We grow marigolds in the country for beauty and benefit
Marigolds are one of the favorite annuals among gardeners. Lush bushes with carved foliage and bright flowers can be found on almost every site, emitting a spicy aroma familiar from childhood. Velvet flowers bloom almost all summer, delighting with an abundance of inflorescences.
Description of the plant
Marigolds are widely used to create flower groups, flower beds. Low-growing varieties are beautiful both in the curbs and in the massifs, on the lawn. Planted in a pot, they can bloom for a long time in a room. The culture is suitable for growing in balcony boxes, containers. Cut inflorescences stand in water for a long time.
Agricultural technology of cultivation
Tagetes is unpretentious, grows and blooms in almost any conditions, but with good care the bushes look much more decorative. It is grown in two ways - seedling and sowing seeds in the ground.
A seedless way of growing marigolds
Marigolds are grown by sowing seeds in the ground at different times:
- Before winter, after the onset of a stable minus. Ridges are formed in advance, grooves are made and a little earth is stored in a warm place. The seeds are sown in dry soil and sprinkled with the stored soil. Top mulch with rotted sawdust, compost, leaf litter. In the spring, when the last frosts have passed, the mulch is raked so that the soil warms up faster.
- In the spring, in mid-April - early May, marigolds are sown on insulated ridges or greenhouses. After sowing, the grooves are shed with warm water.
In early - mid-May, tagetes are sown directly into the ground to a permanent place. The emerging seedlings are thinned out, leaving at least 10 cm between the plants. When several true leaves appear on the seedlings, they are planted at a distance of 30–40 cm.
How to grow marigold seedlings in a greenhouse
Marigolds from seeds are successfully grown in a greenhouse. Landing dates come when forecasters no longer promise a decrease in night temperatures below –1 –3 ° С. The soil in the greenhouse thaws quickly already in the first warm April days.
To prevent hatching seedlings from being caught by the night frost, use a covering material. You can also put containers with water in the greenhouse. During the day, it heats up and at night it gradually gives off heat, maintaining the temperature several degrees higher than outside.
Seedlings appear in a week. Caring for marigold seedlings consists in regular watering with warm water, loosening and weeding. If the soil has been prepared in advance, young plants do not need separate feeding. If necessary (weak growth, yellowing of leaves) foliar spraying is carried out with 1–3% solution urea... By mid-May, the seedlings are ready to be transplanted into open ground.
How to grow marigold seedlings at home
The most reliable way to get flowering plants in the early stages is to plant marigolds on seedlings.Like the main seedlings - peppers and eggplants, they are sown at the end of February - in March. More exact dates depend on the climate and region of residence.
The soil for sowing marigolds is prepared in the following proportions:
- 1 part compost;
- 1 part peat;
- 1 part of garden land;
- 0.5 parts of sand.
A drainage layer is poured onto the bottom of the tank - broken brick, expanded clay, coarse sand. Then - the prepared soil mixture. It is lightly compacted and watered. A drug against fungal diseases can be added to the water for irrigation, since Tagetes seedlings often suffer from black legs. A few days later, when the earth settles and is evenly saturated with moisture, grooves are made and marigold seeds are laid in them.
Sprinkle with earth on top and moisten a little more. The pots are covered with glass or foil and placed in a warm, bright place. The cover is regularly removed for ventilation. After the first shoots appear, the film is removed and the containers are moved to a sunny place. Water very sparingly until the seedlings develop their first true leaves to prevent black leg disease.
Caring for seedlings at home is no different from the agricultural technology of growing seedlings in the open field: timely watering, feeding and good lighting will allow you to get the first marigold flowers in June.
Planting seedlings in open ground
The optimal distance between plants when planting marigold seedlings in open ground is 0.4–0.5 m for upright varieties. Low-growing ones can be planted a little more often. The place should be sunny, without stagnant air.
Plants are transplanted with a clod of earth. Before planting, marigolds should be watered so that the roots do not dry out during transplantation. It is advisable to prepare a place for the future flower bed in the fall - to make phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, ash and dig up. When planting seedlings in the ground, compost, urea or saltpeter are added under each root. But you should not be zealous with nitrogen, so that the plants do not grow fat, that is, do not increase the green mass to the detriment of flowering. Spraying with a solution of micronutrient fertilizers for flowers will be of great benefit to velvet flowers. This is done after the plants have taken root, started growing and began to pick up buds.
Outdoor Tagetes care
Marigolds are hygrophilous, but do not like long stagnation of water. Therefore, watering should be moderate. After watering, the land must be loosened. For abundant flowering several times per season, the flowers are fed with infusion of mullein or liquid nettle fertilizer and other weeds.
To maintain high decorativeness, wilted inflorescences are cut off. It is easy to thin out thickened areas by pruning using cut flowers for bouquets.
Diseases, treatment and prevention
Due to the content of phytoncides, marigolds are less susceptible to diseases than other crops. However, unsuitable conditions for them can cause gray rot disease and an invasion of spider mites. Specimens that are sick with rot are destroyed, in healthy ones, watering is reduced, and they are sprayed with anti-fungal drugs. From spider mites, tagetes are treated with infusion of garlic, wormwood, red pepper or tobacco dust. In case of severe damage, the plants are sprayed with solutions of the preparations "Actellik", "Fufanon", "Antiklesh", "Fitoverm".
Plant marigolds in sunny, blown places that do not thicken, and the plants will bloom more abundantly and hurt less.
