Lemon Queen Sunflower Seeds

Sow Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds outdoors when the soil temperature hits 55–60°F, usually a week or two past your last frost. Push each Lemon Queen Sunflower seed half an inch into the soil and space them 18 inches apart, since they branch wide and won't perform well when crowded. Helianthus debilis seeds germinate in 7–10 days in warm soil. To speed up to 5 days, soak the seeds overnight before sowing.

Lemon Queen needs full sun, 6 to 8 hours daily, to grow proper stems and full-sized heads. The variety grows in almost any soil, but plant it in deep, compost-rich loam with a pH around 6.0 to 7.5 and you'll get the tallest plants with the heaviest bloom counts. Water about an inch a week, deep at the base of the plant, never overhead. Mature plants have a serious taproot and can survive dry spells once established. Powdery mildew is the most common Sunflower problem in humid weather, and evening watering triggers it because the leaves stay damp overnight.

Stake every Lemon Queen Sunflower plant over 6 feet if your garden is exposed to wind. Feed with compost or balanced fertilizer when the first buds appear and you'll add two to three weeks to the flowering window. For cut flowers, snip in the morning just as the back of the head turns yellow, then drop the stems into deep water. If you want seeds, leave the heads on the plant until the back turns brown and the petals fall, then cut them and hang upside down indoors for two weeks to finish drying.