Up for sale is one pack of 25 Cherry Rose Sunflower seeds. These sunflowers are pollenless branching sunflowers that will produce up to an 8" bloom with very light yellow edged petals that transition to a cherry red center. These sunflowers are a bit inconsistent and up to 20% will be a solid yellow which is why we included the yellow variety in the pictures.
We offer flat rate combined shipping on all orders, no limit on the amount or type of seed packets.
CULTURE
Soil temperature: 70 - 75 degrees fahrenheit
Germination lighting: Dark required
Germination days: 4 - 8 days
Grow on temperature day: 55 - 60 degrees fahrenheit
Plant spread: 24"
Plant height: 48'' to 96"
Plant type: Annual
Maturation days: 70 days
Loosen enriched garden soil down to a 6" depth. When soil is consistently 70 degrees (for zone 6-7 usually June 1st) plant seed 1/2" deep and a minimum of 24" apart if your are going to pinch them, 6" to 12" apart if your are not going to pinch (see below). These are low maintenance and require nothing else other than weekly watering. We don't recommend you start sunflowers early in pots as they send a large tap root when germinating and in pots less than 6" deep will quickly become rootbound and not develop correctly.
These are a branching variety and you can choose to pinch them or not. If you don't pinch they will grow taller, up to 8', and usually produce one very large 6"-8" flower (they might still branch on their own). If you pinch them the plant will stay smaller creating more branches and produce more blooms in the 3-4" range. If you decide to pinch wait until the plant is about 1 foot tall, and has 4-5 sets of leaves, and pinch out the top set of new leaves with your fingertips (see the video above). We recommend you only pinch your sunflowers one time. Pinching is a personal preference and we do pinch our branching sunflowers.
The color of these sunflowers, and the overall vigor of the plant, is very dependent on sufficient soil nutrient levels. To achieve the deepest cherry color we suggest you use a nutrient soil test to check your NPK and make sure your PH level is at least 7. A PH level under 6 will affect the color of the bloom. We included the last picture to show what they look like when grown in marginal conditions.