Some growers have had success using the popcorn plate on the Earthway seeder for sunflower seeds. I don't think it comes with the seeder. I think it's one of the extra plates you can order. You'll need to tinker with the calibration though. Obviously, as you can tell, we haven't used it for sunflowers. We have an Earthway; and, use it for zinnias. We've never been completely happy with the results of planting sunflower seeds with it. We have, however, used an old corn planter with good results.

Believe me when I say that I understand the aching back.

Trish

I started planting my sunflowers with the Earthway this year in order to save time. For most sunflowers the beet plate works. You just have to make sure that the seeds aren't too small to where you get 2 seeds coming out at once. I put scotch tape over the holes that I don't want the seeds coming out and if the sunflowers seeds are on the small side, I'll halfway tape the hole so it is smaller. So far I have been fairly pleased with the method. I am very happy with the time it has saved and the bending over a stringline. I doesn't seed perfect and uniform, but I guess you could fill in the gaps a few weeks after the first germinate. Then you would have a little stagger in your crop which is not a bad thing.

Josh

but I guess you could fill in the gaps a few weeks after the first germinate. Then you would have a little stagger in your crop which is not a bad thing.

Ummm. Not exactly our idea of staggering crop. And if you need a certain number of sunflower stems per week consistently (which we do), it's probably not the way to go. So, that would be a very bad idea -- for us. Succession planting in another section equals better results.

But, look what was featured in this month's GFM.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stand 'N Plant Seeder

Thanks so much Flowerfarmer and Newaukumvalley for your responses.

Thanks for the link Flowerfarmer, that's the directions my thoughts were heading. I was pondering something similar to the Stand N Plant that Johnny's carries.

I suppose with those type of seeders you would still need to cover the seed and tamp it lightly?

You mentioned an old corn planter, do you mean an implement pulled behind your tractor?

I thought about something like this as well- could use a piece of PVC pipe, jab it in the ground and drop in a seed. Lift and drag to cover the seed.

I was reading this old thread and wondered the same thing as garden lover
Flower Farmer said...used an old corn planter with good results
Garden lover said..You mentioned an old corn planter, do you mean an implement pulled behind your tractor?
Flower farmer????

When I was a child, my mother and grandmother would use an old broomstick or hoe handle for planting corn, beans, peas, anything that had a seed that is sizeable. They just dropped the seed on top of the ground, pushed it into the soil with the end of the broomstick, filled the hole with a push of the tip of a shoe and move right on. The speed with which they could do this was amazing. I hadn't thought of that for a very long time - my grandmother has been gone since 1980 and my mother hasn't gardened for probably 10 years or more.