I have a giant sunflower plant growing in my tomato bed. I left it because of all the pollinators it would attract and my tomatos are fantastic this year .btw, I love your hat.
With your carrots, it looks like those in the center of the bed, slightly further away, are struggling more than the ones right in the immediate root zone. Sunflowers have large, deep taproots, if they were emitting allelopathic chemicals, I would think plants closest to them would be more affected. You say the carrots are getting enough sun, but those seem pretty heavily shaded relative to the ones you show in the other bed. I suspect a lot of sunflower blame has to do with the sheer size of the plants and the shade they cast. Sunflowers also are large plants that I would guess can pull a lot of moisture from the soil around them, so it's possible that they increase water needs in a bed more than people estimate.
A few details that perhaps should have made it into the video, but didn’t: Both beds of carrots were actually planted twice - in the sunflower bed there were only a few at first, the bigger ones, and then I added more (the smaller ones). The first carrots from my son’s bed have likely already been harvested. So the bigger carrots next to the sunflowers are older, and also started growing when the sunflowers were smaller. I think you might be on the money about the taproot! I suspect plants that draw water mainly from deeper in the soil are more affected than plants with more surface roots. And I suspect as you say that it has more to do with water than suppressing germination/sprouting through allelopathic chemicals - just like some are saying is the case with walnut trees! You may also be right about it the shade *although* throughout the day I think both beds are fairly equal. Not pictured, the bed with larger carrots gets afternoon shade from the fence and a nearby tree, and some early morning shade from neighbouring plants. Thanks for the discussion!!
I’ve also seen that my root crops as well as my onions do not do well at all near my sunflowers and my sunflowers are not in a position to block the light! This just confirms my suspicions so thank you so so much! ❤
I companion planted sunflowers with my cucumbers this year and they both did great. I have a thick planting of black oil sunflowers growing as a summer cover crop in the area of the garden where I plan on planting kale and collards in the fall, so we will see if that works out. Thumbs up for searching for actual data, too many creators on youtube perpetuate myths.
Sunflowers are fast growers which absorb nutrients and moisture at higher rate as slower growing plants. To compensate for this it is wise to adjust nutrient and moisture content to plants which are planted to closely to these annuals.
Next to my bird feeder I have maybe 13 sunflowers approximately six feet tall and I do notice only crabgrass thriving which I pull and clean underneath weekly. I think it’s more a shad issue for my little micro climate spot.
Thank you. Been growing sunflowers for 20 years and now I will pay more attention to planting
I have a giant sunflower plant growing in my tomato bed. I left it because of all the pollinators it would attract and my tomatos are fantastic this year .btw, I love your hat.
Tomatoes = friend
Great! Thanks for telling me
And thanks! I’m usually wearing a hat in the garden but take it off for the videos
With your carrots, it looks like those in the center of the bed, slightly further away, are struggling more than the ones right in the immediate root zone. Sunflowers have large, deep taproots, if they were emitting allelopathic chemicals, I would think plants closest to them would be more affected. You say the carrots are getting enough sun, but those seem pretty heavily shaded relative to the ones you show in the other bed. I suspect a lot of sunflower blame has to do with the sheer size of the plants and the shade they cast. Sunflowers also are large plants that I would guess can pull a lot of moisture from the soil around them, so it's possible that they increase water needs in a bed more than people estimate.
A few details that perhaps should have made it into the video, but didn’t:
Both beds of carrots were actually planted twice - in the sunflower bed there were only a few at first, the bigger ones, and then I added more (the smaller ones). The first carrots from my son’s bed have likely already been harvested. So the bigger carrots next to the sunflowers are older, and also started growing when the sunflowers were smaller.
I think you might be on the money about the taproot! I suspect plants that draw water mainly from deeper in the soil are more affected than plants with more surface roots. And I suspect as you say that it has more to do with water than suppressing germination/sprouting through allelopathic chemicals - just like some are saying is the case with walnut trees!
You may also be right about it the shade *although* throughout the day I think both beds are fairly equal. Not pictured, the bed with larger carrots gets afternoon shade from the fence and a nearby tree, and some early morning shade from neighbouring plants.
Thanks for the discussion!!
I’ve also seen that my root crops as well as my onions do not do well at all near my sunflowers and my sunflowers are not in a position to block the light! This just confirms my suspicions so thank you so so much! ❤
I companion planted sunflowers with my cucumbers this year and they both did great. I have a thick planting of black oil sunflowers growing as a summer cover crop in the area of the garden where I plan on planting kale and collards in the fall, so we will see if that works out. Thumbs up for searching for actual data, too many creators on youtube perpetuate myths.
Sunflowers are fast growers which absorb nutrients and moisture at higher rate as slower growing plants. To compensate for this it is wise to adjust nutrient and moisture content to plants which are planted to closely to these annuals.
Next to my bird feeder I have maybe 13 sunflowers approximately six feet tall and I do notice only crabgrass thriving which I pull and clean underneath weekly. I think it’s more a shad issue for my little micro climate spot.
I’ve been wondering that as well, how much of a factor shade might be! Thanks for sharing
What can I grow under the sunflowers to fill the height gap? Im dooin flowers. Ive too many different sunflower seeds comin the next couple day