So I planted about fifty sunflower seeds up against my garden fence this past summer with the hopes of big, beautiful sunflowers in the Fall. But zero plants came up. Oops! I think the super hot summer combined with my lack of watering skills contributed to the defeat. But I’ll try again next year. Until then, enjoy this guest post written by Kylie from grohelps. I’m looking forward to my second chance next year! Fingers crossed. So let’s learn together how-to harvest these seeds and maybe we’ll find ourselves giving each other high-fives next season! Until then, I’ll be buying my sunflowers from Wegmans.
If you have grown sunflowers in order to keep the seeds, then it is important that you are aware of how to correctly save them so that they do not just go to rot and you have then wasted your time. So, that being the case, how do you actually go about saving the seeds so that you waste as little as possible? In actual fact, if you do not have any experience in doing this, don’t worry because anybody is capable of extracting seeds in next to no time once you get the gist.
1. How-to harvest the sunflower seeds
The first step is to look at how you harvest the sunflower seeds and there are two different methods that you could employ.
One option is to dry the seeds on the stem and this is something that starts to happen after the flowering part is actually past its best. You will see that the head of the flower is starting to sag and that is the important part. However, you need to protect the head from birds as they are going to peck away at the seeds. You also need to look out for the seeds dropping off as they dry. It’s easier to collect the seeds before they drop off.
Another option is to remove the head from the stem and then put a paper bag over the top and then place it in an area where there is no air and dry. That is going to help the seeds to dry out and it is important that this happens before you go any further.
- Drying both on and off the stem is possible.
- If drying on the stem make sure you protect from birds.
- Drying off the stem involves cutting the heads off and placing in a dry area.
2. How-to remove the seeds from the head
We now have to look at the way in which you remove the seeds from the head and this is also very easy to do even if you have never done it before. This is the part where you are going to find out how many seeds you have been able to successfully harvest and you may be surprised at just how many can be produced from the one single sunflower.
- Make sure that the seeds are perfectly dried out before removing them.
- Place the head on a flat surface for you to then catch the seeds.
- If they are dry enough then they should be plucked off the head with ease.
- If there is any kind of resistance then it is not dry enough.
3. Rinsing the seeds
Once you have removed the seeds you then need to rinse them before moving onto the next stage. This is going to do more than just remove the dirt from the surface of the seeds as there is also a protective casing on them that you will want to get off. Now, you may wonder why you should rinse them after just allowing them to dry, but it is important to point out that you do not soak the seeds at this point.
- Rinse the seeds thoroughly but never saturate them.
- Allow the seeds to then dry again after rinsing to prevent any mold problems.
- Rinsing is going to remove dirt from the seeds.
- It will also remove bacteria and any other pests or diseases.
- It makes the seeds healthier.
4. Drying the seeds
We mentioned in the previous point that there is a very real need to allow the seeds to dry after rinsing them, but you need to do this correctly or else you will run into a number of other problems. In this instance, there are a number of key steps to follow that will help you to dry them out without any difficulty.
- It is best to allow the seeds to dry out naturally.
- Do not put them in plastic as that encourages moisture rather than removing it.
- Paper bags or leaving them in a dry area is going to work best.
- They need to have air moving around them to help them to dry.
- It may take more than 24 hours for them to dry correctly.
5. Get rid of plant material and debris.
The last thing that you want is to have a host of plant material and debris mixed in with the seeds as you certainly do not want any of that kind of cross-contamination. However, removing the debris is actually very easy to do and it only takes a matter of minutes for the process to be completed.
- Most of the debris should be removed with the rinsing.
- Make sure that there are no leaves or anything else in the seeds.
- It is important to do this before you pack away the seeds.
6. How-to store the seeds correctly.
The final point is how you store the seeds because it is obviously going to be important that you do it correctly. Failure to do so is going to lead to the seeds rotting and yet if it is done correctly they can be stored for up to a year.
- It is important that the seeds are kept in an air-tight container.
- The container also has to be dark to keep the light out.
- Light will encourage germination so prevention is key.
- They can be kept in this container for up to four months.
- If you need to save it for longer, then freezing allows for up to a year.
See how easy it is to harvest sunflower seeds if done correctly? And you will truly be surprised at how many you get off just one single plant.
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