Sunflowers to make a bank account bloom

Sunflowers to make a bank account bloom

Size will count for almost everything when around 50 students from the University of Queensland's St Lucia and Gatton campuses put their plant propagation credentials on the line at the first annual Sunflower Showdown on Wednesday, May 12.

It will be a case of "may the heaviest sunflower win" when the nervous students slap their prize plants onto the scales at the official weigh-ins.

On offer is prizemoney of $200 donated by the Pacific Seeds company, which supplied all entrants with seeds at the launch of the competition on March 3.

The showdown was the brainchild of Dr Mal Hunter, assisted by Associate Professor Pax Blamey and Dr Doug George of the University's School of Land and Food.

"It is an opportunity for students to combine fun with learning, and at the same time to make some money," said co-ordinator Andrea Adkins.

"Some of the students have been taking it pretty seriously and have grown huge plants with flowers as big as basketballs in the hothouses at St Lucia."

The only stipulations are that the plants have to be grown in a container no larger than 11 litres capacity and be rooted in a solid medium, sand or soil, - which rules out hydroponics.

The contest attracted 33 students from St Lucia and 22 from Gatton. While most are studying agricultural science or for a bachelor of science, there were also entrants from land resource science, agricultural economics, food science, environmental science and two PhD students.

The Gatton weigh-in, presided over by Dr George, will begin at 11.30am, after which the winner and other interested contestants will drive to St Lucia to see how their top sunflower weighs up against the pick of the St Lucia crop.

Dr Hunter and Associate Professor Blamey will officiate at the St Lucia weigh-in, which starts at 1pm at the Hartley-Teakle Building. Because of rapid water loss after being cut off at the stem, plants will be taken whole to the scales, then chopped and weighed.

The winner's cheque will be handed over by Scott Gibson of Pacific Seeds.

Attention News Editors/Pictorial Editors: St Lucia entrants will gather at the fountain outside the Hartley-Teakle Building from 12.45pm. At Gatton College, the weigh-in will take place at the Soils Annexe (behind the glasshouses) at 11.30am.

For further information, contact Andrea Adkins on 07 3365-1175 (day), or 07 32794374 (evening).