I grow pot marigolds every single year and I value them a lot. They brighten up my garden with their yellow and orange colored blossoms in a truly breathtaking way. Not to mention how useful they can be for you as well as for other garden plants…
Have you decided to start growing them yourself? Good. They certainly won’t disappoint you!
Before we look into when and how to plant these beautiful plants, let me just point out that growing them is not difficult at all. On the contrary, actually. Once established, they literally grow on autopilot. All you have to do is pick their flowers to ensure they keep on blooming throughout the entire season.
Have you already prepared your garden for growing pot marigolds, but don’t know exactly how to proceed? Then keep reading…
You can start sowing seeds early in spring once soil begins to thaw…
What you need to know about pot marigolds is they are so called “cool season” plants. This basically means:
- Their seeds can germinate at cool temperatures.
- They grow best at cool temperatures.
- They can withstand short periods of frost.
- They don’t like hot weather.
Think about these characteristics for a minute or two. You’ll understand why it makes sense to start planting the seeds early in spring…
Obviously, it is stil cold outside during that time of the year. The temperatures at night are just above freezing point. The frosts are not rare either. But that’s not really a problem, is it. These plants can take it.
So don’t let the fact that winter has only just ended stop you from sowing seeds outside. Eventhough the weather conditions may not be just right yet, it usually doesn’t last long before it gets a bit warmer and baby pot marigold plants start poping out of the ground.
You need to start much sooner, if you live in a warmer climate…
The spring in Slovenia, where I live, typically starts somewhere around the beginning of March. The temperatures rise a bit after the winter and the soil starts thawing. That’s the time when I do my first sowings…
Now what if you’re in an climate where winters are mild and with no freezing? What if you live in a place where springs and especially summers are extremely hot?
That’s a different story then. You need to start sowing much sooner. Your best best would be autumn, once the weather cools down after the summer. This way, they start blooming in the middle of winter and continue to do so until scorching heat towards the end of spring or the beginning of summer stops them.
So, why are autumn sowings better than spring sowings in case of warmer climate?
Well, pot marigolds hate hot weather. The seeds germinate only in cool conditions, when soil temperature is somewhere between 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) and 18 degrees Celsius (65 degrees Fahrenheit). So if you start growing them in spring, the soil may already be too warm. They may still sprout and start growing. However, they never reach the blooming stage, because the spring heat hinders their growth. And by the time the summer starts, the heat is already so intense that these plants can’t take it anymore. They die off before they develop flowers.
The story is similar (only reverse) if you live in cold climate. In such places, temperatures stay cool even during summer months, which means it never gets too hot for pot marigolds. They can bloom continuously throughout the whole growing season. The downside, though, is that their growing season is shorter. The winter with it’s freezing ends later and it also starts sooner…
Make sure the seeds are well-covered with soil after you sow them…
Now that you know when would be the best time for you to start growing pot marigolds from seeds, it’s time to see exactly how to do that…
First of all, I don’t grow them in just one single spot in the garden. Instead, I choose several different spots. Three plants there, two plants here and so on. I do it this way because I want more than just one part of my garden to look good and benefit from these beautiful plants. They attract beneficial pollinators and repel certain destructive insects, remember?
Once I choose the right spots (these guidelines can help with that), I simply sprinkle few seeds on top of the soil in every spot I chose. Then I cover the sprinkled seeds with some soil (a well-aged compost is even better) and I’m all done. Yes, it’s that simple. I don’t even mind watering the seeds after sowing. I let the rain do that for me.
It is essential, though, that you cover the seeds with enough soil after you sprinkle them on the ground. If you fail to do that, the seeds won’t germinate. That’s because the daylight prevents them from sprouting. With that said, it is equally important that you don’t bury them too deeply. About one centimeter (half an inch) deep should be more than enough.
It doesn’t take long for pot marigolds to start popping out of the ground and form their first flower heads…
The seeds usually germinate in about two weeks after the sowing. Of course, it can happen faster if the weather is more warm. On the contrary, it can also take longer if it’s still cold outside…
Once the plants are out of the ground, they grow very rapidly. In the right conditions, they need little less than two months to form their first flower heads. From then on, they keep on blooming intensively until the summer heat shuts them down. That’s when they go into some sort of hibernation mode. Their only goal at this time is to survive the hot weather. If they do manage to survive it, they proceed with the blooming as soon as the weather towards the end of summer starts to cool down. They then continue to bloom for months until winter with it’s freeze kills them off.
In my case, the summer usually starts somewhere in the middle of June. So if I sow them in the first half of March, they have enough time throughout April and May to germinate, grow and form flowers before the hot weather sets in and shuts their growth and blooming down.
Plant them early enough, if you want to enjoy in their flowers…
The important thing to remember is that pot marigolds hate searing summer heat. It literally shuts them down. It can even kill them if it’s severe enough. Therefore, if you want to succeed in growing these plants and enjoy in the splash of yellow and orange colors they create, it is crucial that you sow seeds as early in spring as possible…
If you fail to do it, the plants won’t have enough time to form the flower heads and start blooming. You’ll have to wait until the end of the summer to see their beautiful flowers. That is, if they get through the summer alive. So don’t wait too long. Get out there and start planting as soon as the weather conditions are right!
Start the seeds indoors to get a head start on blooming…
I always grow pot marigolds outdoors and directly from seed. That’s because my gardening season is long and the plants have enough time to fully establish themselves, grow beautiful flower heads and develop mature seeds…
But what if you live in a very cold climate where freezing temperatures are still present well into the spring? Or what if the weather in your area gets too hot for these plants just shortly after the winter?
Then you have a problem. In the first case, the growing season is shorter and the plants can only bloom for a month or two. In the second case, the summer starts too soon and the plants don’t have enough time to form the flower heads. They may not bloom at all…
You can solve both of the problems (at least to a certain degree) by growing pot marigolds from seedlings instead of seeds…
You could get the seedlings (or starter plants) in a garden center. Buy them once the weather starts to warm up after the winter and soil becomes workable. Then transplant them to a permanent spot in the garden as soon as you can.
To be honest with you, I rarely see them up for sale, so it may be better if you grow them indoors by yourself. Here is what you’ll need:
- Seeds.
- Seed flats or tray.
- Soil. Well-aged compost is the best, but any soil from your garden is fine too.
A good time to start the seeds indoors would be about a month and a half before you intend to transplant them outside. So if I would want to transplant the seedlings outside in the middle of March, I would start the seeds indoors in the beginning of February.
What I would do when the time comes is fill the seed flats (or tray) with the soil. Then I would put two seeds in each flat (or sprinkle the seeds evenly across the tray). After that, I would cover the seeds gently with soil. Make sure they really are covered, otherwise they won’t germinate.
At the end, I would water the seed flats or trays and put them in a cool room which gets natural light throughout the day. The growing room should indeed be cool (and not warm). Otherwise, your seedlings will be weak.
Ideally, the seedlings should be about seven centimeters (three inches) big before you move them outside. However, once the weather conditions are right, transplant them in the garden even if they are much smaller than that. The good news is that they rarely suffer from transplant shock, so your transplanting success rate should be high.
That’s it. You are ready to start planting them. You can now look into how to care for pot marigolds once they came out of the ground and start growing.
