New gardener - what do I do with these sunflowers?

[Ladylavender]

Hi everyone! I caught the gardening bug over lockdown I got one of those ready made sunflower pots with seed and compost a while ago (the smaller pot on the left in the pic) and the instructions said to plant 3 seeds in it. I had a fair few seeds left over so I planted some extra ones in the bigger pot on the right. And now it seems the pots won't be big enough! There's nowhere to plant in the ground in our garden so I think it's a case of repotting - but do I take them all out at the same time to repot in a bigger one? Or take them out and try and separate them to put in individual pots? Any advice appreciated!

Either. If you have too many to a pot they have to compete for nutrients, so won't grow as tall, or will need additional feeding. I think it's your choice really on what you think will look good.

Thank you! I think I'll get a couple of bigger pots - don't trust myself with separating roots yet!

You will need to be gentle separating them, teasing them out so not to damage the root and stem. I’d try and give each plant its own pot. I’m sure they will be brilliant. I love sunflowers, and usually start off two or three in one pot like you have. They look great.

They look like lovely healthy seedlings, but for them to reach their growth potential they need splitting up and planting into bigger pots. You can either gently tip the contents of the whole pot out, then tease the roots apart gently before planting into individual pots, or remove each seedling individually using an old teaspoon or something similar (child's cutlery works well). Do you know if these are giant sunflowers? If so they will need large pots (10/12 inches), and will need stakes for support. Dwarf varieties might be OK in smaller pots (5/6 inches). Sunflowers are fun flowers to grow, good luck OP.

Be gentle and try to handle by the leaves rather than the stem or roots, as these are easy to damage.

Thanks for the extra advice! They're they first things I've ever planted so want to be careful with them  @Defenbaker I got one of those grow kits in Homebase which came with the little bucket, seeds and compost, but don't remember seeing what variety they were! Going to try gently tipping the whole thing out and teasing apart - fingers crossed!

they need bigger pots.
much bigger pots. their roots get enormous.
10l or so per plant would be good.

Just a warning that they hate having their roots moved, I've never known a plant like it. I had some sunflowers that self seeded this year. When I moved them last weekend they looked dead for the first 24hrs and only copious watering revived them. The problem is water usually brings slugs so you need a bit more luck on your side.
You should be ok but be prepared for them to pretend to die on the first day. Move them in the morning so they can have a good drink before the evening slugs appear.

I've just repotted mine into about 20cm pots, 2 to a pot apart from the ones that were bigger which have their own pots. They survived the move fine, but they were a little smaller than yours are now.

Looks like I'm going to need 10 pots! Thanks for the heads up about how sensitive they are being moved. Wish they'd said something on the packaging, but this is how I learn I suppose 😂