How to plant sunflowers?

[split toe]

How are yall guys planting sunflowers? I was thinking about using a no-till. Also how much will it cost per acre to plant them?

 

[Catscratch]

Spray, throw, and mow. Cost whatever a bag of black oil sunflower bird seed cost and a few ounces of gly.

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[BradB]

In my area add the cost of an e-fence to that because otherwise it won't happen.

 

[Catscratch]

It doesn't take long for them to look like this once the deer find them:

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[bueller]

^^^^^ now that is some browsing

 

[Catscratch]

^^^^^ now that is some browsing

It the same field as the first pic. The deer hammered it but the sunflowers recovered well. I think it's because I had other stuff planted in close proximity of that field and the deer seemed to do a rotation, taking pressure off the plants once they had been hit.

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[WTNUT]

Cost next to nothing 40 pounds of blackoil sunflower seeds $12. Benefit not so much. I planted 12 acres this year and I counted my plants this weekend. I had 8.


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[bueller]

How many pounds per acre do you guys use? I think I'm going to mix some with my buckwheat next year just for the heck of it.

 

[WTNUT]

I have seen everything from 6 to 15 suggested I did 6 in a mix.


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[Catscratch]

Lol. I have no idea. I spread a little and then get down and look at how thick it is. Once it looks like the seed is about 6in apart I go with it. I do a lot by "feel" with my plots.

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[farmhunter]

how much thatch do you end up with? Ans do you mow when its still green or when its browning up?

I'm going to try next year - did you fertilize at planting?

 

[Catscratch]

Lots of thatch, probably three inches thick. I don't mow until it's brown and dead. It mows easier and I think the seed finds its way to the dirt better when it's broadcast into standing dead plants.

I haven't fertilized the sunflowers but I did the millet this yr because it was yellowing. It was the first time in many yrs that I've bought fert. (besides an experiment with liquid fert.). Planned rotations take care of most of my fert. needs.

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[farmhunter]

Thank you - I'll look forward to trying it!

 

[StickTime]

I T&M'd 50 lbs of sunflowers with my buckwheat this spring...not one flower made it!

 

[Semisane]

StickTime, when you say "not one flower made it", was that because the sunflowers did not grow at all, or because the deer wiped them out before flowering?

 

[StickTime]

I can't say for certain. I had a healthy bed of thatch get moved down after I seeded, and it rained for a week straight after i seeded so germination should not have been a problem (it wasn't for the BW). Its possible that the deer ate them as soon as they began to sprout but I never was able to even identify a single sunflower stalk, let alone a flower. I wondered if it was the seeds I used? because i even had a few stray corn kernels fall off the atv when I was moving and they grew too

 

[Tap]

I wondered if it was the seeds I used?

I've been trying to do rag doll tests on all seeds that I plant. That will take any questions of seed viability out of the equation. I usually have a very high percentage of viable seeds, but it's good to know exactly.
There are "low viability" seeds that are sometimes sold. Welters sells a low-germ Kura Clover seed.
BTW, sunflowers tend to germinate faster than any other seed that I've tested. Sometimes within 2 days.

Exclusion cages are another important tool for monitoring success or failure of plantings.

 

[StickTime]

I keep meaning to use an exclusion cage and never get around do making a few. After pulling my cards for the first time in a month I realized that our deer herd is much larger than I initially thought so I'm thinking they just crushed it. I'm going to plant them again in the spring with the BW but I will use a cage this time!

 

[Semisane]

Last Fall I had black oil sunflower in my planting mix - the stuff sold as birdseed at a Dollar Store. They were first to germinate. They got to about three inches tall and then were wiped out in less than a week. Clearly they are a great draw to the plot. My plan for September is to add a HEAVY dose of sunflower seed to the planting mix expecting that they will bring in the deer but won't compete with the other seed because they will be gone by the time the other stuff gets going well.

 

[BradB]

This year I planted sunflowers in a summer mix I did on 3 ac. 50 lbs of sunflowers and never saw a one. Thought maybe it was bad seed but tested some I had left in the bag and it was over 90%. Deer had to have ate every one of them in less than a week between my buddys visits to the farm.Next year they get the e-fence.