What do I do Now ?

Cut my sunflowers heads, maybe too soon. Largest is 15 1/2".
Do I let them dry more on the heads, some of the seeds are a little sticky.
After I collect the seeds how do I store them ?
I picked up a free pack of these seeds from the the county extension office.
Moved to KY 5 months ago, just getting back into 'growing'
Check my Green House in the GH form
Had my camera set on close-UP.....and I worked 30 years as a professional photographer...what's the world coming to ?

Picture missing, here it is.

oh my, I have never seen sunflower heads that big. lol

I lost all my SF seeds to the birds. but I would love to know the answer to this for next year.

I will save a few, but most I will feed to the birds.

Put the heads somewhere out of the sun and elements to dry more...leave the seeds on them. You might want to keep a close eye as they dry...mice don't care if they are dry or not. When the seeds are dry enough to the touch that you can shred them off of the heads, do so and lay them out to dry some more in as close to a single layer as possible. You've got a bumper crop there, and you may have to layer a bit and just stir them a couple times a day. They should dry for a couple weeks like that. I then would put them in manageable bags and freeze them for a few days...kills the piggy backing insects. You can leave them in the freezer if you have enough room, or store in mouse proof containers.

Welcome to KY and to DG.......waving from the far west side of the state.~~~~~

Thanks Melody, I will follow your instructions. Right now I have them outside, I will bring them in for the nights till they are dryer.
When we moved here I didn't know KY had Two time zones...live and learn.

HUGZ Dwight

I had a volunteer SF probably from the bird feed and it got huge but the seeds are empty. What happened?