I know the crazy sunflower pictures are going around where they never look at the sun, it’s the same with us. Slow growing, looking completely down the whole time, some facing north, some never even opened their petals and produced seeds or else the birds got em before i noticed.
There’s a lot of speculation about the supposed “cloud seeding” is nefariously meant to harm this that or the other, and I’m not here to claim one way or the other. I’m only here to start a conversation about whether this has happened before and if not, how it’s going to affect seed saving. Is a sunflower that hides it’s head from the sun a good trait to save for?
I think inbreeding depression and cytoplasmic male sterility are more likely explanations for low productivity and poor performance of sunflowers. These are verifiable phenomena. Conspiracy theories such as chemtrails, weather control schemes, etc are by nature unverifiable and therefore cannot pass the logic test. Arguments that rely on unverified claims or demonstrated logical fallacies are null and void and should categorically be disregarded.
Sunflowers that are bred for oilseed production are intentionally selected to have downward-facing flowers because this makes it more difficult for birds to get at the seeds.
I have one that did a complete loopty loo, I’ll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow.
So, they’re admitting to cloud seeding, but it’s a conspiracy theory in your view? Serious question. Who’s telling the truth?
Is inbreeding depression just now catching up this year across the board all at once? We have grown lots of sunflowers for the past 8 years and I’ve never seen it like this. If it weren’t for all the other people saying the same thing, i surely would have simply attributed it to poor seed.
It’s a legitimate theory and we would need to look into the effects of silver iodide, potassium iodide, and/or anything else being used.
I would expect to see the effects in many plants, but sunflowers are known to be very efficient at pulling toxins from the soil so it could be the canary species.
I think this is the more likely cause. In the sunflower growing region around my Bulgarian garden, there’s been a very intensive breeding program to produce the downward facing flowers and prevent bird predation of the seeds. I was looking forward to seeing fields of beautiful sunflowers, but nope! Fields of downturned heads! That genetics will now be in the birdseed mixes etc, too.
Not the cloud seeding per se; that has been done experimentally in many places. Just not at scale as a nefarious conspiracy that would cause crops to go dodgy. It’s not a very cost effective or practical technique.
What you are describing could be a result of herbicide drift. Do you live in an area where crop dusters are used? I have even had herbicide drift occur on a small scale when neighbors sprayed near my garden. Suddenly curled leaves and stems are a sign of that.
I’m definitely surrounded by herbicide “driftness” but it was never like this the past 4 years and I’m noticing it in towns i pass through as well.
I guess it would make sense for a seed manufacturer to breed that quality into their sunflowers, but it’s doesn’t make sense for me to grow them i guess. I grow them to attract golden finches as much as the bees and I’ve only seen them a handful of times this year.
Just a precision about STAGES:
My sunflowers (5 to 6 giant strains, about 50 plants) did OK in my place, but “doing OK” means looking at the sun, and so turning everyday, until flowering stage, or more precisely until drying stage, i.e. just post flowering (when you get the bees…). Then they don’t turn anymore, and the whole plant becomes woody, sending all its energies to the seeds, for next generation. That’s the most usual behavior, from what I can tell.
Then, if I am right, and if it is before, there must be a problem. May it be male sterility or whatever. Can’t tell.
Joseph give the tip of selecting for sunflowers looking downwards post-flowering because yes, that prevents birds from eating everything… which happened every year until this year : had some looking upward (harvested before the birds eat all), some downwards (left a longer time cause they weren’t risking much), and most in between. Next year I will select around that criteria.
I like these wild sunflower seeds: Wild Sunflower Seed For Planting Outdoors - Helianthus Annuus Flower Seeds
Because they are wild, it’s better to plant them in late fall so they can go thru cold wet dormancy. The first time i planted them was in spring and none of them germinated. I thought it was a bad batch but then the following spring they germinated. They are great for gold finches and other seed eating birds. The seeds are too small for human snacking though. In my garden I’m mixing them with other cultivars to get what i like, which is lots of flowers through a long blooming season. Tall, sturdy stems ( the oilseed types are prone to a boring insect that makes them topple). And then i like some color variation with what i call the hawkeye pattern.
Thank you, Brent, i really appreciate the recommendation. Planting BOSS from the feed store has been hit or miss and now the little packets are coming up short.