ANNUALS > SUNFLOWER > harvest
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SUNFLOWER GUIDES
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Some people sleep with the open , uncomplicated look of popping yellow helianthus , whilst others love their seed as food to snack on .
Why not have your patty and eat it too ?
Give well-situated - to - grow sunflowers a patch in your garden , savor the sight of the charming , bright chickenhearted flowers and then harvest the seeds to munch on !
You could even extract helianthus oil or make helianthus butter from the seeds – or you may simply sow them the following class .
Before you get that far , you need to do it how to glean these seeds .
The simple procedure is as follow :
Each degree of this appendage is described below .
1) Observe The Flowers
When those large , brilliant blooms begin to fade and shrivel , you need to pop a close watch on the yellowing , browning flower .
You see , those drying flower heads are nature - made bird feeders !
If you do n’t make your move in time , common garden birds will devour the seeds .
What you will necessitate to do is delineate in the following step but the first product line of action is to be vigilant .
You will demand to begin your vigil from 70 - 120 days after sowing the seeds depending on the variety show you ’re grow .
When the petals of a flower head have withered and are falling off , it is wilted at a downward angle and the rear of the flowerhead ( where the calyx joins it ) has yellow , or as soon as you spot doll pecking , proceed to the following step .
2) Protect The Flower Heads
As it is better to allow the seeds to mature on the plant and not harvest them prematurely , it is necessary to protect the come in the blossom heading from those greedy shuttle .
slackly cover the flowerhead with netting or a report or cheesecloth bag ( not a formative bag ! ) and tie or nip off the opening to the theme .
It is , of grade , possible that a particularly naughty and impertinent fowl may pick up at and buck the bag to get at those tasty seed , but if that happens , give credit to your avian competition !
You will need to take this step for each flowerhead in its own turn .
If you are lucky enough to live in a region where birds ignore wilted sunflower and their seed , you’re able to skip this tedious stone’s throw but keep in judgment that whatever seeds come loose and fall off will be lose .
3) Snip Off The Flowers
For a precisely - timed harvest , remove the newspaper bag to scrutinise the withered flower oral sex every few days , otherwise , merely hop the review and harvest the heyday head about ten days after you handle it .
If the rear of the flower head teacher is yellowy - brown in colour , the florets in the central disc have withered or fallen off and the seeds are queer and look plump , they are ready to harvest .
germ may be striped black and cream or be wholly brownish - black ; both types are comestible but the former is definitely tastier .
Snip off the angry walk about 25 centimeter beneath the flower point .
Be docile and deliberate when shorten because a jolt will dislodge seeds that have dry out and are coming wanton .
4) Dry Them
Bring each flower brain indoors , with a bag on if you had tied one , to a storage room that is fair , dry , and well - ventilate .
take the bag , tie a string to the stalk and set aside the flowerhead from a rafter or spread a newspaper on a table and lay the heyday head on it .
pass on some blank between adjacent flower heads .
Do not put them on a sheet of credit card .
If you opt for the former trend , you may want to put a plastic tub or another container beneath the suspended bloom stalks to catch any falling source .
If you opt for the latter stylus , be sure that there are no mouse , worm or other pestilence in your storeroom !
Leave each flower head for about ten day , after which the cum will be ready to glean .
5) Extract The Seeds
Lay a tack of paper on the flooring and put a pailful or any wide , broad container on it .
Hold a flower head above the pailful and firmly sweep it with your fingers to extract the semen .
You may scratch two flower heads against one another or pull apart a flowerhead to dislodge the seeds .
After you are done , sift through the ejaculate and beak out any outside matter , as you will likely find dried floret and small bits of the withered peak among the cum .
If you are certain that your storeroom is free of black eye and other pests , lay a plane of newspaper publisher on a board and spread the seeded player on that for drying .
The seeds should not be touching each other .
If your storeroom is not sure to be spare of pests , then put only a fistful of seeded player in a mesh grip and suspend that with a firearm of string from a rafter .
Use as many mesh bags as needed .
If you apply the newspaper publisher sheet style , 24 hr is enough .
If you use the mesh - bag style , wiggle the bag every six hours or so to re - arrange the seeds , and allow 2 - 3 days for drying .
This last drying footstep is of import because moist seeds will become musty or start to molder .
6) Store The Seeds
helianthus seeds can be put in paper envelope or bag , which should be tightly closed and kept in the crisper or kept in a wry , airtight jar .
But why store those tasty and alimentary seeds ?
Just start to munch on them , raw or roasted .
But if you store the seeds , do check on them about once a fortnight in case any have gone mouldy , as these can regard the other seeds they are stored with .
“ Do not roast or eat all your seeds , as you will want some to seed in the ground next saltation ! ” shares Master Horticulturist Dan Ori .
“ you may store them in a paper bag just the same , and I then put my composition bags in a tin and place them in a closet indoors . ”
