Plant Doctor Archive

Saving sunflower seeds

I have grown a bumper crop of sunflowers this year and would like to save the seed to use in my cooking. How should I do this?

WHEN the heads start to droop and turn yellow, you can cut them off (with about 50cm of stem) and store them in a cool, dry place until the heads are dry. Put a paper bag over each head and tie with a rubber band, then hang upside down so that any seeds that fall out are easily collected. Unfortunately, extracting the seeds from the husks is not so easy!

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.