Marigold
Flower · warm season · also called tagetes
When to plant
- Start seeds indoors about 6 weeks before planting out.
- Plant outdoors about 1 week after your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 50 days after planting out.
Classic companion for tomatoes; French types deter nematodes.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
Not edible.
Harmful to pets. Mildly toxic: the sap can irritate cats' and dogs' mouths and skin.
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Spacing
- 8–12 in
- Soil temperature
- At least 60°F
- Time to harvest
- About 50 days
- Containers
- At least 1 gallons
- Plant family
- Lettuce and daisy family
- Seeds keep
- About 2 years
Companions
Good neighbors: Tomato, Pepper, Cucumber, Green beans (bush)
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- Plant flowers with your vegetables. Zinnias, sweet alyssum, dill, and marigolds bring in bees, plus the ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverflies that eat aphids and caterpillars.
- Snip off faded flowers. Zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, and other annual flowers keep blooming longer if you cut off the old flowers before they set seed.
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