Remsoft’s annual Sunflower Competition is in full bloom, and it’s not to late to enter. Learn how in this post.
Greetings fellow gardeners!
As we draw closer to the end of summer and the end of our annual Sunflower Competition, many of our sunflowers are approaching their peak heights. We’ve had quite a good response both within and outside of the office from participants in this year’s competition.
Unfortunately, in the Remsoft office, many lost their plants early in the season. Rumours abound about the cause; some suspect it may have been sabotage, or a deep-state conspiracy to keep their sunflowers from reaching their full potential. At any rate, it probably wasn’t squirrels or mice.
For those of us that remain, there is a good deal of speculation on who will ultimately have the tallest sunflower. My tallest sunflower, which I started in my greenhouse in late May, is roughly 3.4m. So far, we have a submission from Belgium that is significantly taller than anything anyone on our team has grown. I’m thinking if I just pour pure fertilizer directly on top of the root system I should probably be able to make up for the difference in a couple of days.
Soon you will need to master the art of measuring your sunflower at the perfect time when it reaches its maximum height before the flower head starts causing it to droop.
Below is a picture of one of my sunflowers in late July. Next to it, for scale, is my 145lbs Irish Wolfhound Jerry (Garcia). Don’t be fooled by the name, he goes downstairs when I play Grateful Dead in the house.
Eventually, my sunflower had to be free, so I built a greenhouse escape vent. The picture below is from August 21st. The flower head is just starting to form, so I don’t expect much height to be added going forward.
If you’d like to enter your sunflower in the contest, here’s how you can enter.
Email Nicola.macleod@remsoft.com and include:
- A photo of your sunflower from top to bottom (tip: include something for scale. If you don’t have access to a 145lbs dog, try a person or something else for reference!)
- The measurement of your sunflower
It is entirely up to you to decide when to submit your final measurement. Remember, the contest only has one rule – the sunflowers must be standing when they are measured.
Send your measurement too soon and you risk it growing taller. Send it too late and you risk your flower falling over.
The deadline to submit is by the end of the day on Friday, September 14th. We will share the winning photos the next week.
We would love to see what other participants have been growing this year, so please send in your pictures!
If you missed out on this year’s competition, do not fret, next year should be even better!
Stay tuned and good luck!
