How to Grow Sunflowers Indoors With Fluorescent Light
Sunflowers are hardy and easy to grow. Their cheerful blooms light up the garden in the summer, and potted sunflowers indoors can brighten a gloomy winter day. True to their name, sunflowers need a lot of light, and fluorescent lights are a good choice for starting and growing sunflowers indoors because they don't get hot so they won't burn the flowers like incandescent lights do. Fluorescent lights help seeds grow better whether you're starting your sunflowers inside to plant outdoors later, or you're growing sunflowers indoors for winter blooms. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Pots
- Potting mix
- Sunflower seeds
- Water
- Fluorescent lights
- Adjustable fluorescent light fixture
Instructions
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Fill your pots with a light, rich potting mix that contains peat moss and compost. Small pots are fine to use if you plan to transplant the seedlings later, but use pots that are at least a foot in diameter and a foot deep to accommodate the large root systems of indoor sunflowers.
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2
Choose the smallest types of sunflowers you can find for winter indoor plants. Varieties like Teddy Bear and Big Smile are good choices for potted sunflowers because they don't get more than two feet tall. Other varieties like Mammoth or American Giant can exceed 12 feet and are better suited for outdoor gardens.
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3
Plant two or three seeds in each pot. Sow the seeds about two inches deep and water them well.
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4
Place the pots in a sunny window. Natural light is the best light for sunflowers, so use the fluorescent lights to make up for lack of exposure to natural light.
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Use the brightest fluorescent lights you can find, and put them in a fixture that can hold at least two tubes. Arrange the lights so they are a few inches from the soil surface. Make sure the sunflower seeds get 12 hours of light a day, either all from the fluorescent lights or by combining natural and fluorescent light.
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Raise the lights as the seedlings grow to give them plenty of room. The lights should always be a few inches from the top of the tallest plant.
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Pick out the weaker seedlings when they are about 3 inches tall, or transplant the seedlings outdoors. For indoor sunflowers, you can transplant the seedlings you picked out to other pots if you prefer, or just throw them away.
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Keep the fluorescent lights on indoor sunflowers for their entire life cycle, making sure the flowers get at least 12 hours of light a day until the plants have bloomed out.
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