Sunflowers are one of the most attractive flowers of all, some might argue on that. But whoever has a flower garden has grown some sunflowers because of their sun-like appearance and how beautiful and aesthetically pleasing they look. Their long pates and brown center catch everyone’s heart and attention. The scientific name of this beautiful being is Helianthus Annuus. The uses of these flowers are many. Some grow the plant for their usage of oil, as food for the bird but mostly grow it for their aesthetic looks.
But the saddest part of growing sunflowers is that their beauty does not last long. The petals start to fall immediately after they have grown to be full-size flowers. When the mesmerizing sunflowers in your backyard start to fall off all of a sudden the question might have pierced through your mind why are the sunflower petals falling off? You might be wondering about the possible solutions that can save your beautiful sunflower petals for a little time more. It is now you will have all the answers and we will dig deep.
Key Takeaways
- Sunflowers are aesthetically pleasing flowers that glow up the place it is planted. The scientific name of this beautiful being is Helianthus Annuus.
- There can be several reasons that your sunflower petals are suddenly falling off. Some of those are underwatering, overheating, natural causes, nitrogen deficiency, etc.
- You might want to make the petal’s constant falling go away and hold the beauty of the sunflowers for a little more time. You can actually do that with some necessary measures to reduce falling’ and resolve premature falling.
- After all the petals fall off the flower had need to be cut down and you can save the plant from turning yellow and save the seeds if you want.
7 Reasons Why Sunflower Petals Fall Off
When your beloved sunflowers petals are falling off you might want to find out the reason first before coming to any conclusion or solution. When your full-bloomed sunflowers petals are falling off there might be various reasons behind this situation. So here are some of the reasons behind this.
1. Natural causes
Sunflower has a pattern of petals falling off after they have completely bloomed. You are more likely to see petals falling after one to two weeks. All the petals will fall off after 18 to 20 days mark and there is no coming back. Well in that case there is nothing to worry about because this will happen no matter what. When a sunflower is fully bloomed it becomes unable to follow the sun and the petals automatically fall off. When it comes to an age the seeds start to grow and automatically push the petals out. Which results in all the petals falling off at the end.
2. Under watering
Sunflowers are good at holding drought but if they have been dehydrated for a long time. Symptoms like petals falling come to the surface. When you are seeing untimely petals falling the first thing you should notice is the watering of the sunflower. For getting a healthy sunflower it is best to give 1.5 liters of water every day. When the soil becomes very dry and moisture is drawn out then flower petals will fall as a response to dehydration.
3. Nitrogen deficiency
Nitrogen is one of the very important ingredients for it to carry out the natural process. When the nitrogen level drops in the sunflowers it creates nutrition deficiency and eventually affects photosynthesis. As a result of affected photosynthesis, the sunflower plant becomes unable to produce food and a proper supply of energy throughout the body. As a result, the leaves start to turn yellow and the petals fall off.
4. Bugs attack
Bugs or pests are very harmful to plants. When your sunflower petals are falling off even after watering and properly taking care then the possible reason might be a pests attack. This kind of attack makes the plant very weak and it cannot process very well. The most common bugs that can attack and harm, your gorgeous sunflowers are grasshoppers, moths, cutworms, borers, and beetles. There is another kind of bug that is called sunflower moth and they cause the most damage to the flower head by laying eggs on top. Also, all the bugs generally feel on the flesh of the plant causing serious damage to the plant’s body and hampering the overall photosynthesis process. This way the sunflower plant becomes very malnourished and eventually the petals start to fall off.
5. Roots development problem
Another reason for petals falling can be the root. If your sunflowers are grown weak from their root, then it is very normal that the sunflower will not thrive and the petals will fall off very easily without even booming fully. When the roots of the sunflowers are very weak they cannot extract the needed amount of nutrients from the ground and make them work. This way the plant grows weak flowers and the quality remains poor so the petals will fall off very easily.
