How and when to collect marigold seeds. We grow marigolds in the country for beauty and benefit

If you collect marigold seeds and grow them, you can get a flower of longevity. This is what the Chinese call it, and the ancient Maya people considered it a magical plant and used it in witchcraft rituals.

Bright, colorful marigolds will decorate any flowerbed, as an independent plant or in composition with other flowers, fill the nearest space with a tart aroma. In addition to external beauty, marigolds have medicinal properties, and in cooking, petals are used as a spice.

How to collect marigold seeds for seedlings

Due to its unpretentiousness and beauty, the flower has many admirers. It is called differently in each country. In Ukraine - black-haired people, in England - marigold. Spain is considered the birthplace of marigold. It was there that the flower was named in honor of the god Tadis - tagetes, from there it spread throughout the world.

You should choose marigolds for decorating plots for many reasons:

• the flower is unpretentious, it is not difficult to grow it;
• does not oppress neighboring plants;
• he has good survival rate, tolerates heat;
• strong smell scares off flies, mosquitoes and other insects;
• a beautiful combination of plant shades makes any flower bed festive.

The most beautiful marigolds are chosen for collecting seeds so that the next generation of flowers is just as attractive.

Tubular

Bisexual - the petals are clustered in the center of the marigold. They are self-pollinated, have high germination rates, while the plant is not very large and lush. A large amount of planting material is formed inside it, which can be used to plant large areas.

Reed

Same-sex, female. The petals are located at the edges, beautifully surround the whole marigold. Very bright, lush, double flower, but requires cross-pollination. It forms few seeds, but the most beautiful, bright and fluffy marigolds grow from them.

Collection time

Marigolds belong to the genus of perennial plants, they can be left for self-garden. In this case, the flowers will have poor germination, they will become stunted and not so colorful.

Full ripening of the plant begins 1.5 months after flowering, at which time the collection of marigold seeds begins. It lasts from August to October, depending on weather conditions and the degree of ripeness of the flower.

The ripening time is determined by the color of the marigold: it has a wilted stem, a dried gray calyx, brown petals.

Marigolds bloom gradually, which makes it possible to harvest seeds within 2 months. If the collection of planting material begins after frost, this will affect the quality, there will be poor germination.

The quality of the seeds depends on the following rules:

• different types of black shaves are planted at a distance to avoid cross-pollination and changes in the decorative differences of the variety;
• you need to remove unhealthy flowers from the flower bed;
• watering and feeding marigolds must be stopped after flowering, otherwise this leads to increased stem growth, and the petals will not form well;
• too dense planting of flowers limits the access of the sun to the base, which leads to the development of fungal diseases and infection of the planting material.

Important! Choose dry weather for collecting seeds, because insufficiently dry seeds will begin to rot and lose their ability to reproduce.

The size of the seeds depends on the variety of marigold:

• in erect, terry - the largest;
• in rejected, with many bright flowers, the size is smaller;
• thin-leaved, with openwork petals - a small amount of light seeds.

How to properly collect marigold seeds

It is necessary to take fully ripe seeds, unripe seeds can deteriorate during storage. Ripe ones have a rod-like shape, one edge is black with a downy.

If the damp climate lasts a long time, you need to cut off the wilted marigolds, along with the stem, and hang them to dry in a dry, ventilated room. A clean cloth or paper is spread under them; after ripening, the seeds will crumble there.

To collect marigold seeds you need:

• scissors;
• a large sheet of blank paper;
• any capacity;
• paper bags or canvas bags.

The flower cups are cut from the central stem. They should crumble easily in your hands. Knead them, take out the seeds and sprinkle them in a thin layer on a clean sheet of paper. Leave in a dark, dry building for 3-4 days to dry.

Calibration

For a good harvest, high-quality planting material is needed, so strong, healthy seeds should be selected for sowing. To separate the weak and empty, they are placed in 1:20 saline solution, left for 30 minutes. During this time, healthy grains will settle to the bottom, and non-viable ones will emerge. They are carefully removed.

