Drooping Sunflower

[Troppofoodgardener]

I have my first and only sunflower, which seemed to be going strong before it blossomed.
However, once it had full yellow petals and the typical big bold sunflower face, the head started drooping.. around 3-4 days ago.
I've been fertilising it and it's in a garden bed and gets full sun. The temps around here are regularly in the high 80's. Is that too hot for sunflowers?
I've seen sunflowers in other gardens, which do droop a little due to the weight of their heads versus their slender stems. My sunflower head measures about 10 inches in diameter, while the stem is about 1.5 inches, also in diameter.
It looks healthy enough, there doesn't seem to be any sort of visible disease on the plant. However the flowerhead itself is drooping so much it is almost horizontal What can I do?

[bullthistle]

The weight will cause the droop but also lack of water since there is more to the plant to nuture so more water absorption.

[rainbowgardener]

I always see the large headed sunflowers drooping. I think that is pretty normal, just those big heads get heavy and the stems have to have some flex to do their sun tracking thing, so..

Here's an extreme example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/spyder239/301911551/

but you can see that water is part of the problem there, because the leaves are also wilty.

[john gault]

As the seeds form it weighs down the flower; at least that's my take on it. I planted my first sunflower last year.

[Troppofoodgardener]

It gets watered twice every day (once early morning, then evening) - the garden bed is fitted with drip irrigation. I suppose I can hand-water it even more, if it's a lack of water that's the problem??

The other plants in the bed around it seem fine, but then again, they're not big-headed sunflowers... Thanks for the help people, I'll try the water thing

[rainbowgardener]

If the leaves are not looking wilty, I wouldn't water it more, sounds like it is getting plenty of water. I just think they do that, big weight on a flexible stem.

[Bobberman]

Don't plant the mamoth sunflower because it only gets one head or flower that will only be nice for a week or two then die off!. Buy the colored varities or even the teddy bear since they will grow many heads all season and are much more attractive to the birds! The red ones are really nice. I had one with 42 flowers but the worlds record is like 900 flowers!

[cynthia_h]

Don't plant the mamoth sunflower because it only gets one head or flower that will only be nice for a week or two

Some of us grow sunflowers for ourselves b/c we want to eat the sunflower seeds. Multiple small flowers are much more difficult to process than a few large sunflower heads.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Bobberman]

Sunflowers for food or beauty. You can plant both the mamoth and the colors for beauty and the birds! I always have a few huge ones grow amoung the other 100 I plant. I also plant them in two week intervals all summer! I have about 20 sunflower head dring for seeds. They dry good in a old car window or the greenhouse! I usually break them in 4 pieces to dry so they don't mold!

[john gault]

I only get the leftovers from the birds and the squirrels.

[rainbowgardener]

If you want to eat sunflowers, you probably have to bag the heads. Otherwise they are a delectable treat for everyone in the garden - birds, squirrels, raccoons, deer, etc.

[Troppofoodgardener]

I'm late chiming in here, but drooping sunflower heads are normal. We have a perennial variety of sunflowers native to Texas (Maxmillians) and they droop. The introduced sunflowers droop also. I've never seen a sunflower that looks upward after it develops a full flower.

'

Thanks for the reassurance

I'm not sure what variety mine is, I got it from a old packet of seeds from a friend. Out of 9, only 1 sprouted. I wasn't really trying grow it for food, but more to attract pollinators, but ... hey now there's a thought!

When do you know a sunflower head is ripe for the pickin'? Couple of months after the a full flower develops? Or do you look at the size of the seeds?

[Bobberman]

When the seeds get hard but if you pick it sooner its easier to open the seeds! The flowers usually fall away from the seeds easy when you brush them with your hand.