i have them all over the yard .... thanks to neighbors with bird feeders ...

i have pure sand soil ... i do not water them .. they are free-range ... and it has been teh hottest dryest summer of my life

which leads me to think you may be killing them with too much love..

your potting soil is too good...

you are giving them too much water ...

you are giving them too much food ...

THAT IS MY GUESS.... now lets see if i am right or wrong ...

ken

Hi Ken

Thankyou for your reply. It does make sense what you said as they are tough plants.

I think I will leave them be for a few weeks and see what happens.

Well, you can't just leave them be if you have them in a container! Ken's are growing in the ground, with far reaching root systems in a real live soil system. There's more available water than we think down there! Your plants are totally captive.

Allow them to dry out somewhat, but you cannot ignore them for a couple of weeks, out in the baking sun. Ken's guess is as good as any, about what might be the problem. Only you can be the judge about the watering situation. I'd stop fertilizing, though.

Dwarf sunflowers are pretty much one bloom wonders. The axillary flower buds sometimes bloom but aren't comparable to the first apical flower.

It's better to grow them from seed and stagger the plantings if you want blooms throught the season.

Exactly. I have grown these babies for sales and that is exactly what I would have said. When they are grown like that, they are more of a seasonal potted ornamental than a bedder or lasting annual.