Sunflower
Helianthus annuus
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late March to mid-April, sow outside mid-April to late July, plant out late April to early June, and harvest late June to late October.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.
- Sow indoors
- late March to mid-April
- Sow outdoors
- mid-April to late July
- Plant out
- late April to early June
- Harvest
- late June to late October
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 30 cm apart, rows 60 cm apart
- Square foot
- 1 per square (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 2.5 cm
- Ready in
- 60 to 90 days from sowing
- Grows to
- 1.8 m
- Hardiness
- Tender: killed by any frost
- Sun
- Full sun
- Crops for
- About 4 weeks
Growing tip
Put a stake in at planting time for tall varieties, and protect young seedlings from slugs, which can eat them overnight.
Neighbours
Flowers are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works
More flowers
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For sunflower, we used:
Grow sunflower with VegLog
Add sunflower to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
