Sunflower in the country

The sunflower in the country is one of those plants that is grown in many regions of Russia. Some summer residents use sunflowers only for decoration and additional decor in their garden area. But for some, sunflower cultivation is aimed at reaping a rich harvest. This is what our article is about.

Currently, about sixty varieties of sunflower have been bred, including hybrids. Sunflower is a very good honey plant, it does not require particularly careful care and is able to withstand slight frosts (up to minus five degrees).

However, you should not be frivolous about growing a sunflower in the country. It is nevertheless necessary to choose a good suitable site, select high-quality seeds, and also follow all the rules for proper planting.

A sunflower in the country can grow on almost any soil, but it is best to plant it on black soil or chestnut soil. On these soils, sunflower is capable of producing a very rich harvest. Wetlands with high acidity will not work either.

The place of planting a sunflower in the country must be determined in such a way as not to plant a sunflower after tomatoes or beets. These crops emit huge amounts of nitrogen, which has a negative effect on sunflowers.

Of course, nitrogen and nitrogen-containing ready-mixed mixtures are also not suitable for fertilizers and fertilizing. But for planting, areas where white cabbage or corn were previously grown are perfect.

It should also be borne in mind that a sunflower in the country can very quickly deplete the soil, absorbing the maximum of useful and nutrients for its growth and development, therefore it is undesirable to grow a sunflower in one place annually.

Even in the second year, it is unlikely to get a large and tasty harvest from a sunflower, and after the first harvest, the soil needs a year to recover, so it is advisable not to plant other crops on it. However, beans or peas can again help to saturate the soil with nutrients.

Interesting, that after just one year of growing a sunflower in a country house on one piece of land, it is not recommended to plant a sunflower there again for the next 7 years!

Another feature of the sunflower is its tendency to over-pollination. For this reason, it is not advisable to sow seeds from a past harvest. Better to buy them at a specialty store that sells seed bags. Before sowing seeds, they need to be additionally calibrated.

Calibration is best done with an ordinary sieve, leaving only the largest specimens for sowing. In addition, the seeds need to be examined for volume. You can do this yourself: dip into the prepared saline solution and those seeds that are lowered to the bottom of the container within the first ten minutes - they are suitable for sowing.

In addition to the above, to prepare seeds for growing a sunflower in the country, you need to pickle them so that they are not destroyed by various garden pests. To do this, you can use both ready-made chemical preparations and prepare the mixture yourself. To do this, you will need about one hundred to two hundred grams of onion husks and pre-chopped or rolled garlic.

All this mixture is poured overnight with several liters of boiling water, and filtered in the morning. All seeds are immersed in such a solution for twelve hours. This folk method does not carry any harm, unlike chemical preparations, therefore it is more desirable to use it.

Sunflower seeds are planted in a soil warmed up to at least eight degrees (approximately in May). On the site, small holes are made with a depth of no more than seven centimeters.It is worth keeping an eye on the distance between the pits. The greater the distance, the larger the flowers of the sunflower will grow. Then several seeds are poured into each hole (preferably no more than three) and sprinkled with moist earth on top.

After ten days, you can see the first shoots. As soon as they appear, it is worth watering them regularly and abundantly. Abundant watering is associated, first of all, with the fact that both the roots and the ground part of the sunflower are large enough and, accordingly, require a lot of water for normal functioning and growth. Do not forget about regular weeding, since the neighborhood with them will have a very negative effect on the growth of culture.

Fertilizers and fertilizing can be applied after the first watering. As soon as the seed pods begin to form, it is advisable to additionally apply potash fertilizers. They will help to increase the percentage of oiliness of the seeds and increase the level of drought tolerance of the sunflower.

Of course, like all crops, a sunflower in the country can get sick. Therefore, even at the stage of choosing a site for planting, it is worth taking care of protecting the plant from the attack of various pests and pathogenic microbes. The most dangerous disease for a sunflower is rust and white rot. These diseases can completely destroy both the leaves and the seed pods themselves.

As a result, diseased sunflowers lag far behind in growth, and their caps may stop forming and developing altogether. To eliminate diseases, it is customary to spray young sunflowers with special preparations even before flowering (they can be purchased in a specialized store).

The most common sunflower disease is broomrape. Broomstick is a plant that settles directly on the roots of a sunflower. The broomrape itself does not have its roots in principle, therefore it develops, taking all the substances necessary for life from the sunflower.

Taste the delicious Pancake fruits of the sunflower love the sunflower moth. This pest is capable of laying eggs in the seed basket at the beginning of its formation, and when the hungry larvae finally hatch from the eggs, they gnaw out the seed nucleoli. If such a pest is found, it is necessary to immediately treat the plant with insecticides.

Of course, birds can cause great harm to a sunflower in the country. To scare them away, any bright shiny objects are used (both bright ribbons and unnecessary blank computer disks or a garden scarecrow will do). it will also not be superfluous to tie a cloth around the sunflower heads (be sure to breathe so that the plant does not suffocate! Ordinary gauze is ideal).

With sufficient and proper care, you can start harvesting as early as August. In healthy sunflowers, by this time, the heads lean closer to the ground under the weight of the seeds, the petals begin to crumble, and the seeds themselves turn black.

Hats that are already completely ripe must be carefully cut off and put to dry for several days. After drying, the seeds can be removed. It is better to do this over a light-colored cloth that has been spread beforehand.

Further, the resulting seeds must be additionally sieved in windy weather (for this, you need to take out the entire crop in any suitable container to an open space and pour them out approximately from the height of human growth; in this way, you can get rid of all unnecessary weed particles).

It is imperative to store sunflower seeds in a closed container or bags, in an absolutely dry room.