The dry material is scattered into paper bags or canvas bags and stored until sowing. They dry it according to the type of plant, make the appropriate inscription on the packages.

Important! You can not collect seeds from sick marigolds, they can transmit the disease by inheritance.

Seed storage rules

The main condition for storage is to prevent dampness of the planting material. It is permissible to keep seeds in bags or containers, where air will be provided. The storage area should be dry, dark and cool. Do not store near heating appliances.

If there is no suitable space, it is best to keep the seeds on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. But sometimes you need to take them out and air dry.

Conclusion

The plant is not capricious: if you collect the seeds of marigolds correctly, then from mid-summer to late autumn they will decorate flower beds and lawns, pleasing the eyes of the owners.

With medicinal properties, flowers will always be available for first aid. Dishes prepared with the addition of flower petals acquire an exotic taste. The phytoncides and oils contained in it make the skin youthful, soft and clean. In addition, marigold is one of the few plants that has no contraindications.

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Mariana F.

Teach you how to harvest marigold seeds correctly. When and how should this be done?

Many people wonder how to properly collect marigold seeds and is it worth doing at all? Perhaps they will sprout themselves next spring? But in order to preserve the decorative effect of the flower, you should still devote a little time to the correct collection of seeds, which is guaranteed to give you good shoots and save varietal characteristics.

Once the marigolds are blooming, you can mark those plants that look the most attractive and are suitable for collecting seeds. You should know that inflorescences in marigolds are of two types:

• bisexual tubular flowers, the petals of which are located around the center of the inflorescence;
• female ligulate, the petals of which are located on the periphery, the so-called terry varieties.

Female marigold flowers

Simple tubular flowers produce much more seeds because they are self-pollinated. Terry inflorescences consist of some female flowers and need cross-pollination, therefore much less seeds are formed on such flowers than on simple ones. However, it is the seeds collected from terry inflorescences that carry the "fluffy" signs. Therefore, if you want to get decorative offspring, it is recommended to collect seeds from just such flowers.

It takes about 40 days from the time that the tages bloomed and the seeds fully ripen. You can start harvesting when the inflorescences you have chosen turn yellow and become completely dry, and the stems become brown in color. It is necessary to cut the seed box and carefully pour the seeds into a cardboard box or paper bag so that the seeds do not become moldy and damp.

Ripe box with marigold seeds

It should be noted that full ripening of seeds is possible only in sunny or dry weather. If it is constantly raining and damp outside, then you cannot leave the seeds to ripen in such conditions. Most likely, they will damp and rot. To prevent this, it will be advisable to cut off wilted, but not dried inflorescences along with the stems on a warm, clear day. Cut flowers are collected in a bunch and hung upside down in a dry place. A large sheet of paper is placed under the bundles. As they dry up, the ripe seeds will fall on the leaf themselves, and all you have to do is collect the finished "crop", pack it in a paper bag and save it until spring.

Seeds collected in this way do not differ in any way from those that ripened directly in the ground, and are capable of maintaining germination for 3-4 years.

Marigold seeds

How to care for marigolds for quality seeds

In order to collect quality seeds, you must observe some rules for planting marigolds:

If you have different varieties of marigolds growing on the same bed, then cross-pollination will inevitably lead to a change in the appearance of flowers. Perhaps several varieties will even disappear. However, do not be upset - tages seeds can always be found on sale. And if you are a gambling person who loves experiments, then feel free to collect seeds from your re-pollinated flowers, perhaps next year you will grow an unusual new species of beautiful marigolds.

How to properly collect marigold seeds: video

Marigolds are one of the favorite annuals for 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, or tagetes, belong to the genus of annuals and perennials in the Aster family. Erect branched stems form a bush with a height of 20 to 120 cm. The leaves are feathery, delicate, the root system is fibrous. Inflorescences are baskets, simple or double, yellow, orange or brown. Abundant flowering from mid-summer until frost. The fruit is achene, 1 g contains up to 700 seeds. The whole plant gives off a spicy aroma. It grows best in sunny places, although it tolerates a little shade. The soil should be nutritious, moderately moist.

