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Do marigolds come back every year


Growing Marigolds: Learn How to Plant and Grow Marigolds

Bright and hardy marigolds are a no-fuss, low maintenance annual. Their cheery blooms thrive in the sun, making these summer-through-fall-time beauties a popular choice.

Read on to find out more about marigold plants.

What are Marigolds?

Marigolds have carnation or daisy-like flowers, usually in bright orange, copper brown or yellow that can grow as single blooms or in clusters. Their distinct smell is often described as pungent, but most gardeners appreciate this, as it keeps away garden pests and insects. However, keep an eye out for slugs and caterpillars as they can be issues for marigolds.

Popular Types of Marigolds

How to Plant Marigold Flowers

Marigolds are easy to plant and can do well in virtually any type of soil. Most types like full sun and can withstand even extremely hot temperatures, making them one of the easiest flowers to grow all year long. In fact, their hardiness makes it unnecessary to start marigold seeds indoors. Below is a simple guide to planting seeds directly in the ground – or transplant – whichever you prefer.

Simply cover the seeds with soil and keep them moist and warm. If transplanting, be sure to water well after doing so. Plants will sprout in a few days if the weather is warm enough, and blooms will appear in around 2 months.

When should you plant marigolds?

Plant your marigolds in the spring, after the last frost. If you choose to start from seed indoors, you can begin the process about 2 months before the last expected frost. Seeds will germinate anywhere from 4 to 14 days in warm soil that has an average temperature of 70°F – 75°F. Above the refrigerator is a good spot for seeds to rest if you are germinating indoors. In this case, once the seeds germinate, transplant them outdoors after the last frost.

How to transplant marigolds from seed

After seeds have germinated, moisten soil and then plant seedlings about 1 inch apart from one another.

How to thin seedlings

If planting seeds directly in the ground without germinating, once sprouted, but while still small, thin your seedlings. Thinning seedlings is important so that maturing plants have plenty of space to grow without having to compete for nutrients and water. It also helps improve air circulation. To thin, carefully remove a seedling and, holding it by its leaves to prevent the stem from being crushed, lightly set the roots into a hole. Pat the soil around the stem gently but firmly. Spacing will depend on the variety.

Planting in containers

Be sure to use a large enough container because marigolds tend to grow quickly, and crowding can be an issue.

Use a soil-based potting mix and either add in a granular, slow-acting fertilizer at the time of planting, or periodically water with a diluted liquid fertilizer. Do not over-fertilize.

Tips to Care for Marigold Flowers

Marigolds establish easily, and new blooms will appear not long after planting. These low-maintenance plants do not require much care, and with just a few tips, will put on a showy display for months.

Tip 1. Water regularly, but not too frequently. Let soil dry out in between watering, and then water well each time. If it is an extremely hot period, it’s fine to increase the frequency, just take care not to overwater.

Tip 2. Never water overhead. Too much water on marigold leaves can result in a powdery mildew building up on the pretty dark green foliage. Water at the base of the plant to avoid this.

Tip 3. Deadhead as needed. Marigolds actually do not need a lot of deadheading but doing so will promote more blooms. To deadhead, simply remove any dying blossoms.

Tip 4. Pinch back. Pinching from the top of the plant is an easy way to remove dead blooms and encourage growth while helping plants fill out so they don’t become leggy. Using your thumb and forefinger, simply pinch the dead bloom where it meets the stem. Pinching can trick plants into producing more because you remove the bloom before it goes to seed, which essentially is what tells the plant to stop producing.

Tip 5. Do not fertilize during the growing season. Fertilizer will result in pretty foliage, but it will be at the expense of your blooms.

Tip 6. Add mulch. Mulch will prevent weeds from growing and keep soil nice and moist.

Common Questions About Growing Marigolds

In addition to being easy to grow, marigolds also make great companion plants in the garden. Learning everything you can about them helps ensure they will grow big and beautifully for your enjoyment.

How do you reseed marigolds?

To reseed marigolds, wait for the plant to begin to dry out. When the petals are brown, and the plant base is just starting to turn brown, you can harvest the seeds. Do not wait for the entire plant to turn brown or you risk it molding.

Do marigolds spread?

Marigolds are rapidly growing plants and most varieties are self-seeding, which means they will drop seeds and spread throughout your yard or garden. Limit the ability to self-seed by deadheading before blooms go to seed.

Are marigolds perennials or annuals?

Actually, both! Most marigolds are annuals, but a few are perennials. Marigolds self-seed so they may appear to be a perennial when in reality, they are just coming back from seed.

What zone do marigolds grow best in?

Marigolds grow well in planting zones 2 – 11, and they do best in warmer months. They will have a longer blooming season in zones 10 or higher, where temperatures don’t dip close to freezing, even later in the winter.

