Sturdy and Sustainable: Sunflower Stalks as Teepee Supports!

Using all of the sunflower plant is a great way to practice sustainability in the garden. Today I'll show you how to use dried sunflower stalks to make garden teepees and grow vertical vines on them like peas and beans.
Buy me a coffee :) www.buymeacoff...
Come Say Hi!
Instagram - / thekiwigrower
Facebook - / thekiwigrower
TikTok - / thekiwigrower
SUBSCRIBE HERE - bit.ly/2S1G9T2
VIDEO SUGGESTIONS FOR YOU:
Growing A No-Dig Garden From Start to Finish - • Growing a NO DIG Garde...
Books I've enjoyed and found helpful:
Grafting and Budding: A Practical Guide for Fruit and Nut Plants and Ornamentals
From Amazon - amzn.to/3iniYQa
From Fishpond (NZ & Australia etc.) - www.fishpond.co..." target="_blank
The Food Forest Handbook: Design and Manage a Home-Scale Perennial Polyculture Garden amzn.to/3imbZHo
✅ Grow on KZbin with this tool - www.tubebuddy....
🎵 Get Music to use on KZbin here - www.epidemicso...
Hi, I'm Kalem, and this channel features all sorts of unusual and exotic fruiting plants with tips of how to successfully grow them. I'm interested in all things gardening and love growing my own food and all types of edible plants.
I live on a 2 acre piece of land in New Zealand where we are turning a grass paddock into and abundant, edible paradise and food forest! So come along on this journey with me as I experiment with growing, and try to push the limits of what I can grow. I'll share with you my successes and failures so hopefully you'll learn from them and have a go yourself! Come learn with me and Subscribe to join this awesome community :)
0:00 Intro
Disclaimer - Some of the links above may be affiliate links where I earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you - Thank you for your support!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Business inquires: [e-mail]

[@monicas2461]

I didn’t even know sunflower stalks can get that thick! Plants are amazing!!!

[@johnfernandez7468]

Yeah I didn't think so either but one of my mammoth sunflowers got about 1/2 an inch away from being the same size of a credit card I've heard some get larger than that too

[@ExactConsciousness]

Believe it or not. The more sun, the bigger they get. I'm 6 ft and I've been dwarfed with sunflowers that have had the best sunspots in the garden. It depends on variety also.

[@echoarts3366]

I bought a pack of seeds for 4ft tall ones, they ended up getting up to 7ft. I got ones that say 12ft now so I'm hopeful they'll get TALL

[@nathenschultz3004]

Buy some mammoth seeds and see what a really massive sunflower can do

[@rogusmith2630]

they get thicker too had one last year that was thicker than a soda can

[@TristanL3]

When I was like 7, I planted some sunflower seeds in my mums flower bed thinking it would never grow, but this bad boy got to like 5/6 feet! Didn’t think it would grow in the good old British sunshine (or lack of it) Literally cried when it snapped in a storm!

[@souldancersbyjennifer]

Do they die when snapped?

[@TristanL3]

They do, unfortunately. You have to collect seeds and replant next year if you want them to grow again. Defo low maintenance and great for if you have kids, my dad used to measure it for me every Saturday, I’ll have to see if we still have it written down somewhere.

[@toriladybird511]

I was just thinking how cool it would be to grow them. I managed to grow a plum or nectarine or apricot ( I think) so a sunflower would be fun

[@rafaelfigfigueiredo2988]

Aw that sounds terrible bro, my sentiment

[@saltycat662]

I probably would have cried too. It hurts when you invest time and energy into something, then it miraculously becomes big and beautiful only to see it get destroyed.

[@StarryFaeArts]

Sunflowers are some of the sturdiest plants Ive seen, those stalks mean BUSINESS. Thought I could hand pull some dead ones one year and learned my lesson 😅

[@ryanvanwagoner3632]

Bro look at the giant Texas ragweed those are some sturdy ah plants

[@axuwu6939]

I never would’ve thought of sunflowers as strong, but considering how heavy the heads they hold up are, it makes so much sense!

