Well, as some of you probably already know, I germinated Autumn Beauty sunflower seeds early this year. Well, some of them are already developing seeds. I can actually see the seeds, the little "flower" looking thingeys (Yes, that IS a technical term! ;-P) fell off of some of the seeds. These seeds I wanted to germinate next year, but the problem is, if the birds eat them all I won't be able to have any for next year. This morning I went outside to check on them, and one of them was chewed on! About half the seeds were gone, and part of the back of the head was blaitenly chewed on. Now, I'm not sure if they were squirrels or birds, but I think a squirrel would be a bit heavy, they can't even support themselves, let alone a squirrel! Anyway, the head's in pretty bad shape and I was wondering if I should harvest the head and hang it infront of my window to dry and ripen or just leave it alone? ...also, how can I prevent this from happening to my other sunflowers? Also, my sunflowers keep snapping in half, when they get about 6-7 feet tall. I have a fence around them to keep the bunnies out, so they never snap all the way, actually the ones that have are still blooming and growing, only they look a bit odd! Does anybody have any suggestions for keeping the sunflowers from snapping, some sort of way of support? I considered stakes, but I have no idea where you'd get a stake that big. Thanks so much! Lakota
In Russia, to collect sunflower seed, people tie a cheesecloth around a sunflower head. That also protects from birds, I am not sure about squirrels.
You could use bamboo if you have it. Where I work, birds also tend to eat the sunflowers, so we cut the heads of as soon as it looks like the seeds are starting to harden, (or as soon as we notice the birds!) we store them in a dry area, and let them hang to dry.
Eight foot re-bar plus velcro ties will give adequate support. Most building hardware stores stock this item. I brush paint the re-bar on a plastic sheet using green Tremclad paint to prevent rusting of the re-bar. Tie a screen door mesh loosly around the head. This can be aluminium or fiberglass, I use fiberglass.The screening comes in three and four foot wide rolls and is not expensive. Squirrels can strip a head in one or two attacks, and the mesh is certainly a deterent, The presence of a small aggressive dog tends to discourage squirrels. I usually grow the sunflowers for birds, plus the presence of the pretty flower, and only protect my future seed plants. Durgan.