6. Weather
Appropriate weather for plants is a necessity. Although sunflower has the capability to handle and love to soak sunlight that cannot be too much. When faced too humid weather for a long time or scorching hot weather the petals can fall off. At heat waves, sunflowers cannot function their natural process properly so it is only normal to go through this process.
7. White mold problems
Sunflower plants can be attacked by some diseases; white mold is one of the very common of those. Due to this disease, the petals turn white and ultimately they all fall after some time. White molds might not be deadly but they surely cause the sunflower to lose all its beauty.
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Control Measures of Flower Petals Falling Off
Understanding the reasons behind the falling petals of sunflowers may give an insight into what is happening but it does not take the tension away. To make your worry go away about the falling petals and to restore the short time beauty here are some suggestions:
- Sunflowers have a tendency to fall off after they have bloomed fully. So first you have to know if the petals are falling due to natural causes or not. If you see seeds coming up and the petals falling that means the sunflower is fully blooming and the petals will surely fall off due to natural causes. There is nothing you can do here.
- If you see the sunflower is not fully bloomed yet or the seeds are really not coming up still petals are falling off, then you should check for problems. If your soil is fully dry on top dehydration can occur. For this, you can start watering the sunflower tree every day. Usually every week sunflowers should have at least 7-8 liters of water. So water every single day an estimated amount would resolve this problem very easily. But the water should not be clogged into a potted sunflower. There should be enough holes to drain all the excess water from your pot.
- Do a soil test to see if your flower petals are falling for nitrogen deficiency or not. Which is very common for sunflowers, upon identifying nitrogen deficiency you have to start applying fertilizers. Giving a fertilizer that is full of nitrogen is definitely a good choice. Applying slow-release fertilizers is great for providing nitrogen for a long time to sunflower plants. This way you will able to balance macro and microorganisms too.
- When your sunflowers petals start to fall all of a sudden check for bugs or pests attack. Spray good pesticides to get rid of the pests from the sunflowers as soon as possible. Bugs can really kill the whole plant and harm natural growth.
- Check the sunlight pattern that your sunflowers are getting. If not, then you must move the pants into a sunny area. For sunflowers, sunlight is very important and these flowers love sunlight. But you must give them some shade during extreme heat waves.
- If you start to see white in your plants or leaves then you should apply a good-quality fungicide as soon as possible. Whiteheads can actually make the petals fall at a very fast rate.
What to Do When All The Petals Fall Off?
After you have tried all the methods but even after that you are unable to succeed with the petals saving mission then there is nothing you can do. When all the petals fall off the sunflower then you just leave with a round circle that looks like a bald head. If fully grown, then you will get some precious seeds that you can eat directly or make oil out of it. Well if you are left with the round sunflower head and do not know what to do then here’s your rescue.
You just need to cut off the circle. After all the petals have fallen off the flower this would eventually dry and fall by itself but you can cut it and harvest the sunflower seeds. Not leaving the sunflower head on the plant would be great. As this can make the whole plant grow yellow. When cutting the flower head make sure to leave 12 inches to the head and then extract all the seeds.
FAQs
This is a very common concern. Some may assume the sunflower petals grow back after falling but they cannot6 actually grow back after falling due to some reason.
The reason behind sunflower petals drying can be as same as falling off sunflower petals. Underwatering, overheating, pests attack, etc.
For younger sunflowers, the heads fall off due to improper watering. Overwatering or underwatering is usually the cause. But for mature sunflowers, the heads might fall off because it is nearing the end of its lifecycle.
The lifespan of sunflowers is very short. They can last up to 1 to 2 weeks at most during the summer and fall before they start to wither.
Final Thoughts
When you grow beautiful sunflowers in the backyard it instantly makes the whole place brighten up. But this beauty does not last that long. Sunflower petals are very sensitive and fall off for so many reasons. Some of those reasons can be feta for the plants. So understanding a detailed description of those reasons and finding out how to solve them never goes wrong. The reason behind can a ton, among those natural causes, underwatering, and nitrogen deficiency are the most important and common ones. When all the petals fall off the head should be cut off and the seeds can be saved for further use. There is a special method to cut off the head and not harm the plant.
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