How to Grow Sunflowers

I always longed for sunflowers in my garden. Never knew growing it would be so easy and fun. And then looking at those dazzling flowers every morning is even more pleasing.

Common Name: Sunflower

Scientific Name: Helianthus Annuus
Variety: Teddy Bear
Type: Annual/Seasonal for Summers

Sowing the Seeds

I started with my sunflower seeds just after the winters were gone (along with the Zinnia's in one my other blogs) - around Feb 15. Just put the seeds in a container filled with soil and cow manure mix and covered with a little of soil. I watered it daily. It germinated within 3-4 days. 

Feb 18: Germinated after around 3-4 days of sowing

Feb 24: After around a week of growth

Transplantation

I transplanted most of them in ground within 2-3 weeks of germination. I have read a lot over internet about sunflowers not liking transplantation but mine just did not mind. In fact, I even re-transplanted some of them to other location after a month of growth when I discovered that they were becoming overcrowded. I think they don't even know they are being transplanted if you just don't disturb their roots and dig a little deeper in the soil so that whole roots and soil mass come out.

 

Growing Afterwards

I did no pinching as I did not want to experiment with my very first sunflowers; wondered if they would care to give me more than one flower.
I am really lazy at fertilizing the garden - this is an activity I do only 2-3 times a year and then too I mostly use cow manure or some general purpose soil en-richer. So, I particularly did nothing special for them while they were growing. They just received sufficient daily water and ample sunlight and took around 2 months to grow big and sturdy. Throughout all this I waited for any signs of the buds.

They have developed a strong stem and are around 4-5 feet tall. You can even use some support if they are in some container or your weather is especially windy. Mine are in ground and I don't feel any need for the support.

 

Show of Buds

Somewhere at the end of April, they started showing their first buds. And then to my amaze they developed buds beneath all the points where leaves connect to the main stem. They spent around one full month growing the buds. I would call it a Show of Buds because the plants looked wonderful with all those buds growing bigger. Excitement was building to watch the blooms. 

 

Bloom

My wait for the first flowers ended up happily in late May when I saw those yellow petals peeking out of buds. And then yet another wait to see the buds open fully. It takes around a week for the bloom to open fully. 

Summer is in full swing and I have these astonishing flowers in my garden. They have already made their way in my garden for years coming ahead.

How to Propagate Snake Plant

Sansevieria trifasciata (known as Snake plant due to the shape of its leaves and Mother-in-law's tongue plant due to the sharpness of leaves) is an ornamental plant for indoors as well as outdoors. Just a coincidence that I got my first snakes plant's cutting from my mother-in-laws garden :-).

There are two ways to propagate the plant - using leaf cuttings (Using this method you can get multiple plants with just a single leaf) and using rhizome division. I tried both the methods and would share my experiences with you.

 

Propagation by Leaf-Cutting

When I started with this, I just had a fair idea of what to do but no idea about what to expect after planting the cuttings and how much time would be taken by the cutting to root. So, I thought of writing this blog with pictures and all details so that others can benefit from the same.

Steps:

1. Single leaf can be cut to create around 5-10 cuttings, each of which can be put in soil and would result in a separate plant.
2. Prepare the soil and put the cutting in the soil. I used rooting hormone too. It's very important to put the cutting in the same direction in which it was when the plant was there in soil. If we reverse the direction cutting would not root. This is as per the information I found on internet, I have not tried the other way to confirm the same. :-)
3. Water the cuttings properly.
4. Wait till the cuttings root and show sign of new growth. I read somewhere that cutting may take time to root but I had no idea on how long should I wait.

I used to look at the cuttings from time to time to notice any new growth but after 1-2 months I lost patience. I just ignored except for occasional watering as I generally plant the cuttings nearby existing plants so that they don't miss on water; and then transplant them as and when they root. 

