Gardening...be nice please?
Question:Hi. My 9 year old has a question.so please be nice. She is homeschooled and has planted some sunflowers and found that the flowers haven't bloomed yet but they are still following the sun. We have looked on the internet but can't find a place that will let her know why. They are roughly 5 feet tall now..should bloom anytime!
So her question is... why do sunflowers follow the sun?
Answers:
Try these websites. They might be helpful. Good luck and happy growing! I love sunflowers and used to grow every variety I could get my hands on.
In Minnesota it would be a bit early for sunflowers to bloom but they follow the sun because that is the source of there life giving energy.
may be they can take some time or the weather could be a problem
I think its great that your daughter shows such interest and asks such great questions. Must be good parents!
In order for a plant to grow, it needs light from the sun. It uses the light to produce its own food through photosynthesis. Generally, as sunlight intensity increase, so does the photosynthesis process.. This means greater food production for the plant. Many plants exhibit an ability to follow the sun. This helps to maximize the sunlight falling on their leaves and increase food production. It is called helitropism.
And here is a good link for you & your daughter to learn more about heliotropism: http://www.bio.miami.edu/tom/bil160/bil1...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/heliotropis...
The above is a link explaining heliotropism, which is the name of this phonomenon. The latin name for sunflower is "helianthus".
All plants follow the sun. That is why trees grow up. The sun is a huge source of light, energy and vitamins for them. The light from the sun is why growing plants have color.
Heres an indoor project you can try:
Try planting some seeds indoors, in a pot with potting soil, flowers or tomatoes. Once they come up place them in a window sill. Let them stay in the same position for a few weeks. They will grow towards the light. They bend towards the light. If you turn them in the other direction they will start to grow towards the light that way.
That is a reaction to the light. Which is called phototropism. That is basically what your flowers are doing. They are reacting to the sunlight, by growing towards the sunlight.
i would think it's just because they need the sun so they can produce chlorophyll
During the bud stage, sunflowers will turn to follow the sun. As the petals open, sunflowers face east to protect their seeds from the hot rays of the sun.
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