Sunflowers

[czechmate]

Heliotropism

French ones are probably lazy

 

[will l]

No they don’t. They point one way, sort of the average direction of the sun.

why do the french grow so many sun flowers?

A useful break crop, better paying than beans, stand hot dry conditions better. about 340 euros per tonne 3-4 tonne hectare.
Need a special header on the combine, wildlife love to eat them, then they eat the inside of the combine, how did you get on with them czechmate?

 

[czechmate]

A useful break crop, better paying than beans, stand hot dry conditions better. about 340 euros per tonne 3-4 tonne hectare.
Need a special header on the combine, wildlife love to eat them, then they eat the inside of the combine, how did you get on with them czechmate?

I was happy enough. Not the best of years with the dry/heat. Main problem was, after grass we were unsure of what weeds would come so we went for a variety that could take effective herbicides (grass and broad leaf), which wasn’t an oil variety so the price is significantly less. Although selling to the coop we don’t actually know what the final price will be yet.
Trying beans now...

 

[will l]

I was happy enough. Not the best of years with the dry/heat. Main problem was, after grass we were unsure of what weeds would come so we went for a variety that could take effective herbicides (grass and broad leaf), which wasn’t an oil variety so the price is significantly less. Although selling to the coop we don’t actually know what the final price will be yet.
Trying beans now...

If spring beans let me know i will buy some for seed,

 

[czechmate]

If spring beans let me know i will buy some for seed,

I have winter beans in.
Looking surprisingly well for the conditions, so far

 

[Farmer Roy]

A useful break crop, better paying than beans, stand hot dry conditions better. about 340 euros per tonne 3-4 tonne hectare.
Need a special header on the combine, wildlife love to eat them, then they eat the inside of the combine, how did you get on with them czechmate?

we use the same “header” on the front as we do for wheat & all our other combinable crops, although we do bolt “sunflower trays” out the front & instead of a conventional reel will use a “Sullivan” type head snatcher, although many just run a conventional bat real

 

[glasshouse]

Been growing them for about 24 yrs for pick your own flowers
Combined them once in a dry autumn
In a wet year they never grew at all

 

[Farmer Roy]

We have 2 distinct planting times for sunnies here.
Early spring ( sept ) for a mid - late summer harvest ( jan / feb )
Summer ( Dec ) for a late autumn / early winter ( may / June ) harvest
So we are growing them through OUR summer
not sure how that equates to a UK climate though ? Would have thought they would be better in a warmer & longer summer than you have ?

 

[will l]

we use the same “header” on the front as we do for wheat & all our other combinable crops, although we do bolt “sunflower trays” out the front & instead of a conventional reel will use a “Sullivan” type head snatcher, although many just run a conventional bat real

this is what is used here

 

[Farmer Roy]

Harvesting some low yielding sunnies after a flood . . .

 

[glasshouse]

We have 2 distinct planting times for sunnies here.
Early spring ( sept ) for a mid - late summer harvest ( jan / feb )
Summer ( Dec ) for a late autumn / early winter ( may / June ) harvest
So we are growing them through OUR summer
not sure how that equates to a UK climate though ? Would have thought they would be better in a warmer & longer summer than you have ?

South of england might be ok, but not viable north of the wash i would say.
Sown in may to avoid frost

 

[teslacoils]

Had people wanting to photograph and paint them.

Indeed. Tbh if enough folk want to pay a tenner to run naked through them, or whatever then do they really need to see a combine?

 

[Farmer Roy]

this is what is used here View attachment 848127

Rather than a big reel like that one ( if people aren’t running a Sullivan reel ) we are more than likely to lift our reels right up out of the way, or even take them off altogether


conventional front, just with sunflower trays bolted on

This is a “Sullivan” type reel, which is more of a head snatcher than a conventional bat reel

 

[Farmer Roy]

Indeed. Tbh if enough folk want to pay a tenner to run naked through them, or whatever then do they really need to see a combine?

I suppose it depends on how many people want to run naked through them

no point at all in growing them here if they aren’t being harvested for the oil, confectionery or birdseed market . . .

not enough people around to make any money from cut flowers or “pretty fields”

 

[DRC]

Indeed. Tbh if enough folk want to pay a tenner to run naked through them, or whatever then do they really need to see a combine?

Mine were left to feed the birds

 

[glasshouse]

Indeed. Tbh if enough folk want to pay a tenner to run naked through them, or whatever then do they really need to see a combine?

My sunflower patch was very popular with photographers and painters and all the locals loved it.
We used to get thankyou letters in the cash box from people who appreciated them
There were a couple of sunflower weddings locally, and they were entered in local flower shows.
They were a fantastic public relations exercise, and i often get told how much they miss them

 

[steveR]

Early years of HLS, we grew some on a wild bird seed plot in front of the house . Never managed to replicate it. Had people wanting to photograph and paint them.View attachment 848103

Funnily enough, I did the same here. As with you, they only really worked well once...

As they were near a roadside gate, I suspect I lost a fair number of heads to local flower dispays!!

 

[Farmer Roy]

Sunflowers literally grow like weeds here. Wild sunnies always come up along roadsides etc, & volunteers are always an issue following a commercial crop.
Commercial oil / confection / birdseed ones are just as easy to grow

 

[Farmer Roy]

Taking some home for the kitchen table

 

[Mr Charisma]

Indeed. Tbh if enough folk want to pay a tenner to run naked through them, or whatever then do they really need to see a combine?

That's all we do,,,,,,,, not the running naked bit,,,,,,,,,,,, you would never see me running
But if we can raise a bit of money for charity and share a bit of what we have then it's all good in my eyes