I had not grown any snakes plant before so I was not even sure how would the cuttings show new growth. After around 2-3 months, I even pulled one of my four cuttings from ground to check if it really did any progress. To my relief, there were small roots. I missed taking a picture :-( . I put it back in the soil and knew that it might take time but it surely would turn into a full-fledged plant.

I planted the leaf cuttings during 1st week of September, however I the new growth started appearing in the last week of April. This long duration of around 7 months) before I could see any growth can be due to the winters in between but I am not sure. The new growth did not appear at the cutting itself, it appeared as a shoot nearby.

Offshoots appearing nearby cuttings

Offshoots nearby cuttings

Some of the blogs say that when leaf-cuttings root, they result into non-variegated leaves. I would have to wait for a few more days to confirm that.

 

Propagation by Rhizome Division

While my hubby was pulling the leaf for cuttings from my mother-in-laws garden (you see guys generally use their hands instead of shears or knives), he just accidentally pulled two full leaves with rhizome intact (though separated from main plant). It was like taking the whole plant out and then dividing the rhizome. I also put the same in the ground.

I expected this would show new growth sooner than the cuttings. To my surprise, it did outran the cuttings but only by around 15-20 days which is not much as compared to total dormancy period. Also, the growth did not appear on the main plant/rhizome but appeared as an offshoot (a few inches away from the main plant). I would update you in case I see any new growth on the main plant.

Two offshoots nearby the main plant

I am waiting for the plants to grow a bit and then would put them in their own personal containers.

 

Water and Sunlight Requirement

If planted in a container, constantly wet soil can cause damage to the roots however this is not much concern when planted in ground. This can be planted outdoors as well as indoors (in low light conditions too).

 

Improves Air Quality

This is one of the best air purifying household plants. It is also known as bedroom plant due to its ability to filter many pollutants in indoor environment. They release Oxygen even during night due to CAM, a secondary type of photosynthesis.

Reference:http://archive.news.softpedia.com/news/Top-15-NASA-039-s-Plants-That-Can-Save-Your-Life-78345.shtml

Scientific Name: Sansevieria trifasciata
Commonly Known As: Snakes Plant, Mother-in-law's tongue, Saint George's sword
Type: Evergreen, Perennial

Its far easier to go and buy plants from nursery; but you feel real satisfaction when you do something from ground up. The joy of creating a new life!!!

First Zinnia in my Garden

I have been a plant lover since childhood and would attribute this trait of mine to my mother. However, I was not that much passionate until recently when we shifted to our new house wherein I had some space to cultivate this hobby of mine. For my summer annuals, I decided to try the seed pack instead of purchasing the mature plants from the nursery. Though I would need to do a little extra effort to start the seeds and keep them watered while they are ready for transplantation but it feels great to see the whole life-cycle of a plant. Moreover, it would give me a plenty of plants at a cost lesser than a single mature plant from nursery. 

Germination from seeds

Feb 18: after around 3-4 days of sowing the seeds

Feb 24: after around 10 days of sowing the seeds

I started my zinnia seeds in the mid of February; this is when we start summer annuals in North India. Here is what you need to do to get started: Fill the container with some cow manure and soil mix. Water thoroughly and wait until it is all soaked in (around 15-20 minutes). Now make small holes in the soil with the help of some pencil/stick, put one seed in each opening and cover with some soil. I read somewhere that use as much soil to cover the seed as is the size of the seed, and it works for me. Sprinkle some more water and here you go. You just need to put the container in a sunny spot (sun is not that harsh in February here) and keep the soil moist for a couple of the days. Just after 3-5 days, I started seeing small seedlings appear from the soil and within a month they were ready to be transplanted.

I only expected that even if I would be able to successfully get 4-5 plants from the whole pack, I would be more than happy. Though it turned out that most of my first set of seeds germinated. Then after an interval of 15-20 days I used the rest of the seeds too so that I would have flowering throughout summers. Though I lost a number of them due to my little knowledge/experience with these plants and some neglect, I still have around 30-40 plants in my garden, some have started blooming and others ready to bloom.

