How to grow Marigold

Tagetes erecta · Tagetes patula, French marigold, tagetes

An easy annual with yellow, orange or mahogany-red flowers from early summer until frost. Grown as a dense planting for two to four months, French marigolds can suppress root-knot and lesion nematodes in the soil. The sap can irritate the skin.

Quick facts

Type	Flower
Family	Asteraceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	5.5–7
Frost	does not tolerate frost
Soil for sowing	from 10 °C
Germination	7 days
Seedlings ready	35 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 6 weeks before planting out.

Plant out in open ground about a week after your last spring frost, once the soil is warm.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	16…22 °C	balanced (NPK), 14 days into the stage
Growth	every 4 days	—	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Flowering	every 4 days	—	—

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	16…22 °C	balanced (NPK), 14 days into the stage
Growth	every 7 days	—	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Flowering	every 7 days	—	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	16…22 °C	balanced (NPK), 14 days into the stage
Growth	every 3 days	—	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Flowering	every 3 days	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Needs full sun, six hours or more a day.

Soil

Well-drained loamy soil, slightly acid, pH 5.5–7.0. Below pH 5.5 the leaves can turn bronze-speckled.

Care

Sow indoors at 21–24 °C, 4–6 weeks before planting out, covering the seed lightly; seedlings appear in 5–7 days. Or sow 6 mm deep outdoors once frost has passed and the soil has warmed. Plant out after the last frost, 20–25 cm apart, with a slow-release fertiliser mixed in. Keep the soil evenly moist for the first couple of weeks, then give about 25 mm of water a week in one deep watering, letting the soil dry a little between. Remove faded flowers for continued bloom. Watch for spider mites in hot, dry weather, and for slugs.

Pests and diseases of Marigold

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.