[tali]

Thanks everyoe for yor advise i have a well manured piece of my allotment about 6ft by 5 ft
1. Wild Sunflower (dwarf) - Helianthus Annuus, the state flower of Kansas. Only about 3 feet tall. Packet of 800mg.

2. Giant Sunflower - Helianthus Grey Stripe, huge flowers the size of large dinner plated. Up to 10 feet tall.  3 gm.

3. Sunflower Crimson Thriller - Six inch flowers with bi-colouring. Up to 5-6 feet. Excellent for cutting as each plant produces many flowers. 1gm.

4. Sunflower Teddy Bear - dwarf double flowering. 3-4 feet with lovely fluffy six inch yellow flowers. Looks like a huge double marigold. 1gm.

5. Sunflower Mexican - 3.5 inch flowers on 4-5 feet plants. Beautiful orange flower, great for cutting. Long flowering season. 1gm.
do you think that'll be enough space lol

[muntjac]

nice one ,, loads muck and water  and a step ladder me thinks lol

[tali]

oops meant to post that on sunflowers  dohhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

[Axe Victim]

Getting back to the point....I too am someone who finds it hard to thin out, and then dispose of the thinnings...similarly, it has taken me years to get the hang of pruning...it seems so cruel...and yet....both thinning and pruning are good for our plants...

[supersprout]

Forgot to mention pelleted seed - you can get this from Moles Seeds

Have you tried home made seed tapes?

1. Cut newspaper strips about 1” wide. (If you cut strips off the edge of a newspaper page, you can make sure the strips are straight.)

2. Mix a sticky paste of flour and water - the consistency of thick gravy or soft pudding seems to work well.

3. Using a Q-tip or small artist’s paintbrush as an applicator, dab paste on the newspaper strip, spacing the dabs the right distance apart for the type of seed you’re planting. Or if you want to eat the thinnings of e.g. spinach, put the seed at half the distance and thin when the seedling leaves are touching.

4. Place a seed on each dab and set the strip aside to dry. Both large and small seeds lend themselves to this method, but you may find that tweezers are helpful in handling smaller seeds.

5. Preferably on a windless, damp or cloudy day, plant the seed tapes in a furrow, seed side up, and cover as you normally would.

6. Keep seeds and seedlings well watered.

From “Easy Things to Make … To Make Things Easy” by Doreen Greenstein, published by Brookline Books, P.O. Box 1047, Cambridge, MA 02238, 1-800-666-BOOK

I've found this excellent when sowing direct in late Spring, but not if you try to plant your seed tapes on a windy day :roll: I used this technique for the first time with kale, spinach and beetroot, delighted with results