Replant Your Seeds for Fresh Flowers Next Spring
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Marigoldsare a mainstay in many gardens.
They provide cheerful and abundant color all season long and are simple togrow from seed.
Harvesting and saving marigold seeds is quick and easy.
The Spruce / Randi Rhoades
Read on to find out how to harvest, store, and plant seeds from your marigold flowers.
Marigold seeds look like little pointy black and white slivers.
These slivers are actually the marigold’s fruits, called achenes, to which the seeds are attached.
The Spruce / Randi Rhoades
If the seeds are not ready to be harvested, the entire achene will be light in color.
The dark end of the achene is the seed.
If you wait too long, you risk mold growth, which ruins the seeds.
The Spruce / Randi Rhoades
Then, holding the base of each bloom, pull off and discard the petals and leaves.
You will see long rods inside the heads called achenes; each achene has a seed attached to it.
Set the prepared blooms on your paper towel for now.
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Take each bloom, and pull the seeds away from the base.
Keep the achene in one pieceyou do not need to pinch off or release the seed part.
Then, discard the base.
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Separate the seeds (achenes), and spread them out on your paper towel.
Let the Seeds Dry
Place the paper towel out of direct light.
Allow the marigold seeds to air dry uncovered on the paper towel for about a week.
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The seeds need to dry thoroughly, so they don’t get moldy in storage.
Store the Seeds in an Envelope
Store marigold seeds over winter by placing them in apaper envelope.
Label the envelope, so you remember what’s in it, and add the date harvested.
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Store the envelope in a cool, dark, dry place.
For best results, seeds stored over winter should be used during the next growing season.
Marigolds germinate quickly, so there’s generally no need to start them indoors.
However, if you do, transplant seedlings outdoors when they are about 2 inches high.
At the end of the season, repeat the seed-storage process with your new marigold plants.
Testing for Viability
Test a marigold seed to see if it’s viable before planting.
If your seeds bend and break, they are dry enough to plant.
If they don’t break, they may not germinate.
Can You Save Any throw in of Marigold Seed?
Instead, they may revert to one of the original plants used to produce the hybridization.
If you want seeds that grow identical flowers to the parent plant, opt for heirloom/open-pollinated marigolds.
Can You Eat Marigold Seeds?
Some marigoldflowers are edibleand add a distinct flavor to salads.
The leaves are also edible and used in salads.
Yes, many annual marigolds reseed themselves.
If you would like that to happen, don’t deadhead the flowers after they are done blooming.
