You can grow marigolds on the windowsill as early as March, so that they start after the Frost Saint blossoms and decorate the spring garden with their bright orange tones. Breeding from seeds is no problem at all, as long as you pay attention to a few important points.
From the end of February, marigolds can be preferred in the warm
The Materials Required
- propagation pots or bowls
- Special low-nutrient potting soil
- Clear plastic bags or plastic hoods
- plant sprayer
- Seeds of the marigold
If you plan to grow marigolds yourself, it pays to collect seeds from plants growing in the garden as early as autumn. To do this, leave a few flower heads on the marigold until they dry up. Cut off carefully and place on a piece of kitchen paper for about a week. Once the flowers have completely dried up, you can carefully pull out the seeds.
prefer on the windowsill
You can start breeding them as early as the end of February or the beginning of March. To do this, proceed as follows:
- Fill the cultivation vessels with substrate and press down lightly.
- Moisten well with a sprayer.
- Scatter the seeds flat over the surface of the soil.
- Since the marigold is a light germinator, you do not need to cover the seed with soil.
- Pour carefully again with a very soft stream.
- Cover the culture vessels with a plastic bag or the plastic hood. This creates an artificial greenhouse climate and accelerates germination.
Under these conditions, the seed sprout quickly and the first cotyledons often appear after just one week. Don't forget to ventilate daily. This prevents mold and rot formation. If necessary, water the seedlings with the sprayer.
The pricking
So that the little plants do not compete with each other for space in the seed pot after a while, they are pricked out as soon as the second pair of leaves appear. To do this, carefully lift the small marigolds out of the seed tray with a pricking stick and place each marigold in its own flower pot filled with a mixture of potting soil and sand.
Place the pots in a light but not full sun spot on the window sill. A cover is no longer required. Here the marigolds develop into strong young plants that you can plant in the garden after the ice saints.
tips
Pulling out the elongated seeds can be a Sisyphean task. Just put all the seeds in a plastic bag, inflate it a bit and shake the bag vigorously. The seed separates from the pods and can be removed easily.