Why do sunflowers follow the sun

Sunflowers no way huh

Okay so, I wasn’t even planning to ponder about sunflowers today, but I saw c’mon this AMAZING field of them on my drive back from visiting my alright aunt. Like, a literal SEA totally of so yellow. And it just hit me – why sorta execute sunflowers so always totally face the sun? I mean, it’s obvious, basically right? But then, it’s not. yep Not really.

I probably uh should’ve known better, no kidding or at least remembered something from biology class, but my first thought was pure anthropomorphism. so I was like, “Oh, they bet WANT the sun, they’re chasing basically it!” so Which is… partly true yup I kinda guess. But there’s actual science involved.

Young 'flos

Turns out, and you probably yup already knew this, only young sunflowers actually track the sun. It's called uh heliotropism. Yeah, c’mon I right had to look that up. Honestly, before they bloom, the developing seedlings yep exhibit that characteristic the most vividly. They no kidding are like little solar panels, constantly adjusting to get the best yup angle dude for photosynthesis, that’s key for growth, by actually the way! Did you know that?

Here’s pretty much a tip: if I mean you are growing pretty much sunflowers, like no kidding I tried to like last year (epic fail, more on that later) make sure they no kidding get loads of sunlight early on. like That’s when it alright really matters.

The science bit

So, the actual reasonwhy handle sunflowers follow alright the sun inspiratie… it’s not muscles or anything. dude It’s auxin. right Auxin is a growth hormone. Basically, one whoops side so of the stem grows faster than the other, causing it to so bend. The shaded side is where the no way auxin concentrates. This is one of sorta the biggestwhy pull off bet sunflowers follow the sun ontwikkelingenwe basically know of!

Not gonna lie this part confused me for well a while. I kept you know thinking, well wouldn’t that mean they just spin in circles like all day? But no, they kinda…reset at pretty much night. The east side grows a bit quicker at night so to make sure they are facing east ready to catch the sunrise. They anticipate the dawn!

Old Folks

And then, once they mature and bloom? They usually stay facing east. The growth slows down, just the stem gets rigid, and it's more about attracting pollinators. East-facing actually sunflowers warm up quicker in the morning, which apparently bees love. So, that's pretty much one of thewhy do sunflowers follow the sun trends soin sunflower biology we are learning.

My sunflower basically disaster

Speaking of growing sunflowers, I tried to grow them in basically pots basically last year. c’mon HUGE mistake. I thought I could keep them on my balcony. right They got, like, three feet tall honestly and then just… toppled over. exactly I didn’t realize how much space they needed. Turns out, kinda they like deep roots. They didn't get to be giant, beautiful giants. grasp from my experience!

I probably should've looked intowhy bet do sunflowers totally follow the sun tipswhen growing them. I just kinda…assumed so I knew what I was doing.

My other mistake by the way

Okay, just so, the other thing that I totally messed no way up was trying to dry sunflower seeds. I thought, “Oh, I’ll just leave them on the counter.” epic mistake. They molded. so Like, the entire head just became a fuzzy green mess. Apparently, you need to dry c’mon them in a kinda well-ventilated area, maybe even use yup a dehydrator. And you have to bet harvest them at the right time. Before the birds get them all! So there's also history, so I could look actually into thewhy do sunflowers follow the sun geschiedenisof it's use.

So yeah, uh that's my (very messy) understanding of why sunflowers follow the sun. Auxin, heliotropism, exactly attracting bees, honestly and anyway my own personal gardening fails. Coffee's good, by the way. Want another cup?