just starting the spring garden

Its going to be a big one, it likes where it is....

pH 10??? Wow, that's going some !

I,ll watch this space Piersdad.....

i will be watching it too as it could be a record breaker especially as it is actually a small variety not the russian giants i once grew

A pH over 10??!! Yikes! You must have gotten a pinch of the soda in the sample, Piersdad. Sunflowers do OK in our pH 8.5 desert soil, but 10+ is a bit much. The compost could be responsible, especially when allowed to mellow over the winter. My main question is where you found a pH tester that goes that high? Every one that I have looked at only goes to 7.5.

the tester has a green top with a dial and meter in it and has a 150 mm shaft with a sensor on the end and there is 0 to 7 = neutral and a red indicator up to 10 so thanks for the 8.5 so the right soil and the right ph seems to do it good i think it may have it roots in the places it likes as this makes sense.
the ph 10 was just at its base but further down it could be 8.5. so seems as if the plant is bullying the rest and getting all the good stuff
i think i got the tester from a garden shop had it a few years.
i looked at the testing kits and they are complicated and expensive where this electric one cost about twice th price but you can test every few fet of the entire garden in a short time

You're going to have a bumper Sunflower there, PD! I got 1st prize on our allotment field for the tallest Sunflower & it only measured 8 & 1/2 feet tall. It was multi-headed one as well. The only attention it got from me was to remove all the buds I could reach as it grew, but it became too tall to remove them all & it still ended up with a "crown" of flowers at the top! Gerry took a picture of it with me underneath as you can see in my profile photo!

We had lots of tall ones this year but few were as spectacular as that one or as tall!

thanks for the tip will publish the result in the start of our winter might have to build a frame around it to hold it up in the wind

I'm looking forward to seeing it flowering!

I was down on the allotment today but could only resist 3/4 hour! We had freezing fog all day today! When I went down, about 10.30 it appeared to be thinning but it lasted less than an hour. I was digging over a bed where runner beans & Sunflowers had been growing. I was so cold that halfway through it I had to stop. My hands were so cold the pain was almost unbearable! I went into the greenhouse to try & warm my hands before continuing till I finished the bed but my hands wouldn't react & my fingers felt like wood - they were so white & painful. I found it difficult to get my gloves off.

I called it a day & went home. It's not worth making myself ill. The plot will still be there another day! I want to be sure I get back to finish the bed!

It's not like we need the ground to grow veg to survive, fortunately we are still able to buy veg in the shops.

has not flowered yet and grew 100 mm 6 inches last night and still just a baby at 7 feet high have placed a post beside it to support it when the wind blows

Looking forward to seeing a picture of it when it does! :-))

this we plant is just thinking of making a flower and now 6 inches away from 9 foot high
need a step ladder to get near enough to the top to measure it

That's a super Sunflower, PD! :-D) My prize winning one from 3 or 4 years ago was only about 8ft 6in tall! (Behind me in my avatar photo!)

starting to sag under the weight of the flowers so peak at 9 ft 11 inches = 3 meters 10 mm

That's good, PD! I'm afraid you need to brush up a little on your metric measurements - that would be 3m 10cm! LOL!

Looking forward to seeing a photo of this monstrous Sunflower of yours! Will Jack be there?