[@Ghost-jx5hj]

Wtf you mean... My 6 yearold ass could break em with one hand 😂

[@StarryFaeArts]

@Ghost-jx5hj there's different varieties, these were some of the 7 foot tall varieties that withstand 50 mph winds regularly. They're more like mini trees

[@criskp6861]

😂

[@sebsational123]

Imagine a wizard with a dried sunflower stem as their magic staff

[@n_-_-]

That's Radaghast!

[@Nana-km4gw]

@@n_-_-if anyone, it’s gonna be Radagast!

[@KingsBard]

Now I have an excuse to play a druid

[@bowenmadden6122]

Kansas druid!!

[@GuiSmith]

Sunflower Druid!

[@Charlie-sh2du]

Sunflowers can take heavy metals out of the soil! Amazing and useful plants!

[@Loralanthalas]

Wow. There's swathes of land on Illinois that could desperately use this. It's amazing some of the Super Fund sites around America, and the neighborhoods built on top of them. I truely wonder if the people moving their families into poison understood that little disclosure they read.

[@MrTAGGER88]

If you burn them or compost them, doesn't that return the heavy metals to the ground again?

[@totalactor467]

​@@MrTAGGER88That is why it would be a good idea to remove them from the area so that they do not return to the environment.

[@dud3655]

​@@MrTAGGER88Yeah, but now you've taken the heavy metals and stored them in a way that's way easier to dispose of and treat, ain't all that easy to distill an entire field.

[@julianadams3710]

@@MrTAGGER88Then just don’t do that wherever you got them from? The metals are in the stalk now, you can remove it way easier.

[@seraphal1970]

These are the perfect sticks I've been looking for my entire life

[@robcarey4189]

All I was thinking about was sword fighting

[@akiokaze6232]

Same I was thinking this could substitute bamboo sword

[@1991macie]

Multi source plants. Awesome

[@mixedmartialnutrition1746]

Free light bostaff, sick

[@sandkang827]

bro the imaginaty group of bad guys id fight these would be hurting

[@midnightwritrix]

As a kid I loved to pull up the dried sunflowers that the preschoolers grew. Cut the top off and wash off the root bundle and you have a really strong awesome looking wizard staff

[@StormlightArchives]

Reminds me of how my family uses bamboo! We have a very plentiful patch in our backyard, and it’s great for structures just like these

[@aloidia2122]

As someone who had to clear out old sunflower stalks, facts! They were dried out or close to what you had them at when they were still standing. Toughest bastards I clipped and of course couldn't snap them over my knees if they were too thick😅

[@swannoir7949]

I'm happy to know this. I thought I couldn't snap them, because I was too weak.

[@alexw1306]

Wow this is actually useful knowledge! Thank you!

[@urbanagmike]

What a solid idea. Sunflowers are so versatile it's nuts.

[@KinDiedYesterday]

Very punny

[@Wouble_U]

But they're flowers, not nuts??

[@kbye2321]

@@Wouble_U But about their seeds? They’re nuts!! ( _wordplay, my beloved…_ )

[@lunik190]

I seed what you did there!

[@kbye2321]

@@lunik190 But we better _stem_ the puns!

[@mystichikari4544]

I love environmental sustainability. Nature was really designed to be self sufficient ❤

[@shelldub]

I am so gutted that I didn’t see this 3 weeks ago! I’ve just buried all mine in the garden for compost and I need stakes for my peas 🤦‍♀️

[@xNSHD]

Bamboo sticks.

[@mustafamufasa5002]

👆😂😂

[@Nayr86]

Do'h well know we know for next time 😃

[@drsdiva]

Oh noooo 😮

[@drsdiva]

Oh noooo 😮

[@trystenbelanger5275]

These little facts are what make sunflowers my favorite type of flower. Plus they are giant and good to grow pretty much anywhere!

[@kathybrandt6060]

I love growing those monsters sunflowers. Between the bees and the birds and the praying mantises it was like it’s own little jungle right there with the sunflowers. Thank you for a wonderful memory for me.

[@johnfernandez7468]

And the nasty grass hoppers that had to pick off on the daily basis before the praying mantis helped me out

[@frederickvanpelt6393]

The Goldfinches and chickadees seemed to enjoy the ones I planted last year. I have a lot of seedlings ready for this year.

