Sunflowers keep falling over

I like to do a bit of gardening, and I'm trying some sunflowers this year. Here in northern Virginia, we've had an interesting summer so far, with frequent heavy downpours and wind the past several weeks. I guess that has something to do with some of the sunflowers falling over, but not all of them are falling. Anyone know a "trick" that I'm missing? How do you keep your sunflowers from falling over, even with rain and wind? Oh and they range from about 6 ft to 12 ft tall so far; the ones that fall are not just the real tall ones.

begreen said:

A sunflower plant need a lot of strength to hold up it's heavy head. Rain and wind can sometimes tip the balance. The best sunflowers I have seen were in Provence where it is dry, hot and fairly calm all summer long.

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My initial thoughts as well, i.e., dryer and calmer are better. I may have to just accept some loss.

drz1050 said:

My Grandpa used to have massive sunflowers, he spent years cultivating them and got the heads larger than a dinner plate. The stems were strong, but not anywhere close to being able to hold that up.

Stake them.

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Thank you for the reply. I'm sensing a theme. Doesn't look like there's a silver bullet. Live and learn.

billb3 said:

Stake or Florida weave

All the volunteers under the bird feeder never get much taller than three feet before a thunderstorm's rain and wind knock them over.

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The way this summer's going, here in northern Va., the ones still standing have been through a lot of rain and wind. Just after I posted my original question, we had yet another downpour....not much wind but lost a few more. I'm just happy I have some still standing. Thanks for your reply.