care, it is important to remember a few rules:

Oilseed varieties of plants love potassium.
Excessive obsession with nitrogen reduces the "immunity" of the culture.
Bees are more likely to pollinate those sunflowers, under which potash-phosphorus fertilizer has been applied.
Manure feeding is excluded.

Advice. It is necessary to fertilize the plant during planting, after watering, and also after the first loosening of the soil.

Plant propagation: options

The propagation method depends on the sunflower variety:

for perennials, dividing the bush is suitable;
for annuals (oilseeds) - only the seed method.

One of them is onion-garlic tincture:

Garlic (100 g) is scrolled through a meat grinder and mixed with onion peel.
Pour all 2 liters of boiling water, insist 24 hours and filter through gauze.

For propagation, use fresh large seeds

The seed is soaked in liquid overnight, just before planting. At first, this remedy also helps to repel pests.

Attention! Fried seeds from bright packages with colorful photos that are sold in stores are not suitable for planting and propagating sunflowers. Take only fresh ones. Collected 2-3 years ago will not work either.

Sunflower diseases and pests

White rot. It affects the basket from the inside and reduces the yield of the plant.
Gray rot. Spreads throughout the stem. The first signs are the appearance and reproduction of dark spots on the leaves.
Powdery mildew. If it occurs, it is only at the beginning of the vegetation phase. Appears as white spots on the underside of the leaves.
Phomopsis is one of the most common ailments. Diseased plants acquire a gray-silver color, the trunk becomes empty, the sunflower withers.

Advice. Disease prevention is a combination of proper care and optimal conditions for the development of crops in the open field. For treatment, select fungicides.

Gnawing owl. Damages the root neck of young sunflowers.
Meadow moths. They "hunt" the leaves of the plant.
Wireworm. Gnawing on germinating seeds and shoots.
Different types of aphids. Harm leaves and baskets. They often fly to sunflowers from fruit trees.

Protect crops from birds

Combination with other plants in the garden

One of the most successful options for joint planting is the “duet” of sunflower and. Their roots lie at different levels of the soil. For this reason, plants do not compete for water and nutrients, of which both of them require quite a lot. A combination of sunflower with cucumbers and lettuce is considered successful.

Growing sunflowers in the country: video

Sunflower cultivation is practiced by many gardeners throughout Russia. Some varieties of this crop are used to decorate the site, but in our material, we will talk about how to grow a sunflower in the country in order to collect as many high-quality crops from it as possible.

To date, more than 60 varieties and hybrids of the oilseed form of sunflower have been bred. The culture is an excellent honey plant, it is not demanding in care, it can withstand frosts down to minus 5 degrees Celsius.

Preparing and planting sunflower seeds

In order for the oilseed sunflower harvest not to disappoint, you need to take a responsible approach to choosing a site, select and prepare high-quality seeds, and also follow the planting rules that are not complicated, but necessary for obtaining a good harvest.

Selection and processing of a plot under a sunflower

Sunflower grows on any soil, but gives a good harvest on slightly acidic loams, chernozem, chestnut soils. Wetlands with high acidity, as well as sandstones for productive cultivation "for productivity" - will not work.

It is not recommended to sow a sunflower after sugar beets and tomatoes. In these areas, the soil contains a large amount of nitrogen, and the culture does not like it. This fact must be taken into account when applying fertilizers. A field previously sown with winter grains, corn, and cabbage is better suited.

Also, keep in mind that after sunflower, the land needs restoration, and is not suitable for almost all garden crops. After it, the soil must be fertilized and spring cereals, peas or beans should be planted - they will help to quickly restore depleted soil. You can return to sowing sunflowers in one area only after 7 years.

In autumn, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied to the site: superphosphate, potassium sulfate. Then they dig the soil deeply so that there is no subsoil and compacted soil at the level of the roots.

Preparing seeds for planting

Sunflower is prone to cross-pollination, so it is not worth sowing the seeds of the last crop. It is better to buy them in a specialized store. Before sowing, planting material is calibrated and treated.

Calibration is carried out using a sieve, leaving only the largest specimens. Also, the seeds are checked for grain volume, or "for completeness" - they are dipped in saline (a teaspoon of salt per liter of water) and only those that have sunk to the bottom of the container within 10 minutes are used.

Growing sunflower requires dressing seeds before planting, as pests love to profit from them. They use chemicals: Prestige, Agrovital, Commander.

Can cook folk remedy for dressing sunflower seeds from 100 g of twisted garlic and onion peel. The components are poured overnight with two liters of boiling water, filtered in the morning and the seeds are dipped into the solution for 12 hours. This method is more humane and safe for birds and animals.

Sunflower planting

Seeds are sown in May, when the soil warms up to 8 degrees Celsius. On the site, holes are made with a chopper, 5-7 cm deep. The greater the distance between the holes, the larger the hats will grow. The recommended landing step is 50 cm.

2-3 seeds are lowered into each hole and sprinkled with earth. The soil must be moist.

Sunflower cultivation technology

Seedlings appear after 10 days. From now on, it is necessary to regularly water the sunflower. root system and the above-ground part of the plant are quite large, and consume a lot of moisture. The culture does not tolerate the neighborhood with weeds, so regular weeding is required.

In the phase of 2-3 leaves, it is necessary to fertilize sunflowers with azophos 40 g and urea 20 g per 10 liters of water. Apply fertilizer after pre-watering.

With the beginning of the formation of seed boxes, potash fertilizers (potassium sulfate or potassium chloride) are applied. This contributes to an increase in the level of drought resistance of the plant, the formation of large seeds and an increase in their oiliness.