Needs a lot of sunlight during growth

The mistake which one can do with these plants is not to provide proper sunlight. I put a lot of seeds in an area which lacked proper light and were overcrowded; and could not transfer them to sunny spot on the early stages of their development. The seedlings became too thin and tall in search of light(I could not take pic, but the seedlings had grown so leggy that the first false leaves were at around 4-5 inches above the ground), and could not sustain thereafter when I transplanted them. The one's which I transplanted in the sunny spot are doing better as compared to the one's which were transplanted later.

Pinching the Plant

Mid April: One of the first buds

Though you can let the plants grow freely. After attaining some height, it would show its first bud, which itself appears pretty. Then the vertical growth stops and plant starts branching out. The branches in turn would start producing flowers. You can instead pinch (cut the top leaves with some sharp scissors) the plant when it reaches a few inches or desired height. Pinching would then stop the vertical growth and encourage branching and keep the desired height of the plant.

Watering needs

They would need almost daily watering (to keep the soil moist) in the initial phases of developed till a few days after transplanting, after that you can reduce watering. I have planted Zinnia in ground and they forgive me if I don't care for them for 2-3 days; I have not tried longer. I generally water all my plants at least every other day during summers.

First Flowers

The buds started appearing after around 2 months of sowing the seeds. The first zinnia flower in my garden just started fading after around 10-12 days. I like the plants whose flowers stay on the plant for quite a few days OR they manage to bloom daily :-). My seed pack resulted in a number of different colors in the garden - purple, orange, light orange, red. I am waiting for the second set of zinnia's to bloom. It was a wonderful experience and I am definitely going to try them again.

Coleus - A Perfect Eye Candy

Coleus is a popular ornamental houseplant with beautiful variegated leaves. Its brightly colored leaves in different shades grab the attention instantaneously.



I started my first coleus in a container with a few young plants (a few inches in height) of different colors. I purchased them somewhere in late December (winters in North India). Not a particular reason of starting at that time except that I am a regular visitor of the nurseries in my area and whenever I see any new beautiful plant I just take it home; and I admit most of them are beautiful and one by one making way to my small garden :-).

Though you can take a single plant and make it bushier by trimming/pinching the top so that it starts branching out from the point where you pinched it; I liked to put a number of plants in one container to create a more colorful look.

I just put the four baby coleus plants equidistant in a medium sized container; though container majorly appeared empty with those young one's, I had the final look in my mind. They survived winter beautifully (in North India temperature sometimes also drops to 0-3 C at night) and kept growing. This is how they looked at the start of January. The container in the left side is the one I am talking about.

Propagation from cutting

Meanwhile I accidentally broke a few small branches while moving around the plants. I thought to experiment with the cutting - made a small hole in the soil in the same container and put it inside. I don't even remember if I used rooting hormone or not. Sometimes I just skip it when I feel a little lazy. :-) And from there I got another new plant. I am a little curious personality and even took out that cutting carefully (after around 20 days), removed the dirt and found new roots growing. Then I put it back and watered it, as if nothing happened :-). And seriously the plant did not mind it too. After around 1.5-2 months of planting them, I had the container full of colorful foliage as I imagined when I started.

A month more of growing and I even took cuttings to make two new coleus containers. They are doing good and I am amazed on how easy it is to propagate them.

Sunlight and Watering Needs

I have kept them in extreme heat outside, temperature slowly is raising to 40 C in the day time and they are doing well in the container with just a little of daily watering. You can grow them in ground in case daily watering is a concern because in summers leaves start drooping if I skip watering even for a single day. Except for regular watering, it does not ask for any other care. I have seen it doing well during winters as well as summers.

I think these are ideal for garden's of all sizes, can be grown in small containers OR combined to create a colorful effect in a large container OR can also be used as bordering/hedge.
My neighbors are also asking me what this beautiful plant is and I am loving it :-).