How to Harvest and Save Marigold Seeds

Place the paper towel out of direct light. Allow the marigold seeds to air dry uncovered on the paper towel for about a week. The seeds need to dry thoroughly, so they don’t get moldy in storage.

Marigolds

Marigolds are cheerful flowers native to Central and South America. They are strikingly beautiful and amazingly easy to grow!

How To Grow Marigolds

Annual. With sunny and cheerful little blooms in tangerine and lemon stripes, Bambino boasts short and perfectly tidy mounds reaching just 10″ tall. These compact plants are covered in blooms, making each a small burst of sunshine, ideal for mixed plantings, containers, and bedding.

• Annual
• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 F
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes patula

Growing Tips: For transplanting, sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost. May also be direct-sown after last spring frost in ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun, summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

(T. patula) 50-60 days. A regal selection, these ruffled, fully double blooms have a gilded appearance and reach an impressive 2- to 3- inches across. Petals have a rich golden center, bordered in cadmium yellow. Plants are dwarf; they stand compact at about 10 inches tall and 6 to 10 inches wide. Ideal for beds, borders, or companion planting in vegetable gardens.

Annual. Invite this bold French marigold into your garden for masses of gilded blooms with natural pest-repelling qualities! Large bicolored blooms of red and gold are simply stunning. This is the ultimate useful flower! Not only are the petals edible, it can repel garden pests such as whiteflies and nematodes. Try interplanting this beauty among your vegetable crops!

• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 F
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes patula

Growing Tips: For transplanting, sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost. May also be direct-sown after last spring frost in ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun and summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

Annual. This giant African type is popular with gardeners coast to coast. Big double blooms come in shades of lemon yellow to deep orange, and the 30″ plants are profuse.

• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 F
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes erecta

Growing Tips: For transplanting, sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost. Direct sow after last spring frost in ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun and summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

50-60 days. (T. patula) Cheerful, 2-inch, single-petaled blooms in a fun mix of yellows, reds, oranges, and golds. This splendid blend adds sunshine to beds, borders, and the vegetable patch. Known as an early bloomer, these plants are quite short and tidy at just 9 inches tall by 6-10 inches wide. This variety is very floriferous, and each plant is jam packed with blocks of color, reminiscent of a checkered disco dance floor!

Upbeat yellow blooms on dwarf, bushy plants are ideal for beds, borders, and containers. The pretty golden-yellow, double flowers make a magnificent natural dye for food and fabrics!

• Annual
• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 F
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes patula nana

Growing Tips: For transplanting, sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost. Direct sow after last spring frost in ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun and summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

Annual. A stellar, crystal-white headed marigold that is sure to amaze! This variety has lovely 3-inch creamy-white blooms that really stand out from the traditional gold, yellow and bronze marigolds! White marigolds were long in the making; in fact, Burpee Seed Company spent 56 years of searching and breeding before finding success. After years of trying, David Burpee offered $10,000 to the first home gardener who sent in the right seeds to help make a real white variety; thousands of gardeners responded for years. One lady, Alice Vonk of Sully, Iowa, sent seeds for 21 years, and in 1975, Burpee awarded her the coveted prize for her work—after the company had spent more than five decades and $250,000 testing during the contest years. Now there are several white varieties, including this beauty that was developed by Hem Zaden seed company, on a farm on Mount Kilimanjaro. We love the fluffy white flowers in bouquets.

• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 F
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes erecta nana

Growing Tips: For transplanting, sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost. Direct sow after last spring frost in ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun and summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

A smoldering and memorable marigold with gracefully wavy stems, and smoky orange and red blooms that resemble embers in a crackling fire. This old variety has long been tended at the Linneas Botantical Gardens in Uppsala, Sweden.

• 8-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes patula linneaus
  

Growing Tips: Sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost (for transplants); or direct seed after last spring frost. Sow in ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun, summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

A petite yet bold French marigold. The pincushion blooms with flame colors create a stunning effect like smoldering embers. These tidy plants are tightly packed with 1- to1.5- inch blooms. The dwarf but sturdy plants reach just 10 inches tall and about 12 inches wide.

Annual. We love the unique blooms on this dwarf French type! Bronzy red to orange single petals with a bright orange plume of petals at the center. Try planting these special marigolds en masse or along borders for a flaming effect in the garden. Don’t forget that French marigolds are naturally pest resistant and make useful companion plants to things like squash and tomatoes!

• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 F
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes patula

Growing Tips: For transplants, sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost. May also be direct seeded after last spring frost into ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun and summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

Colossal blooms can grow to 5 inches wide and are a vivid tangerine-orange. Orange Hawaii is the most striking and beautiful African type. The behemoth blooms will wow in the garden and are rich in the orange-hued antioxidant beta carotene, making them the top choice for making natural dyes for fabric or food. Orange Hawaii is also the gold standard for feeding to poultry to enhance the orange color of egg yolks. A bold landscape plant, proudly standing 3 feet tall and smothered in massive flowers, the best for making marigold garlands and altars.

• Annual
• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 F
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Plant Height: 3′
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes erecta

Growing Tips: For transplanting, sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost. Direct sow after last spring frost in ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun and summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

(T. patula) 50-60 days. A gleaming carnelian-orange color gives Safari Scarlet an incredible luminescence. Dwarf plants are generously adorned with radiant, anemone-type blooms, making for stunning visual impact in containers, beds, or borders. Plants reach just 8 to 10 inches tall, and about 6 to 8 inches wide with 2-inch blooms.

