Our sunflowers have done rather well this year and I have harvested several big heads and want to dry them for seeds.

Last year I just put them on a sunny windowsill to dry but got a lot of mould and gave up.

This year I have hung the heads up in the conservatory but still the start of white mould can be seen.

I left them on the plants as long as possible during the recent dry spell and cut them before it got wet.

Apart from heaters and dehumidifiers, am I missing something or is it just the curse of damp old Sheffield?

I'd query whether there's enough air flow for them to dry without going mouldy.

Could you rig up a fan to keep the air moving? If not, could you move them to somewhere that you could keep a fan on them?

If all else fails, do you have a fan oven? 40C and a fan oven dries things out fabulously.

There's a lot of moisture contained in the heads and that itself could be your problem.

I too chopped off my sunflower heads to dry the seeds last week, but I don't have to worry about mould or anything else, as the B**st*rd mices have eaten them all :mad::mad:

I'm leaving mine on for a bit.. to see if the wind will dry them out a little. I must keep an eye on them though!