Common sunflower Helianthus annus is one of the most magnificent annual plants.Its tallest varieties grow up to two meters, and in North America, where it comes from, up to four.Inflorescences (baskets) reach a diameter of up to 30 centimeters. For this reason, few people decided to grow it on the balcony.
But now there are seeds of much lower varieties on sale, which, unlike very tall varieties, branch out to form a few or even a dozen or so side branches.
Such varieties include: ' Holiday' (120 centimeters high), 'Prado' F1 (90 centimeters) - with yellow baskets 9-12 centimeters in diameter, 'Ring of Fire '(120 centimeters) - with two-color ligulate flowers and baskets 13-15 centimeters in diameter,' Sonja '(110 centimeters) - with yellow-orange baskets 10 centimeters in diameter and' Buttercream 'F1 (100 centimeters) - with creamy white flowers and similar sized baskets . One of the lowest varieties is 'Sunspot', 30-40 centimeters high.
All these varieties, especially the last one, can be successfully grown on the balcony. However, it must be a sunny balcony. We sow the seeds at the end of April in containers with fertile soil.Boxes should be large and targeted right away, because sunflowers do not tolerate transplanting very badly.Anyone can handle the care, just water them regularly and feed them every two weeks with fertilizer for flowering plants, and from July our the balcony will bloom with sunflowers.
Care for indoor and balcony plants in April
We harden plants
When it is warm, we take the plants stored indoors in winter for a few hours on the balcony.After a few days, if there is no risk of spring frosts, we can leave them overnight.
We're exaggerating
Already at the beginning of April, we can transplant plants that have wintered at home to slightly larger, more spacious containers.For some specimens, especially those that grew in large pots, it is enough to replace the top layer of the earth.Just be careful not to damage the roots during this procedure.
We sow seeds of annual vines
Seeds of one-year-old climbers (purple and lobed wolf, sweet pea, scarlet beans) are sown in spots or in nests into boxes or other containers placed next to the wall.