How to collect and store marigold seeds
With good care in the open field, marigolds planted in May-June, by mid-August, form faded and dried achenes filled with seeds. They are quite large and resemble an arrow with a black tip and light plumage. The largest specimens are collected for seeds. The collected achenes are dried in a dry place and cleaned to remove the husks.
Seeds are harvested only from varietal marigolds, hybrids are not suitable for this, since they inherit the traits of only one of the parents.
Well-dried seeds are poured into fabric bags and stored at a temperature of 1–5 ° C and a humidity of 50–60%. In such conditions, the planting material does not lose its germination for several years.
Application in medicine
A bouquet of cut marigolds heals the air in the room, scares away flies. Dried petals are used as a spice in some countries. In the Caucasus, it is known as Imeretian saffron. Leaves treat constipation, fever, used as a diuretic and diaphoretic. In large doses, marigold leaves act as an emetic. The lutein contained in flowers reduces the likelihood of developing cataracts and improves visual acuity. Tagetes baths relax, relieve anxiety. They are recommended to be taken before bedtime for depression and neurosis. Tincture of the plant copes well with stomatitis and skin diseases.
On an industrial scale, marigolds are grown to obtain essential oils.
The raw material for it is the entire aboveground part of plants. The oil has a sweet fruity aroma with a light citrus note. It has a sedative, antifungal, hypotensive, antiseptic effect. It softens the skin well, at the same time scaring away flying flies and mosquitoes. Helps to heal cuts, scratches, softens calluses.
Marigold oil is a popular ingredient in many French perfumes.
Benefits for the garden and vegetable garden
In order for marigolds to fully show their phytoncidal properties, they are planted along the perimeter of the site, along the paths, and the beginning and end of the beds are designated by separate bushes. Tagetes, planted next to cabbage beds, scares off the cruciferous flea. One or two flowering bushes in a greenhouse can significantly reduce the likelihood of disease tomato late blight and various rot. In autumn, the whole plant is used as a green manure - they grind and dig up the ground along with the resulting green mass. This will scare away the nematode, wireworm and enrich the soil with organic matter.
Marigold bushes can be left for the whole winter. Planted in rows, they will serve as wind protection and hold snow on the site.
In the spring, after the snow melts, the dried bushes are pulled out and burned, or sent to compost.
Types of Tagetes
In summer cottages, marigolds of different heights grow, differing in terms of flowering, size and color of flowers. Seeds of your favorite variety and type can be bought in almost any specialty store.
Erect marigolds (Tagetes erecta)
In terms of shape, the inflorescences are divided into two groups:
- clove-flowered - this group has many reed flowers in inflorescences, few tubular flowers in the center;
- chrysanthemum-flowered - the entire inflorescence consists of tubular flowers, along the edge of one row of reed flowers.
Erect varieties of Tagetes are among the highest. Among them are many beautiful, with large globular inflorescences of yellow and orange flowers.
Antigua - low bushes are covered with many yellow-orange flowers up to 10 cm in diameter.
Yellow stone - a plant up to 70 cm high looks like a chrysanthemum with large light yellow spherical flowers.
Gold dollar - tall bushes with large dark green leaves beautifully set off red-orange odorless terry balls.
Golden light - compact plants of medium height topped with bright orange lights. Late variety, blooms from late June until frost.
Lemon Prince - from the beginning of summer to cold weather, it will delight you with a combination of lemon-yellow inflorescences with a dark emerald of carved foliage. The variety is 80 cm high.
Shaggy Robin - the pale yellow heads do look shaggy because of the tubular flowers of different lengths. They look beautiful and unusual when cut.
Rejected marigolds (Tagetes patula)
This species is of average height - 20-40 cm. The flowers may not be double, but no less beautiful, often two-colored.
Gold head - low, strongly leafy bushes covered with many yellow inflorescences with red edges. The outer petals are wavy and bent down.The variety is recommended for growing in containers, pots, flower beds and beddings.
Golden ball - Sprawling branchy bushes will delight you with an exquisite combination of golden middle in a red-brown border. Blooms from early summer. The variety is good for cutting.
Queen Sofia - red-brown shades of terracotta, cinnamon and bronze fade slightly in the sun, acquiring almost chocolate tones. Inflorescences are non-double, but large.
Lemon Jewel - the name of the variety speaks for itself. Compact strongly leafy bushes firmly hold a scattering of terry bright yellow flowers.
Orange flame - the variety will not leave anyone indifferent due to the two-color spherical inflorescences with a bright orange center in a red-brown design.
Fine-leaved marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia),
Thin-leaved varieties have thin, strongly cut foliage and small non-double flowers of yellow, orange or red flowers. Blooming bushes resemble fishnet balls, dotted with many bright lights.
gold ring - a plant of medium height with fragile shoots and small light green leaves. It blooms from the beginning of June with bright yellow small flowers with dark orange edging.
Gnome - similar to the previous variety, but differs from it in its small height. Therefore, it is recommended for decorating the edges of flower beds, rabatok. Beautiful and suitable for growing in pots and boxes.
Lulu - the variety is distinguished by abundant flowering. The spreading bush forms a green ball, strewn with bright yellow stars.
Paprika - many fiery red flowers with a yellow center will not go unnoticed in any flower bed. The variety repels pests with a strong aroma.
With such a variety of varieties, you can make an elegant and long-blooming flower bed only from some marigolds, alternating different colors. Tall large-flowered varieties are placed in the center of the flower bed, framing them with low-growing varieties of a contrasting shade. Velvets planted in balcony boxes will fill the apartment with a subtle spicy aroma all summer long.