Why are my marigolds dying?

Marigolds are a fairly easy plant to grow, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have issues. If your marigolds are not doing well, it may be due to slugs or caterpillars. If you see small, chewed edges or holes in the leaves, check your plants for caterpillars. Removing them by hand is simple, fast and can alleviate the problem.

Do marigolds bloom year-round?

Marigolds do not bloom year-round, but with proper care, some varieties can bloom for several months. They will put on the best show all summer and into fall.

Marigolds are a hardy, bright, easy-to-grow plant. They are virtually fool-proof, so even first-time gardeners can trust their marigold show will be abundant and something to be proud of.

How to Plant & Care for Marigolds in Your Garden

Marigolds make for a striking addition to any garden. The bright, golden-orange colour that radiates from them makes the environment feel warmer and more welcoming. These flowers also make for an excellent addition to bouquets and vases!

If you’d love to plant your own marigolds, join us as we discover everything you need to know about growing and caring for these glorious flowers.

What are Marigolds

Marigolds are a common type of bright flower that happens to be the October’s birth flower!

The four common types of marigolds are:

  1. French Marigolds
  2. Signet (single) Marigolds
  3. African Marigolds (also known as American or Aztec Marigolds)
  4. Triploid Hybrids

Triploid Hybrids are a mixture of French Marigolds and African Marigolds.

Marigolds bloom in colours like golden, orange, white, red and yellow, but yellow and orange flowers are the ones that are most commonly found.

How To Plant Marigolds

Planting marigolds is a relatively straightforward task. However, to help them thrive, consider the following aspects:

Where to Plant Marigolds

Make sure that you sow seeds directly into the garden. Seeds can be planted indoors but they germinate quite quickly, so there is no real advantage to doing so.

When to Plant Marigolds

French and signet marigolds can be planted at any time between spring and the midsummer months. Taller African marigolds are best planted right at the beginning of spring, once the danger of frost has passed because they tend to mature and produce flowers at a slower rate.

How To Care For Marigolds

Caring for marigolds is easy but be sure to follow these rules to help them grow to their full potential.

  1. Once established, make sure that you pick off the tops of the marigold plants. Deadheading will encourage them to become bushier and keep them from becoming leggy. It will also encourage further blooming.
  2. Make sure you allow the soil to dry between watering your marigold plants. Then, water well and repeat the process. Spend extra time watering your marigolds when it’s very hot. Keep your watering to the base of the plant and avoid watering from overhead.
  3. Avoid fertilizing marigold plants while they grow as this will stimulate foliage growth at the expense of flowers.
  4. By adding a layer of mulch between plants when they are young, you can suppress weeds and keep the soil moist.

How To Deadhead Marigolds

Marigold plants don’t usually require deadheading but by regularly removing dying blossoms, the plants are more likely to bloom profusely.

No fancy tools or training are necessary to deadhead marigolds. In fact, it can easily be done just with your fingers.

You can either use pruners or your fingers to pinch off the dying flower heads. When doing so, make sure that you snip the flower pods that have started developing behind the flower off too. Continue to remove dead or wilted marigolds as they appear to encourage new flowers to bloom.

Do Marigolds Come Back Every Year?

The most common types of marigolds for garden planting are annuals. This means that they sprout, flower and die within the same year. However, the flowers do tend to come back the following year due largely to their ability to self-seed.

What Do Marigolds Keep Away?

Marigolds have been reported to deter root-knot nematodes, which are tiny worms, from other plants like strawberries, roses, potatoes and tomatoes. These worms live in the soil, but marigolds are believed to keep them away.

While it has not yet been proven, seasoned gardeners claim that marigolds can control pests like cabbage worms, thrips, tomato hornworms, squash bugs and whiteflies, to name a few.

How Long Do Marigolds Last?

Generally, marigold blooms can last from the beginning of spring, right until the first frost of winter. The blooming of any marigold plant can be encouraged with simple maintenance.

Deadheading the blooms, for example, could result in an abundance of flowers throughout the season. Furthermore, the foliage can also do with a bit of attention to promote bushiness and encourage the plant to last longer.

To induce greater bushiness in the plants’ stems and leaves, pinch off pieces of the plant at intersections of the leaf.

Are Marigolds Poisonous To Dogs?

Some kinds of marigolds can be mildly toxic to dogs when ingested, while others can lead to contact dermatitis when they are touched.

In most cases of ingestion, dogs may experience a mild gastrointestinal upset. This could lead to a great deal of discomfort for your dog as dogs do not have the enzymes to break down the greenery, leaves and flowers of a marigold plant. Any skin irritation that dogs may experience from marigold plants will typically be short-lived. Very rarely does a dog’s interaction with a marigold plant become fatal or life-threatening.

