Sunflower Still Growing!

The sunflowers are still growing well and at pace. The tallest is now half way in between the top and middle  bean wires, probably around 4-5 foot. I’m hoping they by the time they flower they will be twice this height! They look pretty strong and doing well. The beans how ever have stuffered badly from slugs. The area they are in this year is just too hard to keep free of weeds and slugs for a crop like beans. It would have been better to put them in the main plot area. I’m trying to grow some back up, maybe I’ll buy some plants if a get really desperate.

Sunflower Update Continued

It has also been only a few days since I last took a photo of the sunflowers, but the growth is incredible! They must be growing at a foot a week. I would if they will keep growing to the 12-15 foot they are supposed to, at the moment it is looking pretty promising.

The first of the beans is now starting to climb. They’ve started to wind round the stem of one of the sunflowers, and what a stem it is! The race is on to see if the sunflowers can keep ahead of the beans as they climb!

Sunflowers growing a pace!

The sunflowers have been loving the sunny weather recently and shooting up a pace. I’m guessing the tallest may have grown a foot in a week! The beans are just starting to look to climb, so by the time they do, there will be a good sunflower pole for them to grab hold of.

Sunflowers Growing Pace Looks Good

So, reporting on the Beans Growing up Sunflowers progress. After a bad start, with sunflower seeds rotting, or seedlings being eaten, finally the test sunflowers were planted along with their beans. I was a little worried that the late start on the sunflowers would have meant a problem with the beans growing too fast for them to act as usable poles. However, it appears there is no need to worry. As the photo shows, the speed at which these three sunflowers are growing compared to the beans will definitely ensure they will be of a good size by the time the beans start looking for something to hold on to. The key to the sunflower growing seems to be to keep them protected and in a deep pot until they are of a decent strong size before planting out. After a certain size they have strong, hairy stems that protect them from slug attack, too young and they are easy prey.

I’ve got a couple or so more sunflower seedlings in the box, so I think in time I’ll replace a few more poles with sunflowers in the bean row. However, this has all got me thinking. What else that needs pole support would work like this..?

Tomatoes? … Cucumbers?

Its worth a try… I’ve got lots of spare tomato and cucumber plants. So I’ll find a spot on the plot to experiment with them.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how this all work out. At the very least I’m excited to see how tall these sunflowers can get! Hopefully, at the end of all this, I’ll be able to collect plenty sunflower seeds to grow them again next year.

By the way, the small plant in the forground is summer savory. It’s not only supposed to help protect the beans from black fly, but as a herb served with cooked beans is “a useful digestive aid against flatulence”. Nice

Beans and Sunflowers – The Start

So here we go with the beans growing up sunflowers experiment. I’ve got about 5 sunflowers planted out with either 2 or 3 beans planted next to each of them. Three of the sunflowers are planted along with the bean poles put as direct replacements for bean poles in that group. The others are scattered at different places around the plot. I wanted the sunflowers to be of a much more healthy size before planted, but after the failures of rotting seed, slugs and mice, the got a bit delayed. I’m growing some back up sunflowers in the box just to make sure. So the race is on between the sunflowers and the beans. Can the sunflowers grow fast enough to act as a pole for when the beans start needing them? We shall see..