Create a Small Garden on Your Porch with Sunflowers

Homesfornh.com – Sunflower plant or Helianthus annuus is native to North America. This flower has yellow petals with a black centerpiece. The sunflower produces seeds on the centerpiece of its flowers. Most people know it as kwaci that usually sell in the market as a snack. Sunflower has soft thorn stems that can grow tall more than 10 feet tall. When they mature, their flowers are heavier and it makes their stems lean down. This flower looks stunning to grow in a colony. Sunflower garden attracts attention and represents happiness during its growing season. They can be an interesting plant to grow on the porch and brightening your home. If you love this flower, we have a short guide to growing sunflowers on the porch.

Gardening Tools to Plant Sunflowers

An expert gardener should collect gardening tools to help them do their work. Even though you are a new gardener or just take it as a hobby, it is fine to use several tools below when planting sunflowers.

• Gardening fork (optional)
• Garden trowel
• Regular potting soil
• Medium pot (use more than one pot to plant more sunflowers)
• Watering can

Steps to Plant Sunflowers

Here are a variety of easy ways for you to grow sunflowers as a garden in your porch. The happy and healthy plant depends on how you care for your ornamental plants. The planting process also determines the plant’s growth. Do the simple steps below to plant sunflowers on the porch. Wish you luck.

• Investigate the Sunlight on the Porch

This plant requires adequate sunlight to grow flowers. Ensure that sunlight can reach your porch where you will plant sunflowers. The sunny place is the best spot to grow sunflowers. This flower loves sunlight and warm temperature. You can mark some spots that get exposed to sunlight on the porch. The small garden in front of the porch can be a nice place to plant sunflowers.

• Prepare a Container to Grow Sunflower Seeds

You can use a medium-raised bed to provide a large space for sunflowers. This container offers a long space to manage their growth because they can get space apart from the sunflower plant. Using a raised bed gives neat landscaping but if you want something to manage, use some pots to plant more sunflowers individually. It depends on your need and the porch size because not all container suits that spot.

• The Soil Mixture for Sunflowers

Use regular potting soil for a practical material. If you want to use the original garden soil is also good. Add 25% chicken manure, 25% compost, 10% coconut coir, and 40% garden soil. Mix them well. Make sure that the soil mixture has soft textures so it is easy for water to reach the soil. Well-draining soil is the key to get healthy roots systems. Thus, soil mixture determines the nutritions that sunflowers can absorb.

• Plant the Seeds into the Soil

The strong root systems will make a healthy plant. Plant the sunflower seed directly in the soil. It is a simple method to grow this plant. You don’t need to start seedlings then transplant them. This method requires a spot for sunflowers to live mature and you have no plan to move them anywhere. Dig the soil about 1-2 inches, then put one seed for each hole. Spread some soil to cover the holes.

How to Care for Sunflowers

The next topic we discuss in this article is how to care for the sunflower plants that you have grown. Treatment is the most important part for you to do. This is because care is very influential on the survival of the plants you have. Therefore, there are various aspects and various treatments that you can do to care for your sunflowers. Let’s discuss!

• Sunlight

We have mentioned that a sunny place is the best place to grow sunflowers. Thus, your porch should provide sunlight for at least 6-8 hours per day. If you have a west-facing porch, then the sunflowers can grow in the south or north direction. Sunflower is heat tolerant, thus, it is fine to plant them under direct sunlight. You can grow them on the edge of your porch, it treats them well to reach sunlight.

• Watering Needs

Sunflower is drought tolerant but it still needs water to stimulate its root systems to grow healthy. Water this flower every evening, at least once per week, during the summer season. Ensure they get enough water and moist soil, don’t make them look thirsty. They can fit in a raised bed or small pot on the porch, then it is easier to water the sunflowers. Water them around the roots area to get a deep watering.

• Symptoms of Pests and Diseases

Downy mildew, brown leaves, drying edges of their leaves, powdery mildew, etc. Create organic pest control from neem oil, eco-friendly detergent, and olive oil. If you want to use a practical pesticide, choose an organic pesticide from a gardening store. Spray the infected leaves with this pesticide. Use this pesticide only when you need to control pests and diseases.

• Harvest Sunflowers Seeds

The sunflowers have a brown centerpiece full of seeds. This flower’s head produces seeds that will lose after blooming. You can harvest the sunflower seeds by hand. Remove them gently and take all seeds from their head. Store the seeds in a dry bottle, it gives you free seeds to plant in the next year.

Conclusion

Thus our discussion about Create a Small Garden on Your Porch with Sunflowers. Sunflower is stunning to grow on the porch. This flower represents the summer vibe. If you like to see sunflowers on the porch, start growing them in the spring to get a summer blooming. This flower looks more attractive when growing in a group. It is easy to grow sunflowers on the porch. You will have an interesting landscape by growing a sunflower garden. Hopefully, you enjoy this short guide to growing sunflowers. Happy gardening!