Will Marigolds Attract Bees?

While bees are beneficial to the environment in many ways, they can be considered something of a pest and can be incredibly dangerous to some people too. There is no science to support the fact that marigolds deter bees. However, there is plenty of belief in gardening communities across the world that their pungent scent keeps bees out of the gardens in which they grow.

Interestingly, it’s not just bees. Numerous other insects and pests such as rabbits are thought to be deterred from gardens by the presence of marigolds.

Do Marigolds Multiply?

Marigolds are among the most easily grown plants, which is why they are so commonly used in flower beds, gardens and general landscaping. They bloom within 45 days after planting, are very hardy and grow considerably quickly.

Like many other kinds of flowers, marigolds are able to multiply. This is because most varieties of the plant are self-seeding, which means that they spread throughout the flower bed or garden in which they are planted every year.

While the African Marigold plant is much larger than other variants, the quickest growing and fastest-spreading variety of marigold is the French Marigold.

Fast-growing, cheerful and easy to care for, marigolds are a wonderful addition to any garden – big or small!

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When to plant marigolds for seedlings, the best and most beautiful varieties of marigolds, April-May 2022 | v1.ru

Marigolds are quite unpretentious, but still they will not grow so well in the shade

. For both beginners and experienced gardeners, marigolds will be an ideal option for decorating the site. Blogger-flower grower, chemist Kristina Khrustova tells when and how to sow marigolds for seedlings, how to grow them correctly and why the shade is not suitable for these flowers.

What to sow for a beginner grower? Of course, marigolds. This is one of the most simple, unpretentious and flowering crops. And although marigolds can grow in shade and partial shade, they will thank with lush flowering all the same in an open sunny area.

There are many types and varieties of marigolds, but among gardeners the most popular are erect, deviated and thin-leaved. Flowers can be simple and double.

Separately, I would like to highlight thin-leaved marigolds. The plant forms a lush habit (appearance of the flower. - Note ed. ), strewn with small flowers.

This is how thin-leaved marigolds look like

spherical inflorescences, does not require tying. "Beatles White Moon" - a versatile hybrid with white inflorescences.

Among those rejected, “orange flame”, “chameleon fireball”, “harlequin” are very beautiful. Among the thin-leaved ones, “lulu” stands out - a highly branched plant, has a spherical shape of a bush, abundantly strewn with lemon inflorescences up to 3 centimeters in diameter. 'Ursula' is a lush, compact shrub strewn with golden yellow buds.

The age of marigold seedlings at the time of planting in open ground is 40–50 days. From here you need to count the sowing time. If in most regions flowers are more often planted in open ground in early June, then in mid-April, you can start sowing. In warmer regions, marigolds are already being sown.

To successfully obtain marigold seedlings, you must try to meet all the conditions:

1. The soil for sowing must be loose and nutritious. To do this, flower soil is best mixed with soil structure improvers (perlite and vermiculite) in a ratio of 3 parts soil, 1 part improvers.

2. It is best to choose a sowing container with a lid (to create a greenhouse effect) and drainage holes (to drain excess moisture).

The soil for sowing must be loose and nutritious. On the right in the photo - marigold seeds

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3. After the container is filled with soil, lightly tamp it and make grooves about 0.5 cm deep.


4. To prevent the development of a pathogenic environment (various bacterial and fungal diseases), it is best to shed the soil with bio- or chemical fungicides.

5. Place the marigold seeds in the grooves in 2 cm increments. Gently sprinkle the sown seeds with a layer of soil or calcined sand (the layer should not exceed 0.5 cm).

Place the marigold seeds in the grooves in 2 cm increments, then cover with soil or baked sand. But not much!

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6. The last step is to moisten the crops with a spray bottle and cover or cover with foil.

Seedlings will not keep you waiting long. At a temperature of +25 ... +27 degrees, the seeds germinate for about 7 days. Seedlings bloom approximately 2–2.5 months after sowing.

The next stage of caring for marigold seedlings is picking. The picking of marigolds begins in different ways. You can do this when two true leaves appear, then the plants are planted in small containers (up to 200 milliliters). The second option is to dive flowers when there are 3-4 true leaves, then the plants should be in a container with a volume of 300-400 ml.


In addition to the fact that marigolds have a high decorative appearance throughout the season, they are also very useful. All marigolds have a persistent aroma. This aroma can repel pests from, for example, vegetables. Here is another reason why you should sow this plant for your garden.

Marigolds need moderate watering. They do not tolerate constant shade and wetting of the soil. Therefore, the planting site for marigold seedlings should be sunny, and the soil should be well-drained.

