The beauty and unpretentiousness of marigolds (Tagétes) make them favorites of many gardeners. With the help of these bright and diverse colors, you can decorate any area, garden, cottage or balcony in a multi-storey building.
Varieties of marigolds differ in the size of an adult plant, and in the size of the flowers, and in the color of the petals. The richness of shades (from red-brown to lemon yellow) allows you to choose the perfect option for decorating each site. Delighting passers-by, live flower decoration is grown very simply.
Features of marigold seeds
First, let's find out what marigold seeds look like. These are oblong dark, with a white tip, "sticks" that remain in the center of the inflorescence after the petals have dried. Germination of marigold seeds is high, and lasts up to 3-4 years. Thanks to this, flowers successfully propagate by self-sowing.
Sowing dates for marigolds
Marigold seedlings can be purchased ready-made, but most people prefer to grow them on their own: firstly, it is cheaper, and secondly, this way you will be sure of the quality of the planting material. Sowing and growing marigolds from seeds at home is not difficult and is within the power of any summer resident.
When is the best time to sow marigolds
- Starting from March, marigolds are sown for seedlings in cassettes, pots or boxes. Further, seedlings of these flowers are usually grown on the windowsill.
- In early May, marigolds can be sown in a film-protected greenhouse.
- If you want to do without future transplants, then you can plant marigolds in the ground with seeds at the end of May. By this time, the risk of a return of frost has already passed, and you can sow flowers directly in the garden or flower bed.
Only a month and a half will pass from the moment of sowing, and you will see marigolds in all their glory blooming.
In the northern regions, where the continentality of the climate is high and frosts are possible even in May, it is better to use the seedling method of growing marigolds.
Dates for planting seedlings of marigolds
Seedlings of marigolds of different varieties may show their own specific requirements for the timing of planting and care in the early growing season. So low-growing compact varieties of mimic marigolds are sown towards the end of spring, so as not to risk overcooling young shoots.
If you have become the proud owner of the seeds of rejected marigolds (another variety of undersized ones), then it is better to plan sowing in the middle of spring or later. They are considered more resistant to cold and frost.
Many people like the unusual Mexican marigolds, they are also thin-leaved. The optimal time for planting them is the end of April or the beginning of May. The variety is heat-loving and develops well only with an abundance of sunlight.
How to properly collect seed
It often happens that suddenly somewhere there are beautifully flowering or some unusual color marigolds. How to collect the seeds of these flowers in order to plant them next season?
Wait for the flowering and drying of the inflorescences, when the seeds begin to separate from the calyx easily, without effort. They should be dry and crumbly. Spread them on a newspaper or napkin until completely dry, and then put them in an airtight container and put them in a cool place.
Seed pre-treatment
Before sowing, it is advisable to soak the marigold seeds in a solution of manganese for several hours.
Disinfection with potassium permanganate will greatly reduce the risk of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases of flowers in the future.
You can germinate wet seeds on a saucer, covering it with glass or film, but this does not make much sense. Marigolds germinate well without prior germination.
Technology of sowing marigolds for seedlings
Soil preparation
Growing seedlings of marigolds requires the preparation of the substrate before sowing. The soil should be loose and fertile. Make up the soil mixture according to the following recipe:
- 2 parts of peat;
- part of the humus;
- 0.5 parts of sand.
The substrate is shed with a solution of one of the drugs: Maxim, Fitosporin, Vitaros, potassium permanganate. If there is none of the above, you can replace the treatment with steaming for an hour. This is necessary for the prevention of dangerous fungal diseases, including the black leg.
Growing marigolds from seeds in individual cups is the most convenient way for a gardener and gentle for plants. You can arrange your own drainage from shards or small pebbles in each cup.
Agrotechnics for sowing marigolds in boxes
- The wet mixture is poured into a container, compacted and grooves are laid with a depth of half a centimeter.
- With tweezers or fingers, marigold seeds are laid out in grooves.
- From above, the grooves are covered with the same substrate (layer thickness - approximately 1 cm).
- Cover the box with a lid and place in a warm, bright place. After 5-7 days, the first shoots should appear.
It is important to prevent overheating and hypothermia of seedlings. Temperatures above 25°C and below 15°C are detrimental to seedlings.
Seedlings of marigolds in cassettes
The most convenient way to grow marigold seedlings for many flower growers is cassette.
As a substrate, the same mixture is used as when sowing in boxes. But it is enriched with additional fertilizers: a tablespoon of mineral fertilizer (with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in the composition) and half a glass of ash for every 5 liters. substrate.
Fertilizers must be well mixed with the soil so that they are evenly distributed in it. The earth in the cassettes is lightly compacted, then a hole is prepared for each seedling, and the plants are buried 1 cm into the soil. After planting, the shoots are carefully watered. The soil settles a little after watering and you can add fresh substrate.
For "hardening", young plants can be taken out to fresh air in good weather and bright sun, which marigolds love so much. Growing flowers from seeds by seedlings will be more successful if you arrange such “walks” for them regularly.
Picking seedlings of marigolds
Marigolds dive after the appearance of two true leaves in the sprouts. At this time, seedlings usually reach a height of 5 cm.
Planting is carried out to a depth that allows you to hide the entire lower part of the stem in the soil, up to oblong leaves. At the same time, they remain on the surface and do not sink underground (and do not even touch it).
Picking can be carried out both in open ground and in a seedling box. The transplant is very well tolerated by marigolds. They can be planted from cassettes in a flower bed, even flowering. The root system of these plants is unpretentious, it quickly recovers and adapts to new conditions.
Planting marigold seedlings in open ground
Now you know how to plant marigolds for seedlings. A few words about transplanting seedlings outdoors. Planting marigold seeds in the ground eliminates the hassle, but puts the plants at risk of frost. The seedling method will allow you to save each sprouted sprout.
For planting seedlings choose a cloudy day. Heat slows down adaptation and exposes disturbed plants to transplant shock.
Marigolds, who have grown stronger, have reached a height of 15 cm, are planted in a flower bed. Growing seedlings up to these indicators is carried out in boxes or cassettes.
Stages of planting flowers in a flower bed
- The soil is dug up to a depth of at least 15 cm.
- Garbage, stones and sticks are removed from the ground so that they do not interfere with the normal growth of the root system.
- The holes are dug with a margin so that the entire root system of the seedlings fits freely there.
- Sprinkle the roots with earth and gently tamp it down. Watered. Top up the earth if it has settled too much.
- Mulch plantings.
How to sow marigolds in open ground
So, you have chosen a place to sow marigolds. Growing from seeds in the open field of these flowers has its own characteristics. Proper sowing will provide good conditions for the development of plants in the future.
For this purpose, wide holes are prepared. Hole depth is usually 5 cm, the distance between them depends on the variety of flowers that you have chosen for sowing. So, for compact varieties, a distance of 20-25 cm is sufficient.
Tall marigolds are usually separated by a distance of 30-40 cm.
Before sowing marigolds, the wells are well moistened, and the seeded seed is sprinkled on top with a centimeter layer of earth.
In the future, the sown seeds need careful care: moderate watering, moisture control: the soil should not dry out.
How long does it take for marigold seeds to germinate? The first pair of leaves appears quite soon: already at the end of the first week after planting. If you see that the sprouts have grown too close to each other and prevent the neighbors from developing, transplant the extra ones to another place.
Caring for plantings is nothing complicated: it is enough to regularly water them and weed the aisles. And the bright inflorescences will long delight the eyes of the owners and your guests.