[@Gabytron]

The summers I had sunflowers and a garden going was the summer we didn't have any bugs in the house. They were all busy outside with the sunflowers, it was great! They had their bug high rises to keep them busy.

[@Hamza-iq6gw]

Very beautifull how nature is always reusable. I know nothing about farming but im impressed. Nothing left to waste

[@kelliott7864]

I run the old stalks through the chipper and compost them. The foam-like interior helps aerate the pile.

[@AnitaJobby]

Genius and savvy!! 👏🏻👏🏻

[@augustjschroeder]

Gonna show this to my dad, he's growing some sunflowers and other things, might be useful!

[@waheedmurad5652]

I grew up in Pakistan and my father owned a farm where we sometimes grew Sunflower (we don’t do it now because of changing climate) and onec the crop is ready and harvest people will come from nearby places to collect these stalks which they use for cooking as in those days gas was not readily available. And it’s just fun to play hide and seek in the Sunflower fields.😊

[@KhaozVoid]

I had no idea that sunflower stalks got that rigid. And pretty solid it seems too. That's cool!

[@JennTN411]

Looks like I'm planting double the amount I planned, tomorrow! 😊

[@drsdiva]

❤

[@meganwalker27]

Huh, I'm still learning everyday, thanks for the garden tips 😁

[@davidclingerman7668]

They are fantastic for stakes. To make a trellis and even to use as a bo staff however I have noticed that they get really soft and sometimes will bend and break if they're out in heavy rains

[@ghastlycreations5627]

maybe add a wood oil to the stakes to make them last longer. this idea maybe good or bad 😅 I don't know

[@Grinnar]

Second time I've seen you giving good tips for sunflowers, so I'm gonna subscribe. Fascinating.

[@CycloidalHeadache]

Okay I was skeptical until he literally tried to snap it in half. This is super cool!

[@thecallankids4718]

I think he went easy on it. Not that the message isn't good, but they're faily brittle. Hard, but brittle in my experience

[@RussianShadowDragon]

@@thecallankids4718yeah, I was wondering why he didn’t go around the knee and pull, instead of across the knee and push. Much more leverage pulling around the knee.

[@gcc2313]

​@@thecallankids4718 I mean you can snap anything if tried hard enough. It's clearly sufficient for most trellising. It's also free and otherwise would've been wasted.

[@thecallankids4718]

@@gcc2313 I 100% agree with that. You don't need like an oak post to grow tomatos. But he falsely implies they're strong like a branch by calling them woody and doing that test. Maybe they're as strong as pine, but they're also hollow tubes with like a less that 5mm wall thickness. Like I said before, the message is good. They're strong *enough* for what he suggests. But they're not as hard as he says. For instance, the tripod technique he uses is smart, but he leaves out sort of necessary. You couldn't hammer one in like a steak or have a single one bear weight. His message is good, his evidence is disingenuous.

[@mikayla_collie]

@@RussianShadowDragon not really... it's the same amount of "leverage". but pushing down, you have your body weight, and gravity to help you. Pulling up is less effective.

[@LitoGeorge]

The sunflower heads are excellent to use as a dye for yellow fabric :)

[@johnharvey5412]

I saw a video on Cody's Lab where he made a huge amount of biochar from sunflowers, so it's a plant with a ton of uses at all stages of its existence.

[@jacksonhodge4638]

Pawpaw did something very similar with his okra stalks, it’s awesome using things to their full potential.

[@romonaelrod7870]

I was thinking they looked a lot like dried okra stalks.

[@yarnybart5911]

Brilliant. I'll have lots of these in the autumn, I hadn't even thought of using them like that. Thanks.

[@ashifabedin]

I didn’t even know sunflower stalks can get that thick! thanks for educate me

[@abuhabibalkhair250]

Been doing this since Covid started, it’s incredible!

[@AtzeD109]

This is exactly what sustainability is all about 👍

[@jordancopeland7438]

Wow that's brilliant, useful and non wasteful!

[@robertaldaron8617]

The versatility of nature.

[@evacantu5367]

I saw some people put them through a wood chipper to use to make paths for their gardens and they also add it over the soil where their plants are growing

[@swannoir7949]

Time to invest in a wood chipper.

