Sunflowers Update

Sunflowers protected against slugs

Sunflower Seedlings Survive!

Fantastic! Our experiment of using cutdown milk bottles is working. Less than a week since our last update and our sunflowers are shooting up, unmunched, strong and healthy.  The bottle protectors have kept the slugs at bay allowing the little seedlings to get to a size where they will not be bothered by the slimy pests anymore.

We know slugs should be loved and are part of our wonderful food chain but we are only asking they don't eat all of our little seedlings. After moving from a garden where the grass used to look black in the evenings thanks to an over active slug population, we  were really looking forward to being able to grow things other than grass and ivy. 

We can't wait for the flower heads to start developing and for the birds to start using them for food.  Our strawberries are early so hopefully the sunflowers will be as well.

Nettle Fertiliser Works Brilliantly

Sunflowers protected against slugs with cut-down milk bottles

Also our homemade organic nettle fertiliser, made from nettles collected from the fields soaked in rainwater, seems to be doing the trick. These little babies have had two doses now and as you can see they really are coming on a treat.

Some of the sunflowers have grown out of the top of their protective tubes.  With these ones we have removed the tubes as we do not want to restrict later growth. Also we can now reuse the containers for the next batch of seedlings so that the whole patch will be covered in sunflowers.

If the sunflowers continue to be a success then next year we will make a bigger patch and maybe also create another patch elsewhere.