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50 pounds of moldy black oil sunflower seeds as mulch_big mistake

grow4birds
14 years ago

I had a 50 pound bag of black oil sunflower seeds that was moldy so I tossed it out as a mulch on a bed of strawberries. BIG MISTAKE!!!

My question to you mulch and compost experts "how long before I can plant in the bed?"

Thanks in advance for your help.

Comments (12)

  • joepyeweed
    14 years ago

    I'd probably plant in the bed. Call it a companion planting of sunflowers and strawberries.

    The biggest drawback will be the sunflowers will attract birds, which is probably not desirable for a strawberry bed. But the strawberries should be done long before the sunflowers go to seed.

  • helenh
    14 years ago

    I would dig out the sunflowers as best I could they inhibit the growth of other plants. 50 pounds is doable. Put them somewhere where you don't want things to grow.

  • albert_135   39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
    14 years ago

    Can't you just clip the sunflower tops off with scissors?

  • grow4birds
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I should have been clear in my first post I just assumed that every gardener/composter/mulcher except me knew that black oil sunflower seed hull were poison to plants and the ground around them.

    The moldy black oil sunflower seeds killed all most all the strawberries. What I was wondering about and/or trying to find out is if anyone knows how long the poison in the ground will last?

    I guess I can just leave the bed alone and when weeds start to grow I should be good to go again.

    Thanks

  • bpgreen
    14 years ago

    Can you gather them together somehow and compost them? I think the composting process will get rid of the plant killing properties.

  • paulns
    14 years ago

    You could try digging foot-wide holes, put the soil/sunflower seed mix from them into the compost, then fill the holes with a fresh compost/soil mix, and transplant something like squash or cucumbers into them. My first thought was tomatoes but they are supposed to be a bad match for strawberries.

  • petalpatsy
    14 years ago

    I didn't know that about sunflower seeds, but I can see how fifty pound of moldy ones would be bad for anything.

  • helenh
    14 years ago

    Did you mix them with the soil? If they are on top of the soil rake them out along with some of the soil on top. Don't put this in your compost; why would you take that chance? Put it in a pile somewhere and eventually it will break down.

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    14 years ago

    If the strawberries have already perished as a result of the sunflowers seeds, go ahead and dig the seeds into the soil. And I'd add some other organic matter as well. The decomposition of the seeds, together with the other OM, will neutralize the allelopathic effects fairly rapidly, although I'd avoid planting anything this season.

    If you want faster results, remove the seeds and compost them in a designated area, like with your other compostables. But still work in some other OM in the strawberry plot before replanting.

  • joepyeweed
    14 years ago

    The soil under my bird feeders grows sunflowers and other plants, I don't have a problem with alleopathy, but I am not growing strawberries either.

    Certain plants are more susceptible than others.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    14 years ago

    This is the first I've heard of sunflower seeds being poisonous. Where did you read that?

  • buford
    14 years ago

    it's the shells, they have some sort of chemical that can prevent other plants from growing or germinating. I used seed husks as mulch and haven't had a problem. I'm not sure what plants are affected.

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