I am marigold growing genius superstar!
Just kidding.
Kind of.
All right, so recently, I told you how I had been completely unsuccessful with my marigold-from-seed attempt (uhhh-gain!), but this week one finally flowered.
I let my fingers do some walking over the interwebs and found I’d been doing marigolds wrong. Today, I’m admitting my faults and promising a new day for marigolds on Burton Farm!
How I’m remedying what I’ve been doing wrong with my marigolds:
- Because marigold seeds are so feathery and paper thin, I have always scattered the seeds on top of the soil because planting under any amount of dirt seems to be too deep. Apparently, one of four things have been happening:
- The seeds are blowing away in the wind.
- The seeds are being washed away by my exuberant watering.*
- The seeds are not staying adequately moist, dry out and die.
- Birds eat them.
Solution: Regular Watering
The marigolds are in a large pot on the back porch. The kids practically live outside so since I’m out there with them, I water the plants. The pot they’re in drains well and ensure they’re not over-watered.
2. Zero notes. Knowing me and how much I love documentation, you’d be aghast that I haven’t kept a journal since day one on my garden here on the farm. Alas, no records. If there are records from my garden in the townhouse, the apartment, my patio home, or my first home, I am either not sure where I put them, or too lazy to go look, or both. I am publicly shamed.
Solution: Keep a Garden Journal
Today, I established a garden journal.
Right now, it’s a word document on my computer. I may have to move it to a handwritten journal because I prefer writing for notetaking. I plan to make notations of planting & harvest dates, successes & failures, plant maintenance performed & maybe, time spent gardening. Of course, this will help me provide you with more accurate and thorough information about our plants, but also by recording my time, maybe I can determine whether or not growing my own food saves us any money.
3. No testing. When I planted these marigolds, I poured out the whole pