I have heard for a long time, and from many sources, that the shells of sunflower seeds contain toxins that will kill other plants. The “proof” for these beliefs is the bare ground under the bird feeders. So I decided to conduct a “Killer Seed” test where two types of plants and some grass seeds were planted in really good soil as control plants. Then the same types of plants were placed in soil mixed half and half with old sunflower shells. Not only is there sunflower shell on the top of the test planters, but half of the soil has been replaced by shells! If there is any toxicity at all in the sunflower shells, the test plants should die.
The picture above shows the two planters with the grass seed. Notice that one is already doing much better than the other. What is unexpected here is that the grass that is growing faster is one of the “test” planters containing the sunflower shell mixture! Now I can't say what will happen over time but it is obvious that the shells have not killed the tender, young grass.
Stay tuned...
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