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Sunflowers

 
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Blue Peter



Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2400
Location: Milton Keynes
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 05 10:31 am    Post subject: Sunflowers Reply with quote
    

Has anyone tried growing sunflowers for their seeds?

If so, how do you deal with the hulls?


Peter.

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 05 10:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I like to crack the hulls a little; they'll germinate anyway, but it gets them off to a flying start.

I also tend to soak them overnight, then put them in a beansprouter till they're off. Then when I see a patch of green, they're into a pot til they have a couple of nice leaves and are standing up happily, then they're hardened off and potted out.

Using commercial, de-hulled ones for eating, growing them this way, I got a thirteen footer two years ago.

judyofthewoods



Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 05 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

If you want to know how to crack large amounts of seeds after harvest, check my website later this summer (health and diet page) where I hope to have the results of some experiments I wanted to do on that. If not, remind me then, and I'll outline the idea here. No guarantee it'll work, a bit Heath Robinson, but worth a try.

Blue Peter



Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2400
Location: Milton Keynes
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 05 11:20 am    Post subject: Hulls Reply with quote
    

Yes, it was the removing hulls from harvested seeds that I was thinking about.

I'll look forward to your article later.

As a matter of interest, do you get a good harvest?


Peter.

judyofthewoods



Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 05 11:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thats part of the experiment. Not grown any yet. Hope its not too late this year. Can't start them off until I return from Germany on the 23rd. I'll be away for a week, so too risky leaving seedlings unattended for that long. Planting outside is a waste of time now, as the slugs would have the lot.
Well, here a very basic outline if you want to give it a go yourself.
Take a board, cut a series of groves into it which are slightly less deep than the width of the seeds and slightly wider than the thickness, not so wide that the seed can lie flat in the groove, thay have to naturally fall edge down. Pour the seeds onto board, brush off surface seeds, then take a rolling pin and crack the edges. The tricky bit is to get the right depth so the seeds crack right open, but maybe they'll just gape, but not far enough for the seeds to fall out. If they do, then the next question is, will blowing over the mixture remove the hulls? A sieve with opening big enough for the seed, but smaller than the hull would probably be better. That is assuming the seeds are fairly uniform in size. It is just a low tech experiment. You probably end up with some waste, but rather than chuck the hulls with the occasional seed, you could grow sunflower greens with whats left in the waste. It would be a thin harvest, but a good use. Or put it out for the birds, thye'll pick it over.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 05 11:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Have you ever eaten sunflowers as a vegetable as well as a sprout, Judy? I remember Tristan said he was planning to try it this year.

judyofthewoods



Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 05 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yes, I have grown sunflower 'sprouts'. When the plant is about 5-6" tall with a lush pair of leaves its ready to harvest. You get better results using whole seeds, but I have also sprouted the hulled seeds, and got plenty to germinate, but when growing them as greens the bad ones will rot, so its bestt to pick out as many of the un-sprouted ones early on to avoid too much rotten material at the base. For some strange reason the un-hulled organic sunflower seeds are far more expensive. Makes no sense. The ones with hulls
are just as fiddely to grow, as the hulls get stuck on the leaves, and you often have to pick them off by hand.
Anyway, the greens are quite neutral in flavour, not at all bitter, and I prefer it to lettuce as a salad green. Very easy to grow too. You don't even need soil. If you grow them in a flat tray as discribed in one of the other threads you simply add a little liquid plant feed to the water after a week, pouring it in at the base.
https://forum.downsizer.net/about2520.html&start=0

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