(T. patula) 45-50 days. Vibrant, nearly 3-inch double-petaled blooms make this citrus-hued French marigold impossible to miss. This compact dwarf variety stands just 10 to 12 inches tall and equally wide, perfectly sized for growing in containers, beds, and borders. This sunny selection was awarded the 1992 Fleuroselect Gold Medal for its earliness, tidy habit, and vivid color. Adds a wonderful color pop to the vegetable garden without out-competing neighboring plants.

Sugar and Spice Marigolds- (Tagetes erecta) 50-65 days. Big blooms like dollops of freshly churned butter are so sunny and cheerful. Beautiful blooms 2 inches across sit atop 16-inch tall plants. Excellent for pots, beds and borders.

Enjoy this late-blooming marigold in teas and other drinks; a great flavoring for many dishes. This old Hispanic heirloom is hard to find nowadays, but is still a great garden plant that is easy to grow and quite flavorful.

• Tender Perennial
• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 5-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4″
• Ideal Temperature: 75-80 F
• Plant Spacing: 8-12″
• Frost Hardy: No
• Tagetes lucida

Growing Tips: For transplanting, sow indoors 3-4 weeks before last frost. Direct sow after last spring frost in ordinary garden soil. Thrives in full sun and summer heat. Remove spent flowers to prolong blooming period.

How to Harvest and Save Marigold Seeds

Erin Huffstetler is a frugal living expert who has been writing for over 10 years about easy ways to save money at home.



Julie Thompson-Adolf is a Master Gardener and author with over 30 years of experience in year-round organic gardening; seed starting, growing heirlooms, and sustainable farming.



• Working Time: 30 mins – 1 hr
• Total Time: 30 mins – 1 hr
• Skill Level: Beginner
• Estimated Cost: $0

Marigolds are a mainstay in many gardens. They provide cheerful and abundant color all season long and are simple to grow from seed. If you learn how to harvest marigold seeds, you won’t have to buy new plants or seeds for the next growing season. Harvesting and saving marigold seeds is quick and easy. You simply have to remove the seeds from the blooms and let them air dry before storing them over the winter. If you have an abundance of blooms, you can even make some seed packets to give away as gifts.

Note that if your marigolds are hybrid varieties, their seeds may produce plants that don’t resemble the parent producing the seeds. Instead, they may revert to one of the original plants used to produce the hybridization. That’s not a bad thing, as long as you don’t mind unpredictable variation in your garden. If you want seeds that grow identical flowers to the parent plant, opt for heirloom/open-pollinated marigolds. Read on to find out how to harvest, store, and plant marigold seeds from your marigold flowers.

When to Harvest Marigold Seeds

It’s crucial to wait for the right time to take seeds from marigolds. Plan to harvest the seeds when the petals are dry and the base of each bloom (the seed pod) is turning brown. 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. When the seeds are ready to be harvested, the achene will have a white end and a dark end. 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.

Tip

It’s OK to harvest the seed pods when there is still a little green at the base. If you wait too long, you risk mold growth, which can ruin the seeds.



What You’ll Need

Equipment / Tools

• Basket or other container for harvesting blooms
• Writing utensil

Materials

• Marigold plants
• Paper towel(s)
• Paper envelope(s)

Instructions






Carefully Open the Marigold Seed Head

Set a paper towel on a flat surface. 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.

Tip

Some marigold flowers are edible and can add a distinct flavor to salads. The leaves are also edible and used in salads. So if you get more blooms than you need for saving seeds, pick and eat the flower petals while they’re still tender (not dry).



Remove the Marigold Seeds



Marigold seeds are attached to the long, slender, and pointed achenes. The achenes are dark on one end and light on the other and the actual seed is the darker end. Take each bloom, and pull the seeds away from the base. Keep the achene in one piece—you do not need to pinch off or release the seed part. Then, discard the base. 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. The seeds need to dry thoroughly, so they don’t get moldy in storage.

Store the Seeds



Store marigold seeds over winter by placing them in a paper envelope. Don’t place them in a plastic bag because that will retain any residual moisture, which can cause the seeds to go bad. Label the envelope, so you remember what’s in it, and add the date harvested. If you have multiple marigold varieties, make sure to keep them separated when drying and use separate envelopes for their seeds unless you’re not concerned about mixing plants. Store the envelope in a cool, dark, dry place.

Use the Seeds

Plant marigold seeds in your garden in the spring after your last frost date. For best results, seeds stored over winter should be used during the next growing season. While marigolds can tolerate some shade, it’s best to plant them in full sun. Doing so will create more vibrant blooms. Marigolds germinate quickly, so there’s generally no need to start them indoors. However, if you do, you can transplant seedlings outdoors when they are about 2 inches high. If you sow the seeds directly in the ground outdoors, you may want to thin them after they sprout so that they are about 10 inches apart. Use scissors to cut down new shoots, as pulling them directly out of the ground could harm the root system of nearby seedlings. At the end of the season, you can repeat the seed-storage process with your new marigold plants.

Tip

The way to tell if a marigold seed is still viable is by testing how dry it is. If the seed has encountered any humidity or dampness, it is probably not good for germination. If your seeds bend and break, they are probably dry enough to plant. If they don’t break, they may not germinate. Though not always accurate, you can also test the viability of seeds this way: put a few seeds in a glass of water. If they all sink, they are still good, but if they float, toss them.