why dont you just enjoy the show of watching how it responds to the insult ... it will reflower .. surely there is enough time left in the season ...

i guess i would rather watch that show ... rather than kill two SF .. as i highly doubt you are going to move a 4 to 5 foot annual in JULY/AUGUST ... in most of the country ...

but then.. that would be a learning experience also... what the heck.. go for it... take pix.. do a post.. let us know ...

ken

ps: i wonder if gal will roll thru.. and tell us they do it in the PNW all the time... lol .. happy 4th gal ...

It would be awfully surprising to move a sunflower, what about a month before blossoming begins ? I can't imagine it being successful here in Arkansas without going to very extreme measures.

i have done it....you must be sure to anchor it well and keep it very wet for a week or so. it will wilt, but return, if my experience holds true. water the hole before you put it in.

I'd like to see this myself. My thoughts were following right in line with what Ken Adrian said: "leave it, see how it recovers, it should have enough time...", and then: "oh, what the heck - do it! See if the transplant makes it. It will be a learning experience." If you do, though, I'd suggest you follow MollyJane's advice of anchoring it well and watering it CONSTANTLY. You might even want to rig up some sort of shade, if that were possible with it's being so tall. At least you could shade the lower half maybe, since you're wanting it to get its roots established ASAP.
Good luck!
- Alex

FWIW all sunflowers I have transplanted were stunted in growth. They develop a deep tap root very quickly that if disturbed seems to affect growth. IME if they were supposed to get 9-10ft tall it will get 6-7 if moved. I agree with ken to see how it comes back but also agree with Molly if do move it.

SCG

NO! Don't transplant. Sunflowers don't transplant well when they are little, much less at that size. They have an incredibly long tap root, from the very beginning, which is why they do best when you start them from seed outdoors rather than starting seedlings indoors. Unfortunately, the squirrel has done you in. Just leave things the way they are. :) Scroll down at the link for some good information about growing them, as well as the info about the long tap root. Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunflower Growing Info.

i transplant everything! my dad said "the best time to move a plant is when you have a shovel in your hand." granted, it doesn't ALWAYS work, but if you follow the basics, it usually will. my brain is such that if i wait till the "right time", it probably won't get done. so, anchor, water like crazy for a week or till it shows no stress when not watered, provide shade if it's a really sensitive plant...i keep an extra shade umbrella and stand in my yard and use it for this purpose all the time...get one cheap at a yard sale...and whisper sweet nothings to your transplant. just my (and dad's) experience. ;-)

All,

Thank you for the information and for describing your experiences. I've decided to leave the damaged plant as it is and observe its progress.

Directly below the wound, two petioles have developed large, strange, and bulky growth where they attach to the stem. I have not seen this before on a sunflower. About an inch and one-half in diameter, they appear to be compensating for or adjusting to the wound that is just a couple of inches above them. (You can see the cut off point in the picture.) These developed after the damage, occurring a bit over two weeks ago. Leaves further down the plant show no such growth, and I wonder if anyone knows what kind of response this is. I will later post a picture of what a normal, "unafflicted" petiole looks like, taken of a plant grown two feet away, resembling the other dozen or so in the garden.

Thanks for any ideas as to what this process is called, and I sincerely thank you for your thoughts and experiences with transplanting this type of flower; your posts made me equally eager to do so and to just leave it and watch the results.

(As a side note, I do have eight of the same variety, a new, separate planting, now no more than two feet tall, one of which I will be deliberately transplanting to see the results - I will post the results with a picture in months to come.)

This post was edited by Todd1313 on Thu, Jul 17, 14 at 21:03

Here is the picture of the normal diameter of a leaf petiole for this variety at this stage in growth.

what variety is this?

It is Helianthus annuus and this damaged plant is still growing in every visible way but height.

This post was edited by Todd1313 on Mon, Aug 4, 14 at 23:21

Good morning am lariza same as me,..I had many 9ft tall sunflowers and they started to bloom with 35flowers coming to bloom then our place has heard to be demolish and they want me to pull my plants and I don't know how to do it because I don't want them to die I love the flowers....😭 Any idea of how did you save your sunflower plant?

Hi,

I can share my experience.

The survival of sunflowers will decrese with increase in age though.

This is just something i tried on transplanting some 25 of my sunflowers, about 45 days old, more than 2-3 feet in height. 18 of them survived.

I had them in pots , as well as scattered in ground.

For, The ones in pots, i broke the pot (earthern) and shifter the huge root balls (12 inch pot).

For the ones in the ground, i started digging soil around plant. I dug around at a radius of one and a half stretched hand. and i went deep about 1 feet. you can do this only if the plants have huge gaps in between.

There was one plat which was as high as my waist, lets say about 3 feet tall. As i started to dig, i could see fine roots near the surface. so i expanded the diameter to two and a half stretched hands. that should be about, may be 18 inches radius.

The 3 feet one survived.

Also, i would recommend spraying the plant with NPK 20 20 20, 2 days before you want to dig them out.

After transplantation, water them a lot. And do not expose to sun for atleast a week. Use green nets or any sheet for proper shade. After 1 week, spray NPK again. (1 tea spoon in 1L water). They will wilt. Most leaves will die out. The flowering will be delayed by 20-30 days. The height will stunt by a feet may be.

I hope this helps those who are still in a pickel to transplant.

I had to do it, because they grew at random places after my dog was surgically operating and tearing apart a drying sunflower while playing. I hope you have a legit reason to risk a life.