why did you plant them in july???

and why such a big hole? .. though that has nothing to do with flowering ...

and why high nitro fert??

what was your seed source

We took a month long vacation for all of may so i didnt want to not he there in june or july to see them or take care of them. and i dug quite bug holes because we have cery hard clay soil and thought it would restrict their taproot and etc. and high nitrogen because i thought it would help push out more green and delay flowering but im thinking it could of been too much and i might stick to diluted fish fertilizer and other organic stuff. my seed source was just a burpee packet which is where i got the seeds last year that grew to about 10ft so i didnt see an issue amd of course i know seeds will never all grow perfect plants but i was just confused.

Annuals like sunflowers are genetically programmed to reproduce....and rapidly, since they have a very short window in which to do so. And you shortened that window by planting so late :-) So it is not very surprising that the short plants are now producing their flowers and shortly, seeds.

Most are pretty free range after planting and require no further attention on the grower's part other than perhaps some water during very dry periods....I would have gone ahead and planted in May :-)

If you want 10 footers, you need to plant the seeds at the appropriate time. July is just too late.

thank you guys! i hope next year to get them growing by late april early may. for now ill enjoy my stubby little 3 footers