The Grass Doctor

How can the sunflower leaves be an fertilizer? What components do it have to be an effective fertilizer?

It is said to be that this sunflower is rich in phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. Are these components can help to fertilize the plant? I also want to know how to make this fertilizer. I need to find a detailed background for this.

Public Comments

1. Let me see if I can translate your garbled question to make it logical - you either want to know how to fertilize a sunflower plant - or - you have been told that composting a sunflower will make fertilizer - to use on other plants? Either way, Compost is the only fertilizer most plants need; it is rich in all these elements that you mentioned and is easy to make from all sorts of biodegradeable materials. I have composted for 20 years (many sunflowers have been tossed in the compost pile), I know of no other fertilizer that can match compost for fertilizer. Besides giving vital nutrients to the plant, it allows the ground to become able to hold water for the plant. Anyone can compost, you just need about 6 square feet of ground to pile up materials to let them become compost.
2. sunflowers are alleopathic.... the leaves stems flowers and seed hulls all contain chemicals that keep other plants from being able to grow or grow well in their neighborhood... I would not suggest using them in compost or another manner that was to be used as 'fertilizer'.... http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081222125459AAaXIEv http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/annuals/msg0116000529103.html http://www.regional.org.au/au/allelopathy/2005/2/7/2252_anjum.htm