By Monkey1962
N/E Lincolnshire ,
United Kingdom 
Dwarf Sunflower seeds,
Hi all i bought 2 packets of sunspot dwarf sunflower seeds and got some tremendous results this season and i just wondered if i could harvest the seeds for next year or with them being dwarf are they sterile, a gardener who lives near me said he would think they are sterile because they have been modified from giant sunflowers, what i wanted to know is is he right and are they sterile , i hope some one has had experience of using these seeds before and can advise me
24 Jun, 2017
Answers
They should come more or less true from seed, unless someone was growing regular sunflowers within a quarter mile, which may result in a variety of heights due to cross pollination.
25 Jun, 2017
thanks for the advise, once again you have come through for me, i will give it a go harvesting some, but have a couple of packets on stand by. once again thank you ,
steve
25 Jun, 2017
if the dwarfing trait is genetically recessive then yes they will come true. providing it has only been pollinated by 'dwarf' pollen.
but if it isn't fully recessive you may well get a range of heights and colours. it will be fun to find out so collect some seed and give it a go.
25 Jun, 2017
I planted a pack of 'Teddy Bear' Sunflowers once. 1/4 came out 3 ft tall and fully double, as the packet says, 1/4 were 6 ft. tall and single, and 1/2 were 4 ft. tall and semi-double. Never found out if that was sloppy breeding on the seed grower's part, or what. The seed company said that they had never heard of such a thing...riiight! :/
25 Jun, 2017
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They don't appear to be F1 hybrid seeds, so its certainly worth saving some and trying them next year.
24 Jun, 2017