Marigolds are very bright and beautiful flowers. Although they are not amazing, like huge lilies or roses, the Tagetes are charming in their own way. Everyone knows their unpretentiousness and ease of care, but still many people ask themselves: how to plant marigolds correctly? First of all, you need to choose a view. Some gardeners believe that marigolds are exclusively annual plants. In fact, there are perennial varieties, but their choice is not so great.
Planting and care of perennial marigolds
Perennial marigolds propagate self-seeding, occupying an increasingly large area. They will appeal to those who want to see a solid carpet of flowers and at the same time not waste time on the annual fuss with seedlings. It is enough to plant them once, and every spring, in addition to old marigolds, all new plants will sprout from the seeds. In the second year, the flowers of perennial marigolds become only more magnificent. In general, care for perennial varieties is no different from that required by their annual counterparts.
What do flowers look like?
In any case, for a creative person who wants to often change landscape design, reviving the landscape with more and more varieties of flowers, annual plants are best suited.
Marigolds: growing from seeds when to plant
Growing from seeds is a fairly simple and quick way to grow marigolds on a windowsill, along paths, in a garden, or on a flower bed. If marigold is sown in spring or late autumn, seed cultivation will produce excellent results. Seeds can overwinter in the ground, they are quite resistant to cold.
For your information! Young plants themselves will grow where marigolds have already been planted, and in order to transfer them to a specific place, the seeds must be collected at the end of summer and sown either in the winter or next year.
Seeds
How to Collect Marigold Seeds
First you need to note for yourself those flowers that are most liked. It is necessary to wait until the flowers are completely dry, and the stems become brown, and collect the boxes with seeds. They should be stored in a dry place in a paper bag or cardboard box. If the weather is damp, full ripening of seeds is not possible, they can rot.
It is worth collecting them in advance: on a sunny, dry day, cut a bunch of plants, hang it and lay the newspaper down. As the plants dry, the seeds will spill out.
How to plant marigolds in open ground
Be sure to wait until the end of the frost and choose a sunny place with sandy or loamy earth. Tagetes can grow in the shade, but they bloom in the sun, they are much better. By digging grooves with a depth of about 5 cm, you can plant the seeds and fill them up. If the seedlings are too frequent, thin out or transplant them.
Marigold seedlings: when to plant and how
Depending on the region, the time for planting seedlings lasts from mid-March to early May. It is necessary to calculate it so that after 1.5-2 months the frosts end, and seedlings could be planted in open ground. For example, in the suburbs it will be the end of April - the beginning of May.
Important! For thin-leaved marigolds, it is April that is suitable for them to bloom in June.
If marigold seeds are not afraid of the cold and calmly lie in the ground at least all winter, plants that have already sprouted can die from frost, so you should not risk it if the nights are still cold.
The soil for marigolds should be nutritious, it is best to mix peat, humus, turf and sand in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 0.5. At the bottom of the box with seedlings under the soil, lay out a drainage layer of sand, expanded clay or small pebbles. Then the moisture will not be retained, causing rotting of the roots.
Note! An ordinary plastic container with holes at the bottom through which excess water will flow out is suitable as a container.
Marigold seedlings are often ill with a black leg, and in order to prevent this, it is important to treat the soil before planting with a solution of fungicide or potassium permanganate. This can be done, for example, using a double boiler.
It is worth preparing for planting the seeds themselves. To do this, wrap them in a damp cotton cloth, put it in a plastic bag and leave it warm. The main thing is that the temperature does not rise above 25 ° C, otherwise the tagetes will die. If the room is 15-20 ° C, after 5-7 days the seeds will germinate. In general, home conditions are quite suitable for both seeds and seedlings. No special equipment for growing marigolds is required.
Seedlings
Now they can be planted in a container with treated soil. Having made grooves 2 cm deep and at the same distance from each other, you need to bury the seeds so that they remain on the surface.
For your information! It is recommended to put small notes with the name of the variety near the grooves, if there were several. So it will be possible to determine which one is better to buy next time.
If there is no desire to sprout seeds artificially, the container can be covered on top with something transparent. The soil in the container should remain moist. Frequent ventilation will protect the sprouts from the black leg, and after the emergence of friendly shoots, shelter is no longer necessary.
In general, marigolds are not picky, planting and care will not take much time, unless it is important to regularly water and loosen the soil. Plants prefer sunny places, so it is better to put seedlings to the window, but direct sunlight should be avoided.
