Q.I Planted Too Many Sunflower Seeds In One Small Pot
Hi! My kids decided to plant sunflower seeds, we didn’t know what we were doing and they basically put all the seeds in the packet into one 6” terra-cotta pot. We have 13 Lemon queen seedlings in one pot. And about 20 Autumn Beauty seedlings in another! What can we do to help them, do we need to transplant them? Please help, we would love to see them grow but really are not knowledgeable in this area. Thank you!
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
There are a few things to be aware of here.
Sunflowers don't transplant well. They need to be started where they will stay, ultimately. They can grow from transplant but they will be very stunted. Sometimes, if you catch them early enough, they will grow just fine. Just don't break any roots.
From here, I would plant 1 or 2 in each spot after you CAREFULLY separate seedlings onto a moist paper towel. Discard any with broken roots and be very careful when putting them into the soil, as it is very easy to crush roots and young seedlings.
In the future, I would recommend starting seeds where you intend to end them. Only plant one or two per hole, since these germinate very easily.
For now, here is an article that will help you to grow sunflowers:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/sunflower/growing-sunflowers-in-your-garden.htm
