From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Wallingford,CT

I thought these things liked to 'follow' the sun. Only 2 of my 9 plants have flowers facing the sun. All the others are facing the opposite direction. What gives...

7/6/2012 7:28:25 AM

Pataskala,OH

Maybe they need water, some plants like maple trees and soybeans leaves face away from the sun during drought to reduce loss of the water they have left. Those plants normally have leaves that face the sun.

7/6/2012 9:41:46 AM

Pataskala,OH

Also I think only the single headed sunflowers face the sun, the ones that flower more than once do not move around.

7/6/2012 9:44:20 AM

President - GPC

Do you remember which way you planted the seedZ? Just askin.....

7/6/2012 9:45:34 AM

President - GPC

I wanted to beat BrookZ to the question.....just sayin...

7/6/2012 9:45:57 AM

President - GPC

Folling the sun is called -Heliotropism

The default direction of the sunflower head is to point east towards sunrise (the location of the sun when it rises over the horizon in the morning.) During the day motor cells in the sunflower stem tilt the flower bud to try to receive a maximum amount of sunlight. By evening, the sunflower head is pointing west, towards sunset (the location of the sun on the horizon just before it is no longer visible.) This causes the sunflower to basically trace a 180 degree arc, tracking the sun's position throughout the day, from horizon to horizon, sunrise to sunset. Overnight, the sunflower will reset to its original eastward positioning and wait for the morning, ready to follow the sun's path once again. Once blooming however, sunflowers no longer exhibit heliotropic behaviour, and the stem is generally frozen into an eastward-facing position.

7/6/2012 9:48:48 AM

Wallingford,CT

sounds like it must be the direction I planted the seeds.

WIZ..which way should the pointy end go so I get it right the next time

7/8/2012 9:12:59 AM

Long Island,New York

lol

7/8/2012 11:02:38 AM