Planting Sunflowers

[Agrantina]

We are going to put in a 6ac sunflower field this yr for a dove hunt in Sept. I need some advice on how to plant them. Land is normal farm land which was beans last yr. So tilling/ discing will not be a problem. Let me start by saying I have L3240- 6ft disc, 5ft cutter, 5 ft tiller, cultipacker, sparyer and 3pt speader. I have been plotting for about 10yrs now so I have everything that need to broadcast plant. Now the problem is I DO NOT have a planter. Last year I broadcasted soybeans and IC peas and simple disced them in and had real good luck with doing that. Did have weeds but deer dont care about weeds as much as doves do. I have found over yrs of dove hunting that doves like to see the dirt and have a place land so a lot of weeds in the field is not a good thing. So giving that I dont have a planter to row up sunflowers what is the best way to plant them????

AndyG

 

[bilrus61]

I just broadcast them. No need to put them in rows. My experiance with sunflowers is that the goldfinches clean them before sept 1st. So you need to time it just right. I put in white proso millet along with the sunflowers, some german millet also. You can till strips to dust, its dust in Sept here, then you mow crossways very low and that scatters the seed on the dirt. Its a good idea to sow your seed LATE. Keep tilling and getting rid of weeds, then when you sow around June 1st you really won't have that many weed issues. No need to till deep just till about 2-3 inches down every 3 weeks till June. Since you have 6 acers don't put all your doves in one basket. Plant say 4 in sundlowers and the rest in white millet. You'll need to plant the millet around the 20th of june. Recipe for dove:.Split breasts so they will lay flatter in the pan. Roll in flour and fry tll light golden brown, salt and black pepper, don't over cook! Remove fried breasts from skillet and place in oven proof dish that has a cover. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Drain off all the oil from the skillet except for about 1/4 cup. Turn up stove and put one heaping table spoon of flour in skillet with the 1/4 cup of oil you left in the skillet. Stir for a few mintues till the flour is "cooked" Add 3 cups milk. Stir till its steamy but not boiling. Pour over dove breasts in pan and place pan in oven for 30 minutes. <~~~~~this is delicious!

 

[jonyyuma]

Thanks to both of you for Feeding the birds.we always plant a few Of the big Russian sunflowers and a patch of the Mexican variety to feed the birds>..l

 

[Agrantina]

bilrus61- your're making my mouth water already!!!--- What rate per ac do you think is good for broadcasting sunflowers and millet?

Andy

 

[Agrantina]

We have decided to broadcast the sunflowers. We are going to disc the 6ac and then disc again after 10 days to completely get all the weeds. Then my plan is broadcast the sunflowers, lightly disc them in and then rollover with my cultipacker. Hopefully I will get good seed to soil contact and the disc-ing will not burry them to deep!

AndyG

 

[D7E]

Yes disking is a rough way to do it but put plenty of seed and enough will survive . Can you not find an old corn planter ?

 

[Agrantina]

D7E-
been looking for a good planter at the right price- but just cant seem to find one that isnt +1k.. I would love one but just cant justify spending that amount for a once a year use, but I am always looking:thumbsup:..

Andy

 

[HCJtractor]

Dumb question, but what seed do you plant? Will the birdseed (sunflower) sold at tractor supply be adequate or is there some other seed available ? Can I drill it at 8" spacing or plant it in 30" rows with a row planter? How deep?

 

[D7E]

We grow confection varieties in 38in rows , I have seen guys plant with a regular 9 inch space air-seeder but more disease issue than with a planter but for your purpose spacing would not matter just depth accuracy . I would certainly try a disc drill with course seed rollers .

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

I planted the black oil variety, sold as bird seed, on 30" rows. Also an unknown giant variety, on 30"s. Used my 70 Flexi with (I believe) a B7-24 corn plate for the giant, and a B30-24 sunflower plate for the black oil, geared to space 8". Germination was excellent. They came up and looked beautiful, until the plants got about 10" tall. Then, seemingly overnight, they lost all their leaves. Didn't eat the stem and all, just nibbled the leaves off. :laughing: . Drilling would work, the gates on my FB drill won't open wide enough to meter them without smashing the seed. Mark

 

[jonyyuma]

Sounds like the deer must have eaten the leaves? What tracks were left around them?

 

[D7E]

On a dry season grasshoppers will strip acres a day .

 

[EddieWalker]

I disked my field and broadcast the seeds, then draged the dirt smooth to cover them. They start to sprout within a week. I bought black oil sunflower seeds for bird feeders. They come up about three feet tall and look real pretty. I do it for photography reasons. I was hoping the deer would eat them, but I didn't see any evidence of that last year. This year I did it a couple weeks ago and I'm seeing them starting to come up nicely. I have red clay soil, which seems to be good for them. When the drought came, they lasted quite awhile, but where all dead and gone by mid summer. We had almost three months of 100 degree temps and no rain. I'm hoping that this year it will be better and they last longer, but as long as I get good pics before summer hits, I'll be very happy.

Eddie

 

[missingstexas]

Where does one purchase that quantity of sunflower seeds and how much would it cost to do a few acres (3 or 4)?

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

Where does one purchase that quantity of sunflower seeds and how much would it cost to do a few acres (3 or 4)?

You can buy oilseed sunflower seed, sold as bird seed in most stores. One of the ag stores near here will sell you as many pounds as you want. I just get the birdseed variety, germination was good for me. The deer liked them too much, didn't get to see many flowers. Mark

Cut and paste from University of Missouri Extension.

Planting

The most critical planting requirements are getting the seed into adequate soil moisture and choosing an appropriate seeding rate. Planting date and row widths can vary considerably without seriously affecting production. For heavy soils, seeding depth should be 1 to 1.5 inches, depending on depth to moisture.

Seeding rate is especially important for sunflower varieties intended for the snack food market. A high seeding rate will cause seed to be smaller, which is undesirable for snack food. A general recommendation for this type of sunflower is 17,000 seeds per acre (roughly 4 pounds per acre), while a general recommendation rate for oilseed varieties is 23,000 seeds per acre (roughly 3 pounds per acre). The higher seeding rate is recommended for oilseed types to improve yields. Seed size will be reduced, but market prices for oilseed sunflower are unaffected by seed size.

Yields from April or May plantings normally will be higher than June or July plantings. Sunflower can germinate and emerge from soils as cool as 46 degrees Fahrenheit if the seed is of good quality. Frost will not cause long-term damage until plants are around the six-leaf stage, which is normally after the danger of frost has passed. Mature sunflower also tolerates low temperatures, being able to withstand temperatures down to 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

Row spacings should be wide enough to permit cultivation, typically 20 to 30 inches. Various row spacings show little effect on yield, except that dwarf sunflower will close a canopy better and yield more when rows are less than 30 inches apart. Row orientation is another factor often debated for sunflower. Research has shown no yield difference among possible row orientations, but some have suggested that a north-south row orientation can make harvesting easier.

A common planting method is to equip a corn planter with special sunflower seed plates, which are sold by various companies. A fungicide seed treatment prior to planting is often recommended.

 

[D7E]

Until the newer vac planters became the normal Most popular planter was always a JD7000 finger planter as it will do corn or sunflowers with no alterations .