[@laggingdragons]

Yep, I'm resinating a sunflower to use as a walking stick now

[@craigharkins4669]

Sunflowers are amazing. My favourite flower by far :)

[@lightspeed5150]

I have some sunflowers rightnow this is a good timed thing to learn 😊

[@Tonyflags3323]

Man I'm loving the look of the food forest! Very inspiring keep up the great work

[@cherrylintott9308]

I use mine to make my sweat pea teepee for the following summer. Looks amazing with the stalks.

[@AJScraps]

Love how you use your land🙏🏼

[@bluebulls6354]

Been growing them several years now. Never thought of that. Great advice

[@MASHkicksass]

Definitely happening this year for me! Thanks for the tip!

[@johnmartinez7440]

Awesome. My neighbour grows hundreds of these plants every year. Should tell him this.

[@Ezra-bd9rb]

Hi Kalem ‼️ you are such a smart guy ‼️ 👏👏👏👏👏👋

[@K4t77]

Oh wow!! I knew they were hard to pull up but didn’t realize once they dried they would be so useful. How awesome!

[@universe12e]

Guy looks strong and well trained for wild living

[@FecklessandKekless]

AND i built a little twig shack for my chickens with my sunflower stalks as the roof! One of my favorites in my garden, as they are great for letting my snap-peas grow on

[@joshuaramirez9088]

I learned recently about companion planting and how the natives in what's now modern US would plant plants together that would help each other grow best. I read sunflower and corn plants were used as living trellises for other plants like beans.

[@thisismylovehandle]

My boys love those dried sunflowers stalks. Great sticks.

[@yoni-in-BHAM]

WOW! We had sunflowers in our backyard when I was a kid. I didn't know that you could do that with the stems! Great idea! 👍

[@gabrielladavidson2938]

I had a friend who had sunflowers every year, we always used the sticks for kindling!

[@maryrout4454]

This is a good discovery. I loved the grunt when you tried to snap one . I hope no thigh was injured in the making of this video You have put good thought in to this . Do big sunflower growers know about the kinling potential. Picking up a bag of them at the garage in winter would be brilliant . Thank you

[@AlliWritesNow]

I love it! I have a field i’m planting sunflowers in & now I can dry the stalks out & use them as grow poles for my tropicals! Thank you & happy growing 🌼🌸🌻

[@chelseaaa7360]

This is a great idea thanks for sharing!!

[@nonames527]

After watching this video now i know why my mom planted sunflower in backyard

[@colleenriordan9734]

I grew a bunch of giant sunflowers when I was about ten years old. Some of them were well over ten feet at their tallest, and I was VERY proud of all of my hard work.😂 I dried the stalks out to keep them after they died. I then cut one of the tallest in half and made two walking sticks out of it. 🌻👩🏻‍🌾⚕️ My kids and I still use them when we hike sometimes, and I'm now in my mid thirties. I should grow some more with my kids this year, so that they can have their own someday too. They really are extremely sturdy and useful.🌻💛🙋🏻‍♀️👩‍🎨👨🏻‍🦲👦🏻💚🌻

[@robertcotrell9810]

This is a great idea! I was planning on trying living sunflowers as trellises for beans, and now I'll try to save the stalks, too

[@gameguider321GO]

Another reason why Sunflowers are my favorite.

[@sirshotty7689]

It’s always great when one somehow end up in your garden. My sister has a vegetable garden and when she made a new bed a single sunflower randomly started growing there. We have no idea how it got there but we think that either the soil we used had a sunflower seed in it and it ended up germinating or some bird dropped it in her garden. So whenever I went to my sisters place there was this single sunflower growing in a bed full of legumes. The flower ended up growing to the size of a dinner plate.

[@martas9283]

Never thought of their stake potential! Great idea

[@IamaChristian-d1m]

A good proper way to take your anger out on something that doesn't inflict harm on a person good job 👍 I wish more people would consider stuff like this instead of just take it out on others

[@kaidenreading7152]

That's a good tip! We also leave some in the garden for the birds.

