I suppose it depends on whether you are cramped for space or not. I grow and sell a few thousand sunflowers each year, and I grow only single stem hybrid pollen-free sunflowers. That way I am assured of getting nice long stems, and long-lasting non-messy flowers. I've worked my way down to just two main varieties: Sunrich Orange and Procut Orange.

I can't help with what's available in branching varieties, but the single stems work out very well for me.

ThinMan

ok...i probably sound really stupid but if you use single stemed plants don't you get just 1 sunflower at a time When you cut that flower where does the next stem/flower come from (do i make any sense?

Dale,

Sunflower Selections lists 22 varieties of branching stem sunflowers. Notice that I have linked you to page 1 of 3 pages. They have quite a selection of sunflowers.

ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

Not stupid at all, Dale. With single stems you just have to do succession planting. Each week or two you plant another batch. By the time a batch has finished blooming, the next batch will be ready.

ThinMan

no room for succession planting...going with branching varieties. If they�re multi stemmed can I assume that they�ll be like Zinnia �cut and come again� and keep producing flowers?
Thanks!

Dale

Hi there
I just grew some multi-stemed for fun in a small garden.

Mine tended to send up one central flower on a shortish stem, (plant height about 5 feet plus). After it was spent /when it started fading, auxiliary shoots would emerge from the leaves underneath the top. I kept deadheading and didn't put on fertilizer. Most of the following flowers were very small.

Dont know the variety. I guess feeding is a crucial factor.

Well, good luck,
bye, Lin

off topic a bit here...

What about the tap root?

Does the tap root mean I shouln't start seeds inside?

Dale

Dale,

"Does the tap root mean I shouldn't start seeds inside?"

Yes. If you want the strongest sunflower plants, you should plant the seeds directly in-ground to allow the taproot to develop in the best possible way.

ZM

linaria, did your branching sunflower provide more cutting stems than that of a non-branching variety?

thanks zenman, i thought so

dale

Hi Dale,
I guess 5 or more per plant BUT with non too long stems, the first Flower head quite large, the others smaller. I should have some pics somewhere, and could bring them here (by photobucket), in a couple of days.
They were fine to go with Dahlias and other cutflowers but not big enough for a bundle of long stemed sunflowers.
Depends what you are aiming for, I reckon.
Bye, Lin

smalish is good. how many bouquetable (useable) stems did you get?

what variety did you use?

did you start the seeds outside?

Thanks!!

Dale

Hi there,
sorry, took a while.
I didnt cut many bouquets, cause the Dahlias didnt do too well + I was often too busy with my kids.

variety: sorry, didnt keep the names BUT I just bought standard stuff in some garden centre with builder`s supply and some supermarket (in Switzerland), so nothing too fancy. I went for "branching, good for cut flowers" on the packet and medium height (about 5 feet).
Species: they were all H. annus-hybrids. Some H. debilis-hybrids were offered as well, but I grew them before and thought their flower heads too small+ lots of black flies/aphids on the plants.

I did sow directly, about 5 seeds to a hole, and thinned out while they grew.
started in the second week of May. We have a very mild climate, frost usually ends at the beginning of May. For instance the communal gardeners plant tender bedding plants/ annuals at the beginning of May. And they wouldnt risk their thousands of plants.

Perhaps that helps, bye,

Lin

I popped some pics of the sun flowers into photobucket so you can see for yourself

22. of May

{{gwi:4908}}

{{gwi:4909}}

2. 0f July
{{gwi:4910}}

12. of July

{{gwi:4911}}

28. of July
    {{gwi:4912}}

29. of August

{{gwi:4913}}

Thanks for the pic's Linaria

so should i figure about 3-4 weeks from planting to flower?

Hi Dale,
planted seeds about 8th of May, first flowers about first week of July,

so rather 8 weeks,

bye, Lin

Thanks Linaria!