sunflower transfer to garden?

[katiepotatie]

MIL planted some seeds with dd, which are in pots, MIL gone to Australia on holiday and left the plants at our house and has said to plant in garden......what size do the plants need to be to transfer? thay are about 20cm in the pots now.

I think they would be fine now to transfer but make sure they have some support and protection from heavy rain. The soil will have warmed up now and there's very little chance of frosts.
We have some that are only about 8cm but they're in small pots indoors. We'll put our's out soon I'd imagine.

Hi, I think it's too early, I would pot them on again or if they're not root bound yet keep them as they are, but let them get a bit bigger because slugs and snails just love them. When you do plant them out place a circle or eggs shells or grit around them. And it's always important to harden them off first not give them a shock and put them straight in the ground. {smile}

sorry for my incorrect answer . I will also be taking seashore;s advice.
Hmmmm - the grandparents bought the kids their seeds and tbh, they've turned it into a competition with my SIL.

good grief seashore, do you really manage to harden off your stuff before you plant it - [admiring emoticon]. I always have good intentions but end up just popping it in one fine day. Eg runner/french beans taken out of greenhouse yesterday and put into coldframe to harden off with the intention of taking back to the greenhouse are still in the coldframe. And today will go into the ground and will just have to manage.

Lucie, if you want to win you will need to put them in a sunny sheltered spot in well dug over soil that's not rock hard clay, give them good support and water and feed them regularly.

I'd hold off a little but I am overly cautious and only just sown my runners whereas my allotment neighbour has planted his out. Colder temperatures are forecast for nights at the moment.. Depending on how tall they are when you put them out, you can cut the bottom off a lemonade/water bottle and use it as a cloche.

Just looked at Metcheck and the temperature here is forecast to be 1 degree Tuesday and we are fairly far south.

thanks TQ - our clay is a bit like heavy, rock hard clay so I'll get digging! Like the cloche bottle idea wynken so will do that too.

Traumaqueen,I always hardened plants off before sending them on their way into the ground, but since I have had two babies close together I don't even get to garden at all! Right now I can only dream! But time will tick by and I'll be back!

oh dear, i've no clue really, do you think they might be ok in the pots till she gets back in 3 weeks? don't really want to kill them off,we only have grass so nowhere really to plant them. Would they be ok in bigger pots inside for a few more weeks?

Hi there, lift up the pot occasionally and check for roots at the bottom, long as they aren't pot bound they should be ok, just make sure they don't dry out but don't over water either, best put a plate or tray underneath and water that way. They probably will grow a lot in the next 3 weeks so you'll be kept on your toes with them. Plants raised by seeds carry such hope!

Also were they staked when they were potted into these 20 cm pots? Cause sunflowers get leggy qickly and they can just topple and break if they aren't staked. I always used to pot mine on with small stick stakes before they went into the garden with bamboo canes. I only used to grow a few so it wasn't a bother.