Tanam bunga matahari "sunflower" | pot | Day 0 to Day 83

Assalamualaikum

Projek bunga matahari ini bermula semasa Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Malaysia (MCO) bulan Mac lepas. This is my first attempt to grow a sunflower guys!

Sunflower or Helianthus annuus aka "bunga matahari Malay. Bunga matahari cantik dan jarang di tanam besar-besaran di laman Malaysia. Sebab lain Ema pilih bunga matahari ialah warna kuning. Warna favourite Ema.

Time-lapse?? what is it? #BrokeSis

🌻Seed planting & germination | Iɴᴅᴏᴏʀ ᴘʟᴀɴᴛɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴘᴇᴀᴛ ᴘᴏᴛ

Ema beli biji benih bunga matahari dari Mydin. Ema assume ni bunga matahari biasa "giant" sunflower. Biji yang boleh dimakan.

The seeds legitly looked like Chacheer's kuaci. Don't use that, that one is already been heat processed and less likely to be germinated.

Ema rendam benih dalam air selama 3 jam sebelum tanam dalam peat pot added with potting soil.

p/s: Ema tengah grow another round of sunflower seeds. Turns out seeds grow using plastic ziplock bag technique germinate faster than grow directly in the soil.

Peat pot

Ema beli coco peat pot here. Or you can get in Daiso with affordable price, larger size and more quantity. It is biodegradable, so you can directly plant the whole pot in the ground without disturbing the root system.

Ema siram 2 kali sehari untuk pastikan tanah lembap setiap masa. Lembap, not soaking wet all the time. Dari 7 benih...hanya satu ja survivor. 

  

🌻Seedling growth | A ᴄᴀsᴇ ᴏꜰ ʟᴇɢɢɪɴɢ

Ema tanam dalam rumah pakai lampu LED biasa (lampu meja study) selama 6-7 jam/hari. My mom has been nagging me to put it outside 😅.

🌻Seedling transplanting | Lᴀɴᴅ  sᴄᴀʀᴄɪᴛʏ

Later on, the second set of "true leaves" emerges. Tapi pokok sudah tunjuk tanda "legging". Not good. So, it is a sign that you need to plant the pot on the ground.

Since, laman rumah dah tak ada ruang kosong. Ema tanam dalam pasu besar, kedalaman 8 inchi. 

Disebabkan "legging", Ema tanam anak pokok kedalam 1.5 inch untuk pastikan anak pokok tumbuh straight. 

The weather was quite nice. Suhu pagi 32c, hujan pun jarang-jarang.  Just like its name, the pot was located under full sun exposure.

🌻Maturation | Fᴀsᴛ ᴍᴏᴠɪɴɢ ᴘᴀᴄᴇ

Baja? Mak Ema yang tolong bajakan, rasanya 2 minggu sekali pakai baja pink. Rujuk website gardening online, katanya bunga matahari tak perlu baja sebab memang confirm akan kembang.

Siram sehari sekali unless hari panas terik.

The lower leaves got eaten by an unknown culprit...

Putik sudah mula keluar sebelum pokok mecapai ketinggian 1 meter. Untuk growth support, Ema ikat batang pokok pada kayu.

Flower budding day

The striking colour... chef kiss

Additional info, bunga matahari kembang ikut arah matahari naik. Kalau pakai pasu, boleh senang ejas, Kalau dalam tanah, kena bijak landscaping.

🌻 Flowering | Fᴜʟʟ Bʟᴏᴏᴍ

Jujurnya, Ema ingatkan dia akan kembang waktu Hari Raya.

Blooming day

To you in full bloom

Starting to dry down

sunflower pollen

Vincent. Van. Gogh

Pokok bunga matahari mencapai ketinggian roughly 1.5 m.The flower disc was not that big in diameter. 

Sayangnya, bunga ini hanya kembang selama 10 hari. Welp. Definitely did not look like the packaging.

🌻 Seed harvesting | Pʟᴏᴛ ᴛᴡɪsᴛ

Bunga matahari dibiarkan kering, and then dia start "droopy". Bahagian belakang akan bertukar perang/coklat.  I could see mould too on the seed. Hujan pula semakin kerap sejak kebelakangan ni. Ema potong anggaran 5-7 inch dari flower disc.

Tuai biji benih matahari! Just rub the head to peel off the sunflower seeds.

Ema dapat banyak benih dari satu bunga. Beratus. Tak terbayang betapa puasnya dapat peel off benih matahari.

TAPI. plot twist...

Semua biji benih tiada isi.  No pollination occurred. Just an empty shell. I thought I could save some for planting.

_____________________________

Sunflower oil is deemed one of the healthiest oil with least saturated fats (No. 1 is canola oil) (Health.Havard.edu). It can be extracted from the seed but it is not something I can do at home....⁽ᵒʳ ᵐᵃʸᵇᵉ ᴵ ᶜᵃⁿ...⁾. Ema tak ada kerja 💁

In case there are seeds, you could wash, dry it overnight and keep it in an airtight container before storage in the fridge. Used it for next plantation.

For eating, wash and then boil in saltwater overnight before bake it in an oven.

Unless you are unlucky like me, open this Shopee page and order more sunflower seeds at affordable price 😉. 

I've got new seeds in the mail two days ago! I bought 3 varieties from the shop. 7 days delivery is quite fast during this RMCO. And guess what..it already sprouts ~~

My parents just place two stingless bee colonies in the garden. Hope it will increase the pollination rate.

Morning will come again. No darkness, no season is eternal

p/s: Spring about to end next week, waiting for summer to embrace in a warm hug... But then you realize, sini summer sokmo.