Marigold Flowers 101: Planting, Care & Harvesting for These Beautiful, Beneficial Pollinators

Marigolds are something that every gardener should grow. They're easy, great for pollinators, look good, and are useful! Along with telling you everything you need to know about planting & growing these, we're doing a GIVEAWAY.

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0:41 Intro
1:24 Planting
11:00 Care
16:10 Harvesting

One thing that I love about marigolds is those of us in zones 9 and 10 can plant seeds really late into the season, and it LOVES heat. Sometimes called the Day of the Dead flower, it also has a lot of cultural significance for those of us who live in areas with a lot of Mexican heritage. Whether you celebrate or not, it's a really pretty flower with a lot of great uses. Let's start off at the beginning.

Marigold seeds are really easy to get started. The long and skinny seeds should be near the surface of the soil. You can direct sow them, but I recommend doing it in starter cells with a tray so you can bottom water. It's easier to monitor, and you can be more intentional when you plant which is important for spacing.

Fill up your cell with seed starting mix and moisten the soil. You can then set the seeds right on top of the soil and sift some soil on top of that. That ensures you won't have a stick or small stone right on top of your seed and keep it down.

Frost will kill marigolds. That's usually not a problem for us in zones 9 and 10, but you don't want to start them too soon. They love the heat, so we start them all through June and July.

When you are ready to transplant your starter into the ground, keep an eye on its roots. If it is root bound, carefully break up the ball a bit so the plant will stretch out. I prefer to plant at night and avoid planting on hot days. Pre-soak your soil, and you can water 1-2 more times to give your plant the best chance to acclimate successfully. For raised bed gardeners, pre-soak the entire raised bed. If needed, use some shade cloth!

As you plant, spacing is critical. Appropriate spacing encourages blooms and discourages disease. I recommend having at least 4-6 inches between plants to allow your plants to grow and put out lots of blooms.

Marigolds are all about the flowers, and you need to fertilize accordingly. Look for high levels of phosphorous and potassium since that helps the plant focus on blooms instead of the foliage.

When you are ready to harvest, it's best to cut them on a cool morning. They will continue to open after you cut them, so you can trim them as the petals are still unfurling. Follow the stem down (usually not very far) to the split and cut there which helps the next set of blooms come in. If you are growing for the blooms on the plant, dead head them (cut after they bloom) to encourage more growth down the road.

If you're saving the seeds, the petals will dry out, and you'll have a pod full of seeds ready to save. They're super easy to save so I really recommend it.

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[agrubbs]

This is the gardening 101 video I’ve been searching for. At first I was like, a 20 minute video on marigolds 🤯, but it’s so much more. Thanks so much!

[IJS_AI]

Mosquitos brought me here.
I'm currently in the "impossible" process of controlling the mosquitos in my neighborhood.
I don't know this women, but I love this women.

[Enedina]

I didn’t think I liked marigolds that much, until I grew them last year. They did amazing 😍 they are now one of my favorite flowers

[patsymartin]

I've been considering planting Marigolds in the holes of my cinder block raised garden.

[mkxv]

I remember planting marigolds in elementary school to learn about plant growth! Now I have them in my lil veggie patch ❤

[michellejester]

Little did I know in the '70's when my parents had them as a border flower how EASY they seed!! I would pick the flowers and pull them apart bc they smelled so weird and just had so so many seeds! Then I'd just toss and sprinkle the seeds as I was playing in the garden and OMG!!! They grew EVERYWHERE I dropped them!!! We had them for YEARS, just from me and my friends playing around!!😂😂

[christinahasapis]

This is quite possibly the best "1st video" I've ever watched when looking in to new plants for my garden. The amount of info, and the way you presented it was perfect. What a great "Teacher" you make.

[marilyncurtis]

Thank You. Im going to go out and try to thin out the marigold plants I grew from seeds now.

[ellenmeader]

I could actually smell the marigolds as i watched this video. Brings back memories of moms garden.

[morenopaco]

I love that you mentioned the cultural value of marigolds. In Ecuador, Marigolds are called flowers of the dead. I’ve learned to appreciate their cultural value as well as their ability to grow year-round here in South Florida. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[tracycouture]

They have many medicinal benefits, I love the flowers in my dried tea blend 🌱👍

[pattywykes]

This is the best video on marigolds I’ve seen. So comprehensive. I felt like I was drinking from a fire hose! Thank you!

[DasaScent]

Great thorough video for beginner like me 🌼🏵👍🏼

[dianabradley]

I plant a group now for spring in the Veggie garden and then plant another round in late July garden for fall and Thanksgiving decorations around my front porch and front yard .... such beautiful GOD given JOY.

[rhcrszp]

Great information, thanks! I’m a renewed Marigold lover!

[gblyndensrandomreviews]

I will make one correction. It only thrives in the heat once it is strong enough to handle the heat. I had two sprouts get baked after a couple of hours in direct sunlight.

[wardsdotnet]

We're growing them as companions for the tomatoes

[eastcoast]

They may not be everybody’s favourite on looks or smell, but they are amazing as companion plants

[annalisa]

I love marigolds, they have a huge significance in Mexican culture. I grew up finding them around my house in September-November

[zfjxjed]

Very glad I found your channel and this video. Super helpful. Really like you sharing the reasoning behind doing things a certain way as well. As a beginner gardener, my grown from seeds marigolds are doing super great (not blooming yet) and they MUST be very easy to grow as I am the Jon Snow of gardening. However, I see I am doing a lot of things incorrectly and your video taught me a ton. Thank You!