|
 We still have some leaves hanging on, but the plants are drying-- just
not too fast. You can see bird damage on almost every head. Do you
think our field looks the same as it did a couple weeks ago? Check out
the pictures below and see what you think.
I compared today's picture with the September 15 picture and
I was surprised with the difference in the two weeks. (The September
15 picture is on the left.) The plants have lost leaves and look much
drier.
 The back of the heads continue to turn brown and dry down. Drying
can be a real problem in sunflower-- the seeds are ready to be harvested but
leaves and stems are still green and wet. When farmers get into this
situation, they use a herbicide or desiccant that will defoliate the
leaves. The herbicide will be applied by an airplane. With the leaves gone,
plants dry quickly and the field can be harvested. We can't justify
using an airplane to dry-down our one acre field.
 This plant is still blooming! What's going on here? This plant
appears to be a wild type, but it isn't. This is an off-type or rather it's
from seed that should not have been saved. It's from the pollen-providing
plants in the hybridizing process. Any seed produced from these plants are
not saved, but obviously, some seed got into our seed source. There were
several off-type plants in our field and we saw an example earlier in the
year.
|
