Annual Flower · 36 varieties

Common sunflower

Name: Common sunflower growing data
Creator: GardenTrack

Helianthus annuus

Asteraceae — the same plant family as head lettuce, leaf lettuce, purple coneflower, calendula and 12 more here. Relatives share pests and diseases, which is why rotation plans group by family.

Common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual flower. It wants full sun and pH 6–7.2 soil, with about 1–1.5 in of water weekly. It matures in about 70–100 days from sowing, or 60–90 days from setting out a transplant. Watch for caterpillars and powdery mildew. Below: its full sourced profile from 10 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.

Sun Full sun

Water Moderate

Matures 60–90 days — from transplantest from transplant

Mature size 1.5–10 ft

Spacing 6–24 in

Soil pH 6–7.2

Frost Half hardy

When to plant common sunflowertypical · zone 6b

Your zone

…or your ZIP, for your real frost dates

Germinating

Seedlings

Growing

Flowering

Fruit set

Ripening

Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. This calendar assumes the crop is started indoors. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.

Growing common sunflowerevery fact says where it came from

What we will not put a number on

We do not give a feeding rate for this crop, and that is deliberate rather than a gap. The figures published by extension services are pounds of nitrogen per acre for a production field — they do not convert safely to a raised bed or a pot without knowing your soil test and your fertilizer's analysis, and guessing errs toward burning roots. It is also why every chart you find online disagrees with the next one.

We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.

Site & soil

Sun: Full sun
Soil pH: 6–7.2
Soil texture: Clay, Loam, Sandy, Well drained
Frost tolerance: Half hardy
Suffers in days above: 78 °Fest

No published figure for the temperature that would kill it and a warm-night limit. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.

The plant

Mature height: 1.5–10 ft
Mature spread: 1.5–3 ft
Growth rate: Fastest
Spacing in row: 6–24 in
Between rows: 30 in
Planting depth: 1 in
Container size: 3–5 gal — low end is the minimum, high end is betterest
Support: Self-supporting
Grown from: Direct sow, Transplant

Water & feeding

Water needs: Moderate
Water per week: 1–1.5 in/wkest
Critical water: Flowering, Fruit setest
Feeding: Low

Timing & fruiting

Days to maturity: 70–100 days from seed · 60–90 days from transplantest
Harvest cues: First flowers, Fruit coloring
Takes cold in the ground down to: 23 °F

Planted again for autumn

Set plants out by: late Aug typical · zone 6b

60 days to maturity from setting a plant out — that is what our sources measure for this crop, so this is a date for planting out and not a sowing date, counted back from the first frost above. Not published for anywhere in particular: it is your own frost date and this crop's own figure, which is why it works wherever you are. A days-to-maturity figure is a catalog number for a good season rather than a promise, and a cold month moves it.

Edible parts per source: seed, flower.

What tends to go wrongmost-cited first

PestsCaterpillarsBeetlesSlugsSnailsAphidsBirds

DiseasesPowdery mildewRustLeaf spotDowny mildew

Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.

All 36 varietiesthe ones with their own page are linked

Variety	Type	Habit	Days	Color	What it is known for
American Giant Sunflower	Giant	Upright	60–90	Yellow
Autumn Beauty Sunflower	Branching Cut	Branching	60–90	Bicolor	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Big Smile Sunflower	Dwarf	Dwarf	60–90	Yellow	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Chocolate Cherry Sunflower	Colored	Upright	60–90	Brown, Purple	Renee's Garden describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
Chocolate Sunflower	Colored	Branching	65–75	Brown	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Double Dandy Sunflower F1	Dwarf	Dwarf	60–90	Bicolor
Evening Sun Sunflower	Branching Cut	Branching	60–80	Bicolor	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Italian White Sunflower Heirloom	Branching Cut	Branching	60–90	White	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Joker Sunflower F1	Colored	Branching	60	Bicolor	Swallowtail Garden Seeds describes this asextra rows of petals · good for cutting and putting in a vase
Kong Hybrid Sunflower F1	Giant	Branching	60–90	Yellow	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Lemon Queen Sunflower	Branching Cut	Branching	60–90	Yellow	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Mammoth Grey Stripe Sunflower Heirloom	Giant	Upright	60–90	Yellow	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Mammoth Russian Sunflower Heirloom	Giant	Upright	60–90	Yellow	Siskiyou Seeds describes this asgets by on less water · takes the heat
Moulin Rouge Sunflower F1	Colored	Branching	60–90	Red
Music Box Sunflower	Dwarf	Branching	60–90	Bicolor	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Pacino Gold Sunflower	Dwarf	Dwarf	60–90	Yellow	Joyful Seeds describes this assmall enough for a pot · happy in a pot
ProCut Bicolor Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	50–60	Bicolor	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
ProCut Gold Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	50–60	Yellow	Floret Flowers describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
ProCut Orange Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	50–60	Orange	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
ProCut Plum Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	50–60	Bicolor	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
ProCut Red Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	50–60	Red	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
ProCut White Lite Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	50–60	White	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
Red Sun Sunflower	Branching Cut	Branching	60–90	Red	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Ring of Fire Sunflower	Colored	Upright	60–90	Bicolor	All-America Selections describes this asan All-America Selections winner · good for cutting and putting in a vase
Soraya Sunflower	Branching Cut	Branching	60–90	Yellow	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Strawberry Blonde Sunflower F1	Branching Cut	Branching	55–65	Bicolor	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Sunbright Supreme Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	60–70	Yellow	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
Sunrich Gold Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	60–90	Yellow	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
Sunrich Lemon Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	60–90	Yellow	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
Sunrich Orange Sunflower F1	Single Stem Cut	Upright	60–90	Orange	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asgood for cutting and putting in a vase
Sunspot Sunflower	Dwarf	Dwarf	60–90	Yellow	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Suntastic Yellow Sunflower F1	Dwarf	Upright	60–90	Yellow	All-America Selections describes this asan All-America Selections winner · small enough for a pot · happy in a pot · draws bees and butterflies
Teddy Bear Sunflower	Dwarf	Dwarf	60–90	Yellow	Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this assmall enough for a pot · extra rows of petals · happy in a pot
Titan Sunflower Heirloom	Giant	Upright	60–90	Yellow
Vanilla Ice Sunflower	Branching Cut	Branching	60–90	White	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible
Velvet Queen Sunflower	Colored	Branching	60–90	Red	NC State Extension records this asdeer usually leave it alone · gets by on less water · the flowers are edible

Sources10 cited · 10 organizations

Colorado State University Extension (PlantTalk Colorado 1828)
Kansas State University Research and Extension (High Plains Sunflower Production Handbook MF2384; joint Colorado State / Kansas State / Nebraska / Wyoming / USDA-ARS Akron)
Kansas State University Research and Extension (horticulture news service)
Missouri Botanical Garden
NC State Extension
North Dakota State University Extension Service
Purdue University Center for New Crops (NewCROP)
South Dakota State University Extension
Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at San Angelo
University of Minnesota Extension

We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 15 of the 21 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.

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