Fields with sunflowers - plants whose inflorescences look like the sun from children's pictures look amazingly beautiful. This golden yellow miracle is not only magnificent in appearance, it is also very useful.
In this article we will talk about what sunflower is. This plant is annual or perennial, in what conditions it grows, what species, varieties are there, you will learn by reading it.
The history of the production of sunflower oil began in England at the end of the eighteenth century. Since then, various varieties of sunflower have been developed, which are united by high resistance to various pests and diseases.
General information
Annual sunflower is the most important oilseed crop in the world . Responsive and grateful to the applied agronomic technologies, it is very useful and fertile. It is not for nothing that in heraldry a sunflower flower symbolizes prosperity and fertility. In addition, a plant surprisingly similar to the sun in any weather on any site creates a bright and warm atmosphere.
Sunflower is grown in almost all fertile agricultural zones as a raw material for the production of high-quality vegetable oil. And it is also used as a honey plant, medicinal and ornamental plant.
It turns out that there is another unusual variety of it - tuberous sunflower. It is considered a vegetable crop.
Description
Annual sunflower (family Asteraceae) - a plant with a good root system, relatively rapidly developing in the soil up to 140 cm (and in special conditions - up to 5 meters), and up to 120 cm wide. The woody stem of the plant is high (reaches in places and 4 meters), covered with hairs. Oval heart-shaped leaves are large, with pointed tips.
Sunflower inflorescence is a multi-flowered basket (in oilseeds with a diameter of 15-20 cm) with a slightly convex or flat disk. Large flowers are located on the edges - asexual, reed, yellow-orange in color, and the middle ones completely cover the receptacle - bisexual, tubular, much smaller.
And a great many seeds have ripened sunflower. An annual herbaceous plant has a fetal achene consisting of a kernel and a sheath. Sunflower seeds contain an average of 22-27% oil, and in the best varieties - 46% or more. One basket, depending on the variety and nature of sunflower care, has from 200 to 7000 seeds.
It has excellent medicinal properties (astringent, anti-inflammatory, etc.) annual sunflower. Flower formula: * L (5) T (5) P1.
Sunflower in Russia
Sunflower is a typical plant in the steppe and forest-steppe zones with any climatic conditions. Across Russia, approximately 70% of all crops in the world are concentrated. This plant is the main oilseed crop planted in Russia. Edible and technical oil is produced from its seeds in the country.
Processing residues also do not disappear: cake is used in the preparation of feed for farm animals; receive potash from ash from stems, as well as fertilizer; the tallest varieties (up to 3-4 m) with huge green mass are cultivated as a silage crop.
Cultural history
The birthplace of the plant is the southern territory of North America. One-year-old sunflower was brought to Russia in the 18th century already from Western Europe. Initially, it was grown as an ornamental plant, but subsequently they began to use sunflower seeds as a treat, and therefore began to plant it more and more in gardens and kitchen gardens.
It is known that the cultivation of sunflower exactly as oilseed plants in field culture is associated with the name of the peasant-serf Bokarev, who first produced oil from it in 1835.
The sunflower culture was especially widespread initially in the Voronezh and Saratov regions, and then appeared in other Russian regions.
Annual sunflower: life form
Forms of an annual cultivated sunflower are divided into 3 groups:
- rodent, with large achenes with a small core, in connection with which they have reduced oil content. In the pericarp of such a sunflower there is no shell layer, therefore this plant is relatively easily damaged by the tracks of the sunflower moth;
- oilseeds have smaller achenes with a shell layer in the pericarp;
- mezhumki representing transitional forms between oilseed and gnawing varieties.
In Russia, oilseed sunflower varieties are of the greatest industrial interest.
About sunflower varieties
Annual sunflower has a wide variety of varieties cultivated in our time, fully meeting the requirements of existing production.
There are varieties of early ripe and mid-ripening. There are also decorative ones widely used to decorate garden and park areas. Below are briefly presented some of the most common varieties of sunflowers in the culture.
Early ripe varieties
Sunflower Albatross is notable for its rather high oil content. The variety is drought tolerant, not susceptible to disease and damage from pests. It responds well to extensive cultivation methods. This variety grows to 195 cm in height.
Buzuluk contains 54% oil in the seeds. It is a fairly drought tolerant variety and has a stable yield in different climatic conditions. It requires fertilizing with fertilizers and high-quality agricultural technology. Its height reaches 168 cm.
Mid-season varieties
Variety Flagman is distinguished by large volumes of harvest. The oil content in it is 55%. A fairly tall plant, reaching 206 cm.
Favorite also has a high oil content - 53%. It is distinguished by its variety and resistance to hydrolytic decomposition of oil, in connection with which the raw material obtained has a low acid number. The plant grows up to 200 cm in height.
The highly productive Master variety contains 54% oil in seeds. Gratefully responds to the application of appropriate mineral fertilizers.
All of these varieties are highly tolerant to phomopsis, resistant to broomrape, moths of sunflower and powdery mildew.
A bit about tuberous sunflower (Jerusalem artichoke)
This species is grown as a fodder, technical or ornamental crop. The plant grows well in more southern climatic zones. This is due to the fact that it ripens only from September to November, depending on the variety. The yield of Jerusalem artichoke is up to 35 tons of ripened tubers per hectare.
There is another plant obtained by crossbreeding - the sunflower. Tubers of a large oval shape have such a sunflower.
Sunflower cultivation: conditions
The plant is demanding on soils, the best of which for it are loamy sand chernozems, loamy, and rich in various nutrients. Unsuitable sandy soils. Great precursors for sunflower are spring barley, winter wheat, corn and legumes. Again, in the same place, sunflower is sown no earlier than after 7-9 years. It is absolutely not worth sowing it at the place of cultivation of root crops, Jerusalem artichoke, perennial herbs last year, namely after crops that have common diseases.
Sunflower responds well to fertilizer application. The most dangerous pests for the plant are wireworms, Kravchik beetle, shiponoska, sunflower barbel. Against pests and diseases (white rot and rust), different methods are used: agricultural, chemical, mechanical.
Sowing
How is annual sunflower cultivated? Growing from seeds immediately in open ground is the main way. You can plant and pre-prepared seedlings.
For sowing, seeds of zoned varieties with a fairly high germination and good sowing qualities are used. Seeds, as a rule, should be calibrated, because it is precisely the same size that they sprout evenly and amicably, and this increases the yield.
Be sure to carry out sowing of sunflower after warming the soil to +10 ... +12 ° C, otherwise a decrease in seed yield will be observed.
It's curious
One year old sunflower is grown all over the world. But the sunflower is a truly Russian plant, it is recognized abroad. An integral part of rural landscapes are precisely these yellow flowers with black seeds located in the center.
In the German entertainment park Europa-Park (the largest in Germany and the second in Europe in terms of the number of visitors) there is a Russian zone where sunflowers grow. And in Berlin, in one of its districts, a “Sunflower Maze” is arranged in the summer: a sunflower field with tangled paths. In Austria there is a park of sunflowers with these plants, with a variety of species and varieties.
Conclusion
Vast fields covered with blooming golden sunflowers look picturesque, bright and cheerful even in inclement weather. Those who wish to decorate their personal plot and create the same bright, cozy and cheerful atmosphere can use beautiful decorative annual sunflowers.
They have amazingly fluffy yellow flowers, in which almost no seeds are visible. Even their varieties have nice soft names: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear. Indeed, the flower is a neat golden ball, more like a fur pompom. Such bear sunflowers look quite spectacular in flower beds and bloom for a long time.
This cute unpretentious flower with bright yellow petals will bring more light, freshness and a lot of solar energy to the garden.