Growing calendula is a simple process. It is unpretentious, grows well and blooms from early summer to late autumn. These unpretentious flowers create a bright spot of positive orange color and are able to decorate any flower garden.
They are used in the design of borders, in annual mixes, with single landings.
After flowering, several crescent-curved achenes are formed on the stalk of the calendula, collected in heaps, tightly pressed to each other. When ripening achenes diverge - open and fall to the ground.
Growing marigold from seeds
Calendula is grown exclusively from seeds. They are planted directly in the soil and at home for seedlings.
Marigolds often emerge self-seeding in the most unexpected places. So, the wind or birds spread the seeds over the site and the surrounding area. This fact once again proves that calendula is an undemanding flower.
Dates of planting marigold seeds
Marigolds are sown in spring, as usual, when the soil is ready and warmed up, or in autumn - in the winter way before the first frosts. Seeds perfectly winter in the ground.
For the middle European part of Russia, the time of spring sowing begins in the second half of April. Check the readiness of the soil by throwing a lump of earth. If it has crumbled, then the soil is ready for sowing.
In autumn, it is important to grasp the moment before the ground is covered with a frozen crust. If sown earlier, the seeds will sprout, and then frost will destroy them.
Experienced gardeners do the following:
- Prepare grooves for sowing in advance.
- When the earth turns up with hoarfrost, they lay the seeds.
- Sprinkle with pre-harvested mulch. It can be ordinary soil or a nutrient mixture.
And one more advice from summer residents with experience: spring flowerbeds are watered after sowing, autumn - not so that the seeds do not germinate ahead of time and do not freeze.
Sowing Marigold Seedlings
Marigold seedlings begin to be sown in February. Planting is carried out in ordinary soil for seedlings. Seeds are sealed in cassettes or ordinary trays, spilled with water, covered with transparent material, placed in a warm, well-lit place.
Calendula seedling care
Watering seedlings need moderate.
Every day the containers are aired, as soon as the first sprouts appear, the coating is removed and the boxes are transferred to a cooler place where the temperature is not higher than +15 ° C. Young seedlings should be watered with complex mineralized fertilizer well diluted in water to strengthen and grow.
For a week of transfer to the garden, the seedlings are tempered in the fresh air, each time adding time, bringing from several minutes to an hour, so the calendula will become stronger and take root faster. They land on the street at the stage of formation of the fifth or sixth leaf.
Sowing marigold seeds in open ground
Sowing in open ground can be mastered even by inexperienced summer residents and gardeners. It is so simple that it does not require any special knowledge or special efforts. Since the seeds are large enough, there will be no difficulties with planting them. The embedment depth is not more than 3 cm. The first sprouts will hatch in a week.
You can plant in holes, in grooves, and just sprinkle in random order. Do not be afraid to put a little more seeds. They can and should be thinned out. The released specimens should be used as seed - the calendula calmly reacts to the transplant.
Adult plants should be located at a distance of 8-10 cm from each other. In single plantings, each bush requires 20-30 cm².
Thickness does not harm the nails, does not affect their flowering.
With a dense landing, the strongest will survive, the plants will simply be slightly higher than usual. But precisely this effect is sometimes sought by flower growers. Calendula plantations are also made denser if it is grown to obtain medicinal raw materials.
The only thing that can degrade aesthetic qualities is poor lighting.
It should be remembered that the most important condition for calendula is sunlight.
The plant is unpretentious to soil and fertilizers. Excessively nutrient soil can adversely affect flowering. All forces will be aimed at building green mass.
It is worth taking care of the looseness of the soil and when digging before planting, add river sand to the ground.
The plant does not tolerate excessive watering and stagnation of moisture, especially if the summer is cold, cloudy and rainy.
Pollination of the soil will save from marigold diseases with wood ash. Before flowering, it is good to spray calendula with bioadditives containing boron for better budding and lush flowering.
Mr. Dachnik informs: collecting marigold seeds and the benefits of growing
Due to the high content of carotene and flavonoids, marigolds have pronounced bactericidal properties. The substances that make up the inflorescences help fight bacteria, for example, staphylococci and streptococci, relieve muscle cramps, remove toxins, increase immunity, and have many other useful properties.
Based on the extract from the flowers, drugs are released that help in the treatment of:
- burns;
- skin ulcers;
- fistulas;
- acne
A decoction of marigolds gargle with sore throat and colds, the oral cavity - with stomatitis.
Marigolds are widely used in cosmetology as part of alcohol tinctures and creams. In cooking, they serve as food coloring - they replace such an expensive spice as saffron.
Calendula is a good green manure and "heals" the earth, for example, from late blight, due to its bactericidal properties.
Calendula planted in a summer cottage will not only please the eye, but also scare away insect pests. To do this, several plants are planted along the edges of the beds or in the aisles.
Several bushes planted on a ridge with strawberries will save her from the nematode.
But in the neighborhood of radish and basil, marigolds will inhibit their growth - these plants have individual intolerance to each other.
Calendula is a good honey plant.
Medicinal raw materials are collected as flowers are ready almost all summer. During the season, it is fashionable to remove twenty crops from one flower bed, while the calendula will only bloom more magnificent.
Fullest buds have the greatest power. They are torn off, plucked or cut from the stem at a distance of 2 cm. It is important that the flowers are dry.
The stem parts, after the calendula has flowered and seeds are collected, do not throw away. They can be scented directly into the soil or used in a compost heap.
At the end of summer, seed ripening will begin. Landing ripeness can be determined by a change in color from green to brown.
Achenes large curved in the form of a sickle or the letter "C".
The fruits are harvested in dry weather in September-October with whole inflorescences, dried in a ventilated area on paper or fabric.
After drying the stalks achenes should be well separated. They are carefully disassembled by hands, if possible, remove garbage.
The seed material is stored in a glass container, paper bags or cloth bags in a dry place. Seeds do not lose their germination for up to five years.
