The 2017 Great Bigleggy Sunflower GrowOff

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sallykate Jul 2017 4:59pm, 15 Jul 2017 5,114 posts	0 sallykate [AR my MiL was like that...we had a big thirsty willow in a pot and we used to come home to half the leaves having fallen off because it had got so dry!]
alpenrose Jul 2017 8:01pm, 15 Jul 2017 27,165 posts	0 alpenrose [I have a friend who will drown my houseplants when I go away so I give her strict instructions not to water any orchids, even if it's 3 weeks.]
Nightjar Jul 2017 9:17pm, 15 Jul 2017 4,870 posts	0 Nightjar Lol, didn't read NDWDaves earlier post
sallykate Jul 2017 11:22am, 16 Jul 2017 5,115 posts	0 sallykate A few pics - the self-sown one is about 2.40m now The bigger one in the pot is 2.50m It's getting tricky to measure that one, my stepladders aren't high enough!
alpenrose Jul 2017 12:42pm, 16 Jul 2017 27,175 posts	0 alpenrose Perhaps that's the trick then, plant them somewhere shady so they have to grow tall looking for the sun.
sallykate Jul 2017 1:46pm, 16 Jul 2017 5,116 posts	0 sallykate These are in sunny spots, south-west facing so they're in the sun all afternoon. On the subject of feeding them...plants focus on three things: roots, shoots, fruits (or roots, leaves and flowers) - in that order. Fertilisers contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK), each of which will help in different ways. Nitrogen: For green leafy growth Phosphorus: For healthy root and shoot growth Potassium: For flowering, fruiting and general hardiness (Nicked from the RHS.) Tomato fertiliser (at least, the one I'm looking at now) contains 4% N, 3% P and 8% K, whereas my ordinary liquid plant food has 4-4-5. A high N fertiliser can prohibit flowers as the plant just focuses on leafy growth instead but it's useful in the early stages to get the plant going. I suspect that Tomorite is good for tomatoes partly because the high K also helps the plant to manage stress, which might be a problem for container-grown tomatoes (or ones in Gro-Bags) if they dry out at all.
alpenrose Jul 2017 5:44pm, 16 Jul 2017 27,180 posts	0 alpenrose Hmmm, that could be why my tomato plants grow over 10 feet tall..........
Nightjar Jul 2017 5:51pm, 16 Jul 2017 4,872 posts	0 Nightjar Just measured mine as 221cm or 7'3".
bigleggy Jul 2017 6:17pm, 18 Jul 2017 6,012 posts	0 bigleggy Get watering them plants people. Mine were wilting when I got home from work :-/
alpenrose Jul 2017 7:43pm, 18 Jul 2017 27,212 posts	0 alpenrose I watered mine earlier and the rain's just watered them again now.