GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Why are the lower leaves of my potted sunflowers turning yellow?

Tim · 01-08-2007, 01:59 PM posted to rec.gardens

"Mark Anderson" wrote in message
.net...
In article says...
I am a 100% novice gardener!! I have planted sunflowers (in pots) which
are just beginning to flower however the lower leaves are turning
slightly yellow and brown-dry in places. Is there something I should
be putting in the soil? Should I remove these leaves or let nature
take its course?

For a container you need a good draining soil and some kind of
fertilizer. I usually throw in a good amount of slow release fertilizer
when I mix the soil for the containers and then periodically hit them
with that Miracle Grow blue stuff which is mostly nitrogen. Unlike in
ground plants, containered plants need an external source of food. That
said, the lower leaves of my sunflowers sometimes still turn yellow and
fall off but not as much as in past years when I didn't have a
fertilizer regime or have them planted in a good potting mix. The lower
leaves don't really matter since those plants grow up up and up growing
more leaves as it goes. Sometimes I think the sunflower plant realizes
it doesn't need those leaves at the bottom anymore and stops funding
them.

I have some sunflowers in an admitted bad location, but they are planted in
the ground. The lower leaves have also yellowed and browned. Mostly, I
pull them off to no negative effect. My mother-in-law has many more
sunflowers in a much better location with the same leaf problem. She just
lets them fall off on their own. I am inclined to agree with the previous
post and think this is a natural part of the sunflower growth.

Tim
S.New Jersey, zone 6b