I marvel if our readers can answer a quick pop quiz . Can you name an one-year ornamental industrial plant that :
Did you answer “ marigold ” ? Because if you did , you ’re absolutely right .
Marigolds have been on my thinker of late because I ’ve been start to collect their seeds . I was trying to call up recently when was the last meter I bought marigold seeds ; I genuinely could n’t return , so it must have been a while .
Marigolds in mid-October – very much going strong, with some blooms not even open yet.
Whether you ’re grow marigold for the first time this year , or for the 10th sentence , you may want to read some of my tips on how to make certain you ’re saving and lay in marigold seeds right .
Let’s start with a reminder about marigold seeds, shall we?
If you ’ve been growing marigolds from saved seed , you probably know this already . Marigolds are one of those flowers that do n’t always come back true to form twelvemonth on class .
Some of the seeds that you ’re saving now and planting next spring wo n’t necessarily look like the parent plant life . There wo n’t be any wild variations ( I wish well ! ) , just enough to make it sport and interesting when they pop out blossom .
For illustration , in my garden French marigolds seem to be rotate through dissimilar spook of orange and burgundy from one year to the next . It ’s so thrilling to see what other hues they can develop all on their own .
I should probably clarify that they wo n’t all change from year to year . A humble majority will – enough to keep it interesting , but not mess with any color schemes you may have plan for your garden .
One thing to do before you collect marigold seeds.
Marigolds , whether we ’re sing about African , French , American or signet cultivar , are not the tidiest of ornamental . They ’ve made it to mylist of plants that take stakingand they will certainly ask some deadheading to keep them from looking unkempt .
If you ’ve been deadheading them over the past couple of months , make indisputable you discontinue this practice while they still have hard enough flower head for seed preservation .
In my garden , marigolds will start sound to sow from mid - October to mid - November . But I ’m not always in a hurry to compile them ; and there have been long time when I only sustain round to it after the first Robert Lee Frost . The germ were still viable the next year .
Marigolds in mid-October – very much going strong, with some blooms not even open yet.
The most important thing when you collect marigold seeds: Don’t be in a hurry to get it done!
Because most marigold cultivars look scraggly on the best of days , and because it takes them a long time to go from “ vibrant ” to “ decidedly dead , ” we may be tempted to get it over with and then chop down these yearly to the ground .
So while we can save seeds until lately in the year , we should n’t chance accumulate them too early on , when the seeds are n’t fully good for pick yet .
Time for another daddy quiz . Which of the following peak heads is not yet quick for seed accumulation ?
Some years I get some burgundy marigold surprises.
This was an easy one . The marigold on the right is not ready yet . It await dead , but it ’s not dry enough for the seminal fluid to come off . The left seed headspring and the midway one are more than quick to go .
If you ’re not sure whether the semen are dry enough for picking , test one with your finger nail . If the seed head feel crumbly to the touch and dry when you open up it up , it ’s ready for accumulation . The petals may still be attached . That ’s ok , as long as they ’re shriveled .
How to collect marigold seeds
issue off the dried prime head or simply crack them off the stem .
Then remove the dry up petals . There may not be any petals left if you ’re collecting seeds late in the time of year .
Using your fingers , break through enter the dry out seed pod ( called acalyx ) and distill the seeds . The seeds are all bunched up and should come off easily .
Stop deadheading the spent blooms before you collect the seeds.
Really important! Don’t store the seeds before you dry them.
You really do n’t want to neglect this step , especially with marigold cum . Why especially ? Because it may take marigold seeds longer to dry than other germ .
First of all , they ’re pretty heavy cum , compared to other annuals such as poppy , nigella , zinnia or cosmos , for exercise . So there ’s a big surface area that necessitate to dry out .
Secondly , they ’re very tightly packed in the calyx , so they barely get any airflow while in the pod .
Tagetes (Tall marigolds) might take even longer to dry out on the stems.
And thirdly , we collect marigold seed in a really moist season – November is very rainy where I garden – so we need to get rid of all that redundant wet before we store the seeds .
How to store marigolds for planting next year
After I ’ve extracted all the seeds from their pods , I spread them on a tray on top of my kitchen cabinets for a couple of weeks ; I judge to remember to shuffle them a few times to make indisputable the source are dry on all side .
you’re able to also dry out them on a newspaper towel . I used to dry mine on a cotton tall mallow cloth because , depending on how dampish the ejaculate are , the paper towel might stop up sticking to them .
Whatever you apply , keep in mind that if there are any petals give , they will maculate fabric .
The seed head on the right is not yet ready for collection.
When the semen are dry , I place them in a jarful and store them until the follow spring when they ’ll be ready to deform into new works .
you may also lay in marigold seeds in a newspaper gasbag or a newspaper bag , as long as you ensure you keep it in a cool piazza that does n’t get too much humidness .
As always , make certain you store seeds in the dark .
You can test them first, if you’re not sure.
Once you have mastered these marigold seed deliverance crown , I bet you ’ll join me in the “ ca n’t remember last time I grease one’s palms seeds ” camp .
Pop open the seed pod to reveal the seeds.
Remember that marigold petals will stain fabric, so remove them before drying the seeds.
This year’s “haul” is looking pretty good. Enough for a marigold patch next summer.
Ready to go into storage in my seed box.