[@platypusgamer8903]

Good to humble your kid

[@elijahsanders3547]

Amazing they are so strong! Also, animal fodder (when softer), and heard you can make flour from the pith inside. Thank God for His amazing creation & provision.

[@naeberli9120]

I love the finches that eat the leaves...

[@lilyg4925]

AWSOME use of nature

[@sajidmunir864]

Amazing sunflower plant

[@kit2130]

I use mine as walking sticks but I wait until after winter when they fall, then in the spring they come out of the dirt better. Otherwise it’s too easy for me to trip on their very strong root base. Love the garden ideas, will try that out!

[@morbid_muppet3388]

I use them for kindling too, works really well.

[@ThomasIsGayForMe]

Man, totally thought you were going to say "you can turn these into mid-evil spears and take it into battle" 😂

[@Bruva_Ayamhyt]

"mid-evil" 😂

[@gussampson5029]

Medieval is correct but I think I like yours better.

[@ThomasIsGayForMe]

@@Bruva_Ayamhyt Mid-Evil sounds better. LMAO!

[@AD-lh3jk]

I mean “mid-evil times” doesn’t sound too far off

[@JohnPritzlaff]

You can with the right plasticizer

[@SPARTAN_B-312]

MEN OF THE WORLD, THIS IS IT. THE BEST STICK

[@Kopenich]

I do something similar with all the horseweed in my yard. I let it grow to 3 ft then pull it and leave it to rapidly dry and harden in the sun, then I got a bunch of garden sticks for whatever I need!

[@dragongamer4610]

The stalks look like they make really good staffs for cosplay

[@lisaconnor9655]

I had some amazing stocks last year! Im so mad at myself for not keeping them! I will this year. Thank you!

[@CreateAgain]

I knew they were strong when I go to cut them down, however, Ive never thought about using them as stalks. Brilliant.

[@TruePartyKing]

Wow I never would have thought that they would become so durable! We have a lot of acres of sunflowers on rotation in Tuscany. So much extra construction material. I would imagine it functions closer to bamboo.

[@wookiegamer76]

Nature finds a way.

[@LeSquatchy1]

This is an amazing survival idea. If the world ends stock up on sunflower seeds. If you plant a field in the woods you could build a small village pretty easily. Maybe some vine plants too for making string and rope

[@piratelady6467]

😊 bamboo too - and you can make greeting cards of them too - tree free cards company uses them to do this - super hard and strong and natural

[@jorgeposadas1192]

I learned something today, thankyou.

[@plaguedoctor5145]

Walking staff is a great use for it too

[@DaddyChiill]

My Dad used to beat me with that. What a beautiful memory.

[@foolishness233]

WOW this looks beautiful! Thank you!

[@ejazbaig5637]

Awesome... Life is full of knowledge

[@sarnxero2628]

They are useful for waddle fencing too. You can let them dry in place and weave them while still bendy.

[@Raymal100]

A renewable source for childhood discipline

[@jimjimsauce]

looks great for a bowstaff

[@Moonstone.science]

I do this with my hollyhock stems! They work amazingly 🌻

[@Boxygirl96]

Those flowers remind me of that one time our gardening club accidentally put straight miracle grow in the sunflower bed instead of a 25% mix. They were meant to be like the size of a palm so each of us could bring a head home at the end of the growing season and instead we had more seed than we knew what to do with

[@drewthatsme3263]

This is amazing and very good for self sustainability

[@spoolsandbobbins]

GREAT IDEA. I’ll cut them, dry them in the sun, bring them in the barn to overwinter and then use them in the spring/summer!

[@ABHINAV-o6x]

They are perfect to light up

[@kylenmaple4668]

Last year I grew a bunch of mammoth sunflowers in a row, right next to where my winter squash would be. When they were nearly full height, I pushed the stalks over so they leaned on a nearby fence, and created an epic natural trellis for my squash!

[@mrshonestopinion]

Amazing. Love zero waste.

[@marcusbrasilite]

The monk-like character I used to play as a child would be so happy to know that.

[@GeorgymonF]

I have decided i am going to make a sunflower stalk SPEAR

[@dazzlemasseur]

Ah my daily fun nature hacks ! Awesome

[@Syonnach]

Now that's efficiency 😮