A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Sunflowers

At Vacation Bible School, last week, my daughter started some sunflowers. Basically, they threw several seeds into a Styrofoam cup with about 1 1 /2 inches of soil. They have shot up quickly & are very shallow. I am transplanting them to pots. My question is this: The plants have been inside the entire time....can I abruptly put them outside in direct sunlight or does it need to be gradual? I just put them in Miracle Grow Gardening soil in clay pots (that's the only good soil & empty pots I have, right now). Any pointers, so that I don't kill my daughter's sunflowers?

I wouldn't move them right out into direct sunlight, just to be on the safe side. When you do transplant them, be prepared for them to look really bad at first. Try to do it on a cloudy day, and give them plenty of water immediately, and you should be fine. How big are they? I would think that the younger the plant, the better off you'll be. Also, don't be surprised if they seem sort of "stunted" for a while-they should shoot up eventually, and even if they don't, they'll most likely still produce flowers. Good luck!

Thanks Rozy...I was afraid to put them right out and today is a cloudy day.