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IN THIS GUIDE

MARIGOLDS GUIDES

orange, yellow and red flowering marigolds growing in a wooden container in front of some green-leaved plants

Companion PlantingDeadheadingPlantingSowingVarieties

Tagetes marigolds are attractive flowers which flower over a relatively long menses in the summer garden .

There are several different type to choose from that can be grown as annual in a UK garden .

tagetes beginning to flower next to tomato plants growing in a mulched bed

One of the great thing about them is that they are passably sluttish to farm from seed , somewhat crushed - sustenance and , when positioned in the proper location , they will readily ego - seed and pop up again each class rather than take in to be sown anew each bounce .

Marigolds , especially certain Gallic marigolds , also make first-class familiar plants .

They can be beneficial fellow traveler for almost every crop you might grow in your kitchen garden .

orange tagetes marigolds growing with onions in a vegetable bed

Why Marigolds Make Great Companion Plants

Gallic marigold , Tagetespatula , are commonly planted in veg garden because they are known to be fantabulous companions for a wide mountain range of crops that are mature alongside them .

The main reasons that marigolds make great comrade plants is that they :

We excuse each of these benefit in more detail below .

a snail on the top of a frilly yellow marigold flower

1) Attracting Beneficial Wildlife

Marigolds bloom over a relatively long menses , providing ambrosia for a spacious reach of bee , butterflies and other pollinator .

Many marigolds are therefore an excellent flower to draw pollinators into your vegetable garden where they are needed for the pollination of insect - pollinate crop .

“ Marigold ‘ Burning Embers ’ is one of my favourite varieties because the pollinators love it , ” shares Ann - Marie Powell , a Garden Designer and TV Personality .

big leafy cabbages growing in rows next to orange-flowering tagetes in a large field

“ If you get the pollinators into your veg plot or patch , they will pollinate your vegetable heyday for you so you get high fruit . ”

Some dirt ball - pollinated crops in a food - make garden that could benefit from take marigolds nearby , for this reasonableness , are tomatoes , peppers , squash , courgettes , cucumbers , as well as many fruit trees , cane fruit   and berry bushes .

Marigolds also draw in insects that feed on pest species , such as ladybird , hoverflies , lacewings and parasitical wasps .

a pile of soil full of organic plant matter

These keep downpopulations of aphidsand can keep an ecosystem balanced so you do n’t get too much damage to your crops .

This means that any crops devil by aphids or other insect pests use up by these predatory louse could benefit from have marigolds get nigh by .

2) Trap Crop

Marigolds can also potentially be used as a maw craw for several pest species .

Trap craw draw in the attention of plague , thereby keep them off more valuable harvest species in your garden .

Marigolds can , in particular , be a beneficialtrap craw for slugs .

flowering french marigolds in various shades of orange

When come in around the bound of a kitchen garden bed as a sacrificial trap harvest , they will draw slugs to them .

Though some plant may be lost , you may collect slugs up before they threaten your other plants ( if they are not pick off by other wildlife you should be attracting to your distance ) .

“ Fascinatingly , chemicals transude by the tooth root ofTagetes minutahave been shown to repel smoke such as couch grass and bindweed , ” adds Master Horticulturist Peter Lickorish .

a gardener wearing gloves holding a handful of chopped plant matter

3) Pest Repellent

Gallic marigold may also rebuff sure cuss specie .

There is some evidence that suggests , for example , that they may help , at least partially , to keep cultivated cabbage moths off .

Studies have also shown that the limonene they excrete can help somewhat in repelling whiteflies from the area.1How the humble marigold outsmarts a devastating tomato pest . ( 2019 , March 1 ) . Newcastle University : Press Office . Retrieved March 21 , 2023 , fromhttps://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/archive/2019/03/whiteflieslimonene/

yellow flowering marigolds with thin green leaves

So , marigolds may be a beneficial fellow traveller for brassica ( cabbage family crop ) and any plants vex by whitefly for these reasons .

4) Reduce Nematodes

One other way that marigold are said to be utile as a companion plant is due to their ability to kill off nematodes in the land that can pose a problem for crop .

There are both beneficial and damaging roundworm in garden ground .

These are flyspeck , thread - like organism and there are many nematodes that we need – and many that may become a problem for home raiser .

french marigolds growing in rows with Parsley ‘Moss Curled’

Marigolds bring forth compound known as nematicides in their roots , but thing are not quite as bare and fresh - cut as some citizenry believe.2Kruger , R. , Dover , K. , McSorley , R. , & Wang , K. ( 2019 , December 2).Marigolds ( Tagetes spp . ) for Nematode Management . University of Florida . recover March 21 , 2023 , fromhttps://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/NG045

When certain nematode attack certain French marigold , they are defeat off in that specific location and see a reducing in their numbers , but we can not commonly set which nematode worm we have in our ground , nor whether the marigolds we grow will sincerely be efficacious against them .

Marigolds might also excrete a chemical that can rebuff nematodes in the surrounding area , though scientific consensus is lacking at present on whether or not this is the case .

The scientific discipline is currently inconclusive about whether fellow traveler planting with marigolds can help with nematode issues for nearby plants .

What we do know , however , is that plants that follow marigolds immediately after them in rotation are less likely to be struck by nematode problem ( such as theme rot ) , specially when the marigold ’ roots are go out in the land after they have been growing in a particular orbit for 3 - 4 months .

sure varieties produce more of the nematicides and therefore can be more effective where this is a concern .

They work considerably when planted closely spaced in a cylinder block .

5) Chopped & Dropped

There is some grounds to suggest that marigolds chop and dropped on the surface of the soil when the growing season comes to an terminal may also aid with nematode issue .

Dead plant matter wo n’t belt down nematodes , but can promote good for you universe of land biota that can aid keep harmful nematode numbers game lower overall .

Also , since marigold laid as mulch on the dirt improve the soil wellness , this is also of welfare more broadly for a wide range of crops and other plant .

6) Additional Yields

marigold also provide us with extra yields , which is another reason why they make a practiced companion plant to include in your veggie gardens .

Not only are they beneficial for other crops , they can also provide us with edible petal that can be used as a garnish .

Scented French marigold yield an essential oil that is used in perfumery and many type make wonderful cut flowers for home displays .

7) Ground Cover

Marigolds also make good almost universal companion plant life in a vegetable garden because when planted between or around other crops , they cover the soil , protecting it , economize wet and suppressing weed .

In doing so , they do n’t take up too much water or nutrients that could affect the growing of other plants growing closely by .

They are not grave feeders , so wo n’t precede too much contention into your growing areas .

Of of course , you always still have to take sun , H2O and space demand into account when planning where to put marigolds .

As you’re able to see from the above , marigold can be a near - universal companion plant for your kitchen garden , so it is a great estimate to grow them in a number of different polyculture combinations .

Just ensure that your marigolds still get plenty of sun through the summertime and they should thrive , helping other nearby plants to do the same .

References