Marigold Seeds
Making the Most of Marigold Seeds
Marigolds are colorful vibrant flowers that add dash and drama to any garden and they are easy to grow from marigold seeds.
There are two types of marigolds – African marigolds and French marigolds. African marigolds tend to grow to a height of 30 to 40 inches while the French variety tends to stay at a height of 8 to 16 inches. Both of these come in shades of yellow and orange with the French variety having a few more shades in color. It is possible to successfully grow marigolds in many places except perhaps in the coldest regions.
The best way to introduce these plants in your landscape is by using marigold seeds. Marigold seeds can be sown directly outside in the garden after the danger of a last spring frost. If you live in a place where there is danger of an ill-timed spring frost, it may be best to start the germination indoors to ensure that you can make the most of the warm months for getting marigold blooms.
The seeds need to be spaced 8 to 16 inches away from each other because these are dense plants. Marigold seeds need averagely fertile soil and regular supply of water. After the plant comes up, it is important to keep these well watered especially in the summer months. Mulching the area around the plants is a good way of ensuring that the plants retain moisture. Expert gardeners advise that it is important to apply fertilizers on a monthly basis after the plants are well established. You will then be sure of having a steady supply of marigold blooms through summer and fall. If you live in a region where the winters are mild, you can also hope for winter blooms.
The marigold plant does not have a pleasant fragrance. So, it may be a good idea to place the marigold seeds away from the frequented paths of the garden to get the benefit of its beauty alone. The good aspect of this is that the smell serves as a repellent to deer and rabbits also and so marigolds can serve as a natural shield for your garden.
Marigolds are susceptible to whiteflies and mites. Examine the plants frequently and thoroughly hose the plants to make sure that these pests do not make a home around your marigolds.
To make sure you have a steady stream of marigolds you just have to harvest marigold seeds from your existing plant and continue the planting cycle the next year. This makes it an inexpensive addition to the garden unlike other annuals that need to be purchased each time from the nursery.
Marigold seeds need to be collected after the flowers have died. You can pick the dead brown flowers late in the season in fall. You can wait until the last of the blooms has appeared and then pull all the deal flowers and put them in a large container. This has to be airy enough to ensure that all the seeds dry out thoroughly. Ideally, you should spread the seeds out to make this happen. If your buds are brown by the time you pick them, this drying of marigold seeds will be complete in a couple of days. Once the flowers or buds are completely dry, you can pinch the flowers open and find all the seeds stored inside. The seeds are thin, long and dark.
You should discard the rest of the flower and then carefully pack the seeds in some clean storage. Plastic bags with zipped closures and paper envelopes are popular for storage. As a matter of course, every good gardener should write the name of the flower and the date of the harvest on the cover to make sure that there is no mix-up or confusion later on. The good thing about doing this is that if you have plenty of seeds collected from one year, you can skip the process of harvesting marigold seeds for a few years as you will have enough supply to last through a few growing cycles.