Marigolds are very easy to grow and once planted, will continue to thrive. They don’t need a lot of fuss. Marigolds thrive in sun and can handle a lot of heat, providing that they receive regular moisture.
There are four different types of marigolds such as African marigolds which are usually quite tall; French marigolds, which are small; and triploid and single marigolds.
You can buy marigold seeds from your local garden centre which is a much cheaper option than buying a marigold plant. Besides, it is much more enjoyable and rewarding to grow your own from seeds. Before they are ready to be planted outside, you need to grow your marigolds indoors for the first fifty days. The seeds must be planted the day after the last frost as frost can kill marigolds.
To begin, fill your pot with damp starter soil and sprinkle the seeds over the top of it. Make sure the seeds are lightly covered with soil. Then add a very light sprinkle of water over the seeds. You must ensure that you water the seeds regularly so that the soil does not dry out. Within next to no time, you’ll see little plants growing in your pots or trays. Once they have sprouted, you must keep them in a sunny place like a window. They need as much sun on them indoors as possible. After about fifty days, you can plant them outside. You can either place them in larger pots or place your marigolds in a garden plot. Make sure there is plenty of space between each marigold because they need a lot of room to grow.
Once they are planted, marigolds do not need a lot of fuss. They will start blooming almost as soon as you put them out of doors and then they will continue blooming throughout the summer. You only need to water them every couple of weeks if the weather is dry. They really can take care of themselves. If you have planted them in containers, you must water them regularly – daily, in fact – otherwise they will dry out in no time. You can use fertilizer on your flowers once a month but they can easily grow without it.
To keep them blooming well, you should deadhead the spent buds. If your marigolds are turning dry and spent, keep them in a cool place and then the seeds inside of these blossoms will do just fine for the following year of growing marigolds.
To prevent insects and other problems, plant your marigolds away from bad drainage and weed them regularly. If they are properly grown, you should not have many problems with insects and mites. If your soil is soggy, your flowers may be prone to fungal infections. With mites, they sometimes infest marigolds so to get rid of them you need to spray them every day with a mixture of water and insecticidal soap. Do this at least one week to get rid of the problem.
Marigolds are by far one of the easiest flower’s to grow and yet they are so beautiful to see in the garden. They require little maintenance, just the occasional watering every now and then. Whilst you can purchase marigold plants from your garden nursery, it is far more fun to do it from scratch by yourself. You could even do it with a friend as a fun project. Once they have grown, you can make bouquets out of them and all sorts of other creative things. Then recycle the seeds from the blossoms and do it all again next year for more beautiful marigolds.