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:

1. 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. From above, mulch with rotted sawdust, compost, leaf litter. In the spring, when the last frost has passed, the mulch is raked so that the soil warms up faster.
2. 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 begin 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 gradually gives off heat, maintaining the temperature several degrees higher than outside.

Seedlings appear in a week. Care 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. 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
• 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 slightly 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 blackfoot disease.

Caring for seedlings at home is no different from the agrotechnics 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 together 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 - add ash and dig it 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, they 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 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, inappropriate conditions for them can cause gray rot disease and an invasion of spider mites. The specimens that are sick with rot are destroyed, in healthy ones, watering is reduced, and they are sprayed with drugs against the fungus.
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, freeing from the husk.

Seeds are collected 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 condiment 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. Baths with infusion of tagetes 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 late blight disease 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 strewn 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 dark emerald carved foliage. The variety is 80 cm high.

Shaggy Robin - the pale yellow heads do look shaggy due to 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 a golden center 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 convenient 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 - a lot of 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 one and only from some marigolds, alternating different colors. Tall large-flowered varieties are placed in the center of the flower bed, framing them with undersized varieties of a contrasting shade. Velvets planted in balcony boxes will fill the apartment with a subtle spicy aroma all summer long.

The most important thing about marigolds - video

Or tagetes - an ornamental herb. This native of the subtropical regions of Mexico has successfully taken root in most countries of the world.

Its widespread popularity is due to its decorativeness and unpretentiousness to growing conditions. The spectacular flower grows well in poor soils and is able to withstand a short drought.

Bright green balls, dotted with hundreds of sunny, small inflorescences. One meter long, juicy stems topped with flowers, the size of a tea saucer. Low bushes, painting the borders of flower beds in maroon tones. This is all said about marigolds, the varietal variety of which is growing every year. You can find out more about the varieties of marigolds, about the features of their cultivation in the open field, as well as see the description and photos of flowers, and read about the perennial species of this flower).

Currently, there are about sixty plants. Vegetable growers in the beds next to vegetable crops. Marigolds are reliable protection against aphids, nematodes, May beetle larvae and causative agents of fungal infections.

What does a Tagetes seed look like?

Tagetes bloom profusely from the beginning of June until the first frost. Throughout the summer, you can see on the plants, like glasses, dried bolls, densely stuffed with several dozen achenes. You can view photos of marigolds, and also find out why they sometimes do not want to open their buds.

The seeds of marigolds look like flat black needles with a white tuft. Some varieties are dark brown in color. Their length and weight depends on the size of the original flower. For example, one gram of large-flowered erect tagetes contains about three hundred seeds, and in a bag of low-growing thin-leaved varieties of the same weight, you can count them up to seven hundred pieces (read about the features of caring for low-growing marigolds).

Photo

Check out the photo of marigold seeds:

How to assemble correctly?

Alternative use

Indoor floriculture uses the ability of these plants to fight phytophagous insects.

Reference. Water infusion of Tagetes seeds is able to expel spider mites, mealybugs from lemons and roses, as well as disinfect the soil.

To prepare it you need:

1. Take a tablespoon of chopped raw materials.
2. Pour a glass of boiling water over.
3. Let it brew in a warm place for 3-4 hours.

Dry boxes filled with achenes are an excellent material for preparing aromatic oils for taking relaxing baths. It is easy to prepare this useful substance at home:

1. Pour a handful of pounded seeds with 200 grams of corn or olive oil.
2. Insist 15 days in a dark place.
3. Filter through a gauze pad.
4. Pour into a dark glass bottle for storage.

Conclusion

Collecting seeds of your favorite flowers is a useful and enjoyable activity. It gives you the opportunity in the fall to once again communicate with the plants in the garden, make plans for the next season and save money on the purchase of new green pets. Properly harvested and stored seeds are a reliable guarantee of the beauty of your future flower beds.

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