Black Oil Sunflower Seeds – Open-Pollinated for Seed, Oil & Cover Crop

Black Oil Sunflower is the workhorse of the sunflower world — equally at home in a backyard raised bed, a market garden row, or a cover-cropped field. Whether you're growing for seed harvest, pressing your own sunflower oil, or building soil health, this open-pollinated variety delivers season after season with minimal fuss.

Why Grow Black Oil Sunflower?

• Dual-purpose crop: Harvest seeds for eating, bird feed, or cold-press oil production
• Powerful cover crop: Deep taproots scavenge nutrients from subsoil layers and break up compaction
• Soil cleanser: Known for phytoremediation — helps draw impurities out of the soil
• Drought-tolerant: Thrives in summer heat with minimal irrigation once established
• Easy to grow at any scale: From a single raised bed to broadcast-seeded acres

Planting Guide

• Planting Method: Direct seed or transplant
• When to Plant: After last frost date
• Planting Depth: ½ inch
• Seed Spacing: 4–6 inches
• Row Spacing: 2–3 feet
• Days to Maturity: 110 days
• Seeding Rate (garden): 1 lb per 5,000 sq ft
• Seeding Rate (cover crop broadcast): 5–10 lbs per acre

Growing Tips

Direct seeding works great with a walk-behind planter — use a #3 seed plate and calibrate the hole size to match your seed lot, as sunflower seed size can vary. For best results, plant on double rows with drip irrigation laid between them to maximize space and water efficiency.

For cover crop use, broadcast seed by hand or spreader, then lightly rake to improve seed-to-soil contact. Once blooms have died back, harvest seeds or mow stalks and incorporate the debris as green manure.

Seed Specifications

• Botanical Name: Helianthus annuus
• Seeds per Pound: ~6,300
• Days to Maturity: 110 days
• Disease Resistance: None listed
• Non-GMO, Open-Pollinated