Quick marigold question!

When each of the marigold's flowers have died, do i remove them? If so, is it best to break them of with my fingers or cur with secateurs?

Thanks!

 

Cut them off, but towards the end of summer leave a few so they go to seed, then you will have plenty for next year.

 

thanks clueless!

 

:gnthb:

 

I just use my fingers

 

Whatever works best for you Busy Bee cut or nip and if you do as Clueless says and save a few seeds you will be amazed how well the seeds grow next year I did it last year and are now getting rewarded with masses of flowers!

Bob's happy too as he didn't have to buy any marigold plants this year too!:hehe:Hel.xxx.

 

Very easy to germinate but not having a greenhouse, I only sowed mine outside a few weeks ago, so it'll be a while before I get blooms! I love marigolds though and I too pinch off the heads. Part of my morning ritual (along with cutting sweetpeas!) with a cup of coffee and a ciggie!

 

Did you know that Marigold flowers don't need to go in the bin/compost after you've picked them off? If we are talking English Marigolds (Pot Marigolds?) you can steep the flower heads in hot water for a refreshing drink, or blonde folks can use it as a hair rinse to keep their blonde hair shiny (apparently, I've tried the drink version but nobody in our house is blonde so can't comment on the hair rinse one).

 

i planted a bare area last year with seeds grown that year. There was a resulting large area of bright orange flowers the next year. I hope the result this year is as good.

l;eave lots to seed and collect them

 

How do i go about collecting the seeds exactly? When do i collect them?

 

Pick the flower heads as they fade. I roll the end (where it came away from the rest of the plant) between my fingers and the green fleshy bit sort of opens and lots of twig like seeds come out. Grey and white small "twigs". Sorry, a rubbish description.

Collect anytime over the summer, when the flowers fade. I vaguely dry mine and seem to end up with mountains of them, most of which don't get sown.

 

I always thought you had to wait til the end of summer, and then let them really go well and truly past it.

Some of my marigolds have already started to go to seed, and I was going to chop those heads off and discard them but haven't got round to it yet. Will the seeds in them be ready do you think? I ask in hopeful desperation because I had a moment of madness the other day, and took my hoe to the weeds seedlings, having forgot that I'd sown some marigolds there two or three weeks beforehand. I am now without marigold seeds, and only have a few shop bought marigolds in the garden.

Also, does anyone know how long the seeds stay viable for? I have some from a couple of years ago but haven't bothered because I figured they'd be well past it by now.