From the conception of achenes to flowering, the sunflower's need for moisture doubles. Therefore, the rate and frequency of irrigation during this period is increased.

Sunflower disease control

Before you grow a sunflower in the country, you need to prepare to protect it from many diseases and pests, since crop yields often suffer precisely because of them. Of the fungal diseases, the most dangerous are: false powdery mildew, phomosis, rust, phomopsis, white rot.

They infect leaves and seed pods. Sunflowers affected by fungi lag behind in development, hats do not develop. The first signs of most diseases can be seen in the 2-3 leaf phase, but the main symptoms appear later. To combat diseases, plantings are sprayed with Mikosan-B, Fitosporin, Trichodermin before flowering.

Sunflower pests and their control

Many pests love to feast on oilseed sunflowers. Sunflower moth (lat. Homoeosoma nebulella) is more common than others. She lays her eggs in the basket at the stage of its formation, and later the larvae hatch and gnaw out the kernels of the seeds. Pests are also common: southern weevil, wireworm, sunflower longhorn, thorn beetle.

To reduce the likelihood of damage by insects will help: seed dressing before planting, timely removal of weeds, crop rotation. If pests are found, plantings are treated with insecticides - Taran, Desikant, Aktellik.

Great harm birds can inflict crops. To scare them away, bright multi-colored ribbons are tied near the sunflower caps. They also use tinsel or old computer disks. Often summer residents install a scarecrow on the site.

Tying the heads with a breathable cloth, such as gauze, will help protect the seeds from birds and pests. This should be done only after pollination and left in this form until the seeds are fully ripe.

Sunflower harvest

The sunflower harvest starts in August. By this time, the heads lean towards the ground, the outer petals dry out and fall off, the seeds become black in color.

Ripe caps are cut off and, if necessary, put to dry (1-2 days). The seeds are removed over the spread cloth. The heads rub against each other until all the seeds fall out.

Seeds are dried in the shade, pouring them out on a substrate in one layer. After waiting for windy weather, the seeds are sifted. To do this, they are taken out to an open area, collected in any container and poured back from a height of human growth, thereby removing weed particles.

Store sunflower seeds in a dry place in hermetically sealed containers or in bags of non-woven material.

Outcome

Even a novice gardener can grow a sunflower in the country and harvest a good harvest. Special attention it is necessary to pay attention to the preparation of seeds for sowing, timely watering, removal of weeds and the fight against dangerous diseases and pests. If the sunflower cultivation technology described in our material is fully observed, you will harvest a magnificent harvest of tasty and oily seeds.

Sunflower or sunflower, as it is most often called, belongs to the Asteraceae family, and is cultivated both on an industrial scale and in individual farms. The sunflower inflorescence is a single head of large or small size, or several small heads arranged in a panicle. Plants are grown as an oilseed crop, to obtain fruits - seeds, or as decorative look. The topic of this article is sunflower: planting and care, photo. When to sow seeds and how to do it right?

Sunflower: planting and care, photo. When to sow?

Sunflower seeds - when to sow?

Growing on sunflowers will help decorate it, add brightness, and also provide an opportunity to enjoy fresh seeds. The plant is an annual, growing up to 3 meters in height. More than 60 varieties are known for Shrovetide species alone. Most often these are hybrids that differ in terms of ripening. On average, the first seeds can be tasted 2.5 months after planting.

When choosing seeds, you need to focus on the criteria:

sunflower head size (large or smaller);
type of seeds, they are white, black, striped;
plant height, how high they can grow.

Sunflower is sown in open ground in May, when the earth warms up to at least +8 degrees. Planting steps:

Seed calibration. It is necessary to select only large, full-weight seeds that do not have damage.
Soaking seeds. Some summer residents soak only overnight, but it is recommended to leave the seeds soaked until the sprout hatches. After that, you can sow in the ground.
Choice of location. The plant should be planted in an open, sunny space, but not blown by the winds. Usually sunflowers are planted along fences or buildings.
Soil preparation. Sunflower does not grow well in clayey places, but loves well-fertilized soil. Before sowing, humus can be added to the hole.

Seeds are planted in wells, laying 2-3 seeds in each. The depth of the pit is made from 5 to 8 centimeters, depending on the climate. In colder regions, the planting depth is greater. The distance between the holes is up to 45 centimeters, between the rows - at least 60 centimeters.

In order to get a good harvest in the fall, the plants must be provided with decent care. Sunflowers love abundant watering - once a day, in dry weather - twice a day. After watering, it is convenient to remove weeds from moist soil. If the landing is made in a ventilated place, then you can substitute a support so that a strong wind does not bend or break the stems.

sunflower care

Sunflower is fed with potash fertilizers, which are applied to the ground at the same time as planting. After the first weeding or during watering, an excess of nitrogen in the soil should not be allowed, as the culture becomes susceptible to various diseases. In addition, all the forces of a sunflower can go into the green mass, it will grow tall and beautiful, but with empty baskets.

The main danger to plants are rodents after sowing seeds, and birds at the beginning of planting and after maturation of the baskets. Seed dressing in garlic-onion tincture can serve as protection against rodents. To do this, 100 grams of chopped garlic cloves are mixed with onion husks and poured with boiling water (two liters). They insist for days. Then filter and pour the seeds overnight before planting. In order to keep the birds out, white threads are pulled onto low pegs driven in along the landings. To scare away birds from adult plants, fabric, newspaper strips, and old CDs are used. You can put on the baskets disposable medical caps sold at the pharmacy. After the seeds ripen, the basket must be cut with a sharp knife.

So, sunflower: planting and care, photo, when to sow seeds and growing rules - all this will help you get a good harvest of juicy, tasty seeds for the joy of the whole family.

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