Responds well to top dressing, however, excessive feeding can lead to "fatting" of the bush (does not bloom). In this case, flowering will be delayed. For marigolds, once a month it is enough to give a mineral complex fertilizer for flowering plants.

Kristina Khrustova

Blogger-flower grower, chemist

The author’s opinion may not coincide with the opinion of the editors

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September 25, 2022, 00:00

Thinking about saving money? List of flowers whose seeds you will be very disappointed with (even marigolds will not please you)

August 26, 2022, 00:00 00

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Marigolds look perfect in mixborders, fit well into the rustic style. Growing them is not difficult - even a beginner will cope with the task. But still, the elementary rules of agricultural technology must be taken into account.

Useful information about petunias

Sowing dates • for seedlings - April 1 - 15;
• to the greenhouse - April 15 - 30;
• in open ground - May 15 - 31
Seedless seal depth 0. 5 cm
Place
can be sown in cold greenhouses in the second half of April (1) (seedlings do not tolerate frost). Seedlings appear 5-7 days after sowing. And plants bloom 50-60 days after germination (2).

- But if we want to achieve flowering earlier, - says agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova, - then marigolds can be grown through seedlings. It is planted in open ground at the age of 40 - 50 days, in the second half of May, therefore, seeds for seedlings should be sown in the first half of April.

How to prepare seeds for sowing

Marigold seeds do not require pre-sowing preparation. They can be sown dry - they germinate well anyway.

But what really needs to be prepared is the ground.

- The fact is that tender seedlings of marigolds can suffer from fungal diseases and the main enemy is the black leg, and the spores of this pathogen just live in the soil, - explains agronomist Svetlana Mikhailova. - The soil collected in the garden or in the forest is especially dangerous. But even in the purchased one there may be pathogenic fungi. Therefore, before sowing the seeds, it must be steamed in a water bath or calcined in the oven for 1 hour.

Seeds are best sown in plastic containers with a lid. They are buried in the soil to a depth of 0.5 cm. After that, they are well watered, covered with a lid and cleaned in a warm place where the temperature will be around 20 ° C. You can germinate the seeds in cooler conditions, but not below 15 ° C - otherwise they will germinate for a long time and unfriendly. But even more dangerous for them is a high temperature, more than 25 ° C - in such conditions, they may not sprout at all.

Marigold sprouts appear after about a week. As soon as the seeds sprout, the lid must be removed.

Care tips for marigold seedlings

Pick. In the phase of 2-3 true leaves, seedlings of marigolds should be planted in separate cups. The optimal volume is 200 ml.

Light and warmth. Good seedlings should be strong, stocky, but on the windowsills in the apartment, they often stretch out.

- There are two reasons for this, - explains agronomist Svetlana Mikhailova, - lack of light and too high temperature. Seedlings need to be provided with coolness - 15 - 20 ° C and an abundance of light - a south or southeast window. Only in this case, the seedlings will be good.

Watering. Marigold seedlings do not like excessive moisture, so it should be watered moderately - it is important that the soil dries out a little between waterings. If the cups are in the pan and part of the water has leaked out there, it must be drained - otherwise it can provoke an outbreak of fungal diseases.

Top dressing. Seedlings of marigolds can do without top dressing. But if signs of starvation appear on it - pale leaves, yellow spots, bright streaks, deformations or drying tips - you need to feed it with any liquid complex fertilizer according to the instructions.

Hardening. At home, seedlings live in warmth, but in open ground they will face trials - cold winds, rains, frosts, scorching sun. And if young plants abruptly fall from comfortable conditions into harsh realities, they begin to experience stress. They stop growing for a while, try to adapt and flowering is delayed.

To prevent this from happening, the seedlings should be gradually hardened off - at a temperature above 10 °C they should be taken out into the open air. First for a couple of hours. Then you can leave for a day. And a week later, overnight. But it is important that the seedlings get used to the street in the shade - in the open sun it will get burned.

Planting seedlings in open ground. Seedlings of marigolds can be planted in flower beds from mid-May. Seedlings tolerate transplanting well, but on condition that a clod of earth is preserved (3).

Favorable days for planting seedlings at home or in a greenhouse

Sowing seeds for seedlings: 3-5, 7-9, 12-13, 16-17, 21-22, 25-26, 30 April.

Sowing seeds in open ground: 18, 22 - 24, 28 - 31 May.

Favorable days for planting seedlings in open ground

Planting seedlings: 20 – 24, 27 – 31 May.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing marigolds with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

How long does the germination of marigold seeds last?

Germination of marigolds does not last long, only 2-3 years. Then it begins to decline, so it is better to sow fresh seeds, ideally last year's.

Is it true that marigolds protect tomatoes from late blight?

This advice is often found on the Internet, they say, plant marigolds next to tomatoes and there will be no phytophthora.

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