Throw N Mow Sunflowers?

[SwampCat]

The unwanted grass is taking over my browntop millet fields, so thinking about going back to sunflowers next year for doves so I can control the grass. Has anyone ever planted a pure field of sunflowers using throw n mow and had a good stand of large headed sunflowers - like 8” to 10” heads? Do the plants get a good rooting if the seed starts out on top the ground?

 

[TreeDaddy]

I have tried this 2 or 3 time and have yet to be successful with sunflowers or any large seed using TnM

Others have posted better results

perhaps they can offer advice

bill

 

[Catscratch]

Yes and no. Throw-n-mow sunflowers works if you get rain. I've gotten good stands but since I don't fertilize I don't get huge heads.

 

[SwampCat]

Yes and no. Throw-n-mow sunflowers works if you get rain. I've gotten good stands but since I don't fertilize I don't get huge heads.View attachment 53944View attachment 53945View attachment 53946

I would be fertilizing heavily and using clearfield variety and the appropriate herbicide. Just really dont want to put a disk in an area that hasnt seen one in five or six years.

 

[Bluestone]

Same experience as catscratch. If you get the rain, it works great. If not, it will not work out well. I did throw and mow sunflowers this year, planted on May 24th. Got an inch of rain on May 25th and germination was great. Then it didn’t rain for nearly three weeks, until June 17th, when we got 3.85 inches in a week, now they are off to the races.

In years where my t&m sunflowers have failed, it’s caused by minimal/no rain after planting then birds devour the seeds since they are more vulnerable not being covered completely by the soil.

If it rains say two good .75+ inch rainfalls within a week of your seeding, it will probably work out just fine.

 

[Barndog56]

I'd soak them for 6-8 hours, then broadcast by hand. As long as you have good thatch and get rain right away it'll work. Head size depends on plant spacing. They'll need about 1 square foot per plant to make large heads. Fertilizing may help if they're spaced closer.

 

[SwampCat]

I'd soak them for 6-8 hours, then broadcast by hand. As long as you have good thatch and get rain right away it'll work. Head size depends on plant spacing. They'll need about 1 square foot per plant to make large heads. Fertilizing may help if they're spaced closer.

I always hit them with nitrogen just before they are too tall to drive over

 

[SD51555]

I did throw and mow sunflowers in my asparagus bed. For what I threw in there, they came up for shit.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SwampCat]

I expect to have rain. We usually have wet springs. I sow my millet straight into standing, gly killed wheat and annual rye grass and it always does great. Since the fields are not far from my house, I dont have any trouble timing the planting.

 

[FarmerDan]

What's the source of your sunflower seeds? (edit: i see now)I will buy a bag of black oil seeds - sold as bird feed. To throw a number on the wall I'd guess germination is about 30%, +/- 30%. Germination would probably be better with seeds intended for seeding because they are scarified, or nicked, which allows moisture into the seed germplasm. That hard seed coat is a significant barrier.

 

[SwampCat]

What's the source of your sunflower seeds? (edit: i see now)I will buy a bag of black oil seeds - sold as bird feed. To throw a number on the wall I'd guess germination is about 30%, +/- 30%. Germination would probably be better with seeds intended for seeding because they are scarified, or nicked, which allows moisture into the seed germplasm. That hard seed coat is a significant barrier.

Yes sir, I am a little worried about germination rate with seed laying on top of ground