"Rev "Fragile Warrior"" questioned:
Does it still follow the sun?

Nay, it's just flopping now. Real nice flower on it. It's a heavy bloom
too.

Is the stem kinked or is it still round?

The stem is round... or rather semi-oval. The bloom opened to the
east and it started to lean east and it appears that the weight of the
bloom and the constant bending is weakening whatever exists inside
of the stem.

I thought that sunflowers tended to "nod" when they got that big

g Yeah it's definitely got a nod, the bloom is pointing straight
down now, gazing at the leaves below it. I don't know if the
nod is supposed to continue getting worse. It certainly looks
like it will, I mean with the constant strain of the weight of the
flower and the "nod" already introduced.

It's the second sunflower that did this. So I'm guessing that it's
just the natural way it goes. I thought I should ask and see if
anyone might say something different.

--
Jim Carlock
Please post replies to newsgroup.

"Jim Carlock" wrote:
I am on my second sunflower and it's starting to flop like
the first one. This one grew straight up, presented a nice 12"
bloom and reached 6'6" in height. The base of the stem is
1" wide and goes to about 5/8" near the top. It looked good
for about a week but now the flower appears too heavy and
is bending. Is this common or could there be a deficiency in
something?

Thanks.