Important! If the grower does not know how to feed marigolds for abundant flowering, ordinary mineral fertilizers for flowers are suitable. Although it is not necessary to feed these plants, they will already bloom magnificently with good care.
Pick
When marigold seedlings give 2-3 real leaflets, a pick will not be superfluous - planting seedlings in separate containers. This will strengthen the root system. The same soil is suitable as the first time, you can add ash or nitroammophosk as a fertilizer. Plants will benefit from mineral dressing containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, it is enough to take in the amount of 1 tbsp. spoons. Saplings are added to approximately cotyledons. As individual pots, for example, ordinary plastic cups from sour cream, yogurt or a special seedling box, divided into separate cells, can act.
Note! When marigolds have more than four leaves, it is time to pinch them. A pinch is needed so that the plant does not stretch up, but is more fluffy. It is necessary to trim the upper part of the stem, leaving 4-5 leaves. After a month, the procedure can be repeated.
If it seems that growing marigold seedlings for too long and difficult, there is a simpler way: in June, pour the seeds directly into the ground, no longer afraid of frost. Then by August, marigolds will bloom.
Marigolds: planting and care in the open ground
Only when the frost has passed, seedlings can be planted in open ground. You need to choose a sunny place with neutral or slightly acidic soil, sandy or loamy. Even flowering plants are calm about transplanting; it is not necessary to preserve the root lump.
Important! Low marigolds can grow at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other, medium varieties are best planted five centimeters further, and tall marigolds are best planted 25-30 cm from each other.
Watering should occur as the soil dries, be plentiful during growth, but by the time of flowering it needs to be slightly reduced, otherwise the flowers will deteriorate. On hot days, plants are watered in the morning and evening. Under direct scorching sunshine, this can not be done, since burns on the leaves are possible. Marigolds love air-saturated soil, so they should be loosened and weeded more often.
Plants will bloom more luxuriously if you pinch them, that is, cut off faded buds, but this is not necessary. If desired, several flowers are left on the seeds. Fertilizers contribute to good flowering, for example, a solution of 2 tbsp. tablespoons nitrofoski in 10 liters of water. Wood ash will also benefit marigolds. If the soil is not too fertile, humus can be added to it.
Landing
Marigold Diseases
It is important to know not only how to plant marigolds, but also how to protect them from pests and diseases. On average, two months after planting, flowering begins. If the tagetes does not bloom, the cause may be drought or excessive moisture, plenty of fertilizer, or lack of sunlight.
If a white coating appears on the leaves, this is a spider mite. He does not like moisture, so the leaves can be sprayed with water or treated with a mixture of water with soap and tobacco, so that the pest just escaped in horror.
White spots and curled leaf edges are a sign of powdery mildew. They fight it with the help of sulfur-based fungicides.
Powdery mildew
Black rotting areas on the stems indicate a black leg. Potassium permanganate is sometimes added to water for watering marigolds, and the soil is treated with fungicides before sowing. If the disease has already come, it is important to remove dead plants, and add ash, perlite or calcined sand next to the remaining ones. This is true for any infectious diseases.
Important! Infected plants should not be left near their healthy counterparts.
Root rot causes growth retardation and yellowing of leaves. The reason lies in poor conditions. To defeat rot, you need regular weeding and loosening of the soil.
Orange whitefly eats the marigold juice. The isolation of the larvae of this butterfly is a fertile ground for the growth of sooty fungi, which look like a black coating. Pesticides will help drive the insect away.
As for the tracks, you can get rid of them with chemicals. Slugs and snails appearing on flower beds with high humidity, also do not mind eating marigolds. Small boards, halves of potatoes or apples, a dense cloth will help. Under them pests like to gather, and they can be destroyed at once. Slugs do not like ash and lime scattered around. They can also be scared away by spraying with a solution with small particles of mustard.
Important! Small black bugs that have stuck around stems, leaves and flowers are aphids. If it was she who attacked marigolds, she can be driven away with a strong stream of water. For reliability, it is also worth processing plantings with pesticides.
Marigolds usually rarely get sick, and the main cause of the problems is poor care. As a preventative measure, it is enough to loosen and weed flowers on time, on hot days to protect from the sun with a special film, fertilize, but not more than once a month.
Tagetes really unpretentious in care in comparison with other flowering plants. They are suitable even for beginner gardeners and decorate any flower bed, balcony or garden bed.
