Wilting marigolds?
Question:i have marigolds planted in mostly sun. they were blooming when i planted them. now they have lovely green leaves and brown wilted flowers. what am i doing wrong?
Answers:
Chill out. Isn't lovely when we buy plants in bud? We stand back and say great. Then comes the Maintenance!!
First, was your soil ready for the plants? Do you have the fertilizer, minimum pest control, and mulch on hand? Have you and can you irrigate full sun marigolds?
Marigolds are like loyal dogs. They need nothing but proper nutrition, water, and attention. If you have mulched the bed remove the mulch from the base of the plant to about three inches. Apply a granular 10-10-10 with mineral fert per the manuf directions. Redo the mulch and add another 1/2 or so for the disturbance. A cheaper and more long term solution is to but Preen with weed preventer. Sprinkle as directed then add the small amount of mulch. This feeds and will give you weed-control through the season.
Make a mark on your calender to do two things. First I will dead head my Marigolds. The second is I will Deeply water my Marigolds. Deadheading is easy, but, can be tricky. You really need finger nails to do this (I don't since I bite them). You want to remove not only the dead flower head but remove it from the flower to the nearest leaf cloister (three or four leaves). This means taking both the head and the green stem it came from. With no nails I use a pair of sissors to do the job. This promotes new growth as the plant now does not feed what is dead.
Water is surely needed for this plant. It requires a minimum of 1" per week. The secret to watering is not the daily five minute spritz over the top (which is not a bad thing not not recommended!), rather, watering at the base of the plant to get to the roots. Depending on the rainfall, thunderstorms not included, water the roots for a long time.
In dry weather five mins minimum.
Even if you use the Preen and Weed Preventer (strongly recommended) fertilze every six weeks thereafter with the 10-10-10 with minerals granular. These flowers will last you until late October thus replacing the Mums which happen to be the same family anyway. Keep the bed mulched. Water until mid Sept unless you have an Indian Summer/Dry Spell.
Good Luck. I am at gjgjobs@yahoo.com.
You need to "deadhead" or remove the spent flowers when they are no longer appealing. This will keep the plants blooming all summer long. As long as you remove the old flowers, they will keep producing new flowers.
...Billy Ray
Just pick or snap the tops off. This is normal for them when they are done blooming. They will get a new flower in a few weeks.
Pluck off any brown flowers, at the base. It's normal .
If they just came out of a greenhouse, they will do that .It takes a few days to harden off . ( up to a week) Even if they were outside , they're now separated , and completely exposed , so will do it , just not as severely. While they are doing this , poke your finger into the soil to check for moisture, before deciding to water . Those little cells dry out quickly, but they could be perfectly wet, and still wilt , so you don't know without checking . With marigolds,it's better to err on the side of dryness.
In the future, putting plants in a semi-shaded location, sheltered from most of the wind , for 3-4 days , will alleviate this .
Cut the ugly dying flowers off and await for new ones~!~
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