planting my sunflowers today!

I have no idea what I’m doing so hopefully at least one of these sprouts.

They are sprouting!

And just like that, my sprouts are dead So I planted more today.

Planted some more today

My first seedling has new leaves coming in and some of my other seeds are starting to sprout.

And suddenly, I have 63 sunflower seedlings. Send help.

We’re suddenly at 93 seedlings seemingly overnight. What the hell am I going to do?

I planted a seed in this pot the same day I planted all my other seeds. Nothing happened so I assumed the seed didn’t germinate but I kept watering the pot anyway

Look who decided to join the party this week.

Anyway, this is Dave. He was the only seedling to survive when all my other ones died in the first round.

And he survived being transplanted. Now, he has a fan club.

He’s the biggest sprout right now with 4 true leaves so he’ll get potted first, probably this weekend.

We transplanted some sunflowers into window boxes today and thinned out the weaker seedlings in the starter pods.

I’ve learned a lot in this process. Hopefully these transplants survive!

Sunflower update: after thinning the weaklings and a few transplant-related casualties, I have 73 seedlings! I’ve transplanted 41 of them into pots and window boxes.

Sunflower update: All seedlings were transplanted earlier this week and are currently thriving

I almost drowned my sunflowers in a string of thunderstorms last week but we’ve made it though with no losses so far!

a montage of the last month of growth. #SunflowerChallenge

It’s supposed to rain all night and I’m not prepared to see if my sunflowers can make it on their own so... they’re back inside tonight

It was at this moment I knew... I should have bought more planters.

A Dave-specific update, for his fan club.

today in the “garden”

Dave has a bud!

My friend offered to let me grow more sunflowers in her backyard so we’re planting the real thing: Russian mammoths & citrus sunflowers.

Mammoths can grow up to 15” tall with flower heads reaching 1” wide. Citrus sunflowers are double blooms and grow up to 6” tall!

Sunflower update: Disaster has struck! I’ve noticed ants crawling over my sunflowers and yellowing leaves... Where there are ants, there are aphids

A ladybug came for the AYCE aphid buffet. My sunflowers have since been doused in insecticidal soap to kill the aphids.

portrait of a lone ladybug, munching her way through my disaster garden

The Russian mammoth and citrus (or orange sun) sunflower seeds I planted last week are starting to sprout. Today, we have 13 sprouts. Yesterday, we had 2

Now that the aphid infestation is under control, I can return to regular updates on my dwarf sunflower.

I forgot to water one row of sunflowers on Friday and and found them wilted on Saturday. 10 minutes after watering, they perked back up and now today, they are just fine

The sunflowers were planted 9 days ago and the Russian mammoth is growing quickly!

Yet another, Dave-specific update for his fan club.

It doesn’t seem like I’ve updated this thread with the most recent sunflower updates. So, here we are:

Flower buds, more flower buds, and a sea of green leaves.