It takes sunflowers roughly one more month to produce mature seeds after they start blooming.

If your sunflowers bloom in August, you could expect to harvest sunflower seeds in September.

Want more gardening tips?

Loose sunflower seeds in front of sunflower head for saving

The Spruce / Colleen & Shannon Graham

Here are a few signs to watch for that will let you know exactly when to pick sunflower seeds.

Leave about 6 to 12 inches of stem attached to each bloom.

Allow the flowers to dry for a few weeks.

Dried sunflower plants.

Fabien David / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0

Sunflower head with seeds.

Camy West / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Brown paper bag tied around sunflower head

The Spruce / Colleen & Shannon Graham

Dead flower head cut with pruners to save sunflower seeds

The Spruce / Colleen & Shannon Graham

Sunflower seeds drying.

Danielle Buma / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Dried sunflower head placed in plastic container for storage

The Spruce / Colleen & Shannon Graham

roasted-sunflower-seeds-method-3

The Spruce / Elise Bauer