Calendula officinalis
Calendula
Common names: Pot marigold, Garden marigold
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 25 cm, rows 30 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Apr–Jun
- Harvest
- Jun–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −5 °C
- Water need
- Low
- For children
- Well suited
Photo: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen · Public Domain · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The marigold is a friendly companion in the vegetable bed. Its bright orange flowers attract beneficial insects, and its roots repel nematodes through root exudates. The petals are edible and give salads and soups a sunny color.
Care instructions
Sow from April directly into the bed; it germinates reliably and blooms all summer. Pinch out faded flowers regularly, then it will produce new buds tirelessly. It is tolerant, withstands drought well, and often self‑seeds.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–Jun
HarvestJun–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 8 °C, ideally 18 °C
- Days to sprout
- 7 to 14 days
- Light
- Needs darkness to sprout
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, loamy, well-drained, lean
The pot marigold is undemanding as to soil: ordinary, humus-rich garden soil is enough, and it also thrives on leaner sites. Ideal is a free-draining, slightly loamy soil that holds moisture but does not become waterlogged. Keep the soil rather low in nitrogen, because if it is too rich in nutrients the foliage grows at the expense of the flowers. The pH can range from weakly acidic to weakly alkaline, and it tolerates lime well.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
On normal garden soil you do not need to feed. On very lean or sandy soil, work a little mature compost in shallowly when planting in spring. Avoid nitrogen-heavy feeding, because it promotes foliage instead of flowers. On very free-draining soil you can occasionally help along with diluted plant liquid feed.
Overwintering
The pot marigold is an annual and dies with the first hard frost. You do not need to store or protect anything. Leave some faded seed heads standing: the seeds overwinter hardy in the soil and germinate by themselves in spring, or you collect ripe seeds in autumn and keep them dry and cool in a paper bag for the next sowing.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate pot marigolds almost exclusively by sowing. They are annual, reliable self-seeders. From mid-April, sow directly outdoors as soon as the soil is frost-free and sufficiently warm (about 10 °C). For earlier flowers, start them on the windowsill from March. Important: the pot marigold needs darkness to germinate. The seeds need darkness to sprout, so cover them completely with soil and press them down lightly. In a pot about 1 cm sowing depth is enough; outdoors, sow a little deeper (up to about 2 cm) so that the seeds do not dry out. Keep the sowing evenly moist. At about 15 to 20 °C the seeds germinate in roughly 8 to 14 days. After emergence, thin the seedlings to about 25 cm apart. If at the end of the season you let a few flower heads ripen and the curved seeds fall, the pot marigold sows itself again the following spring; once established you hardly need to buy any again.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Calendula yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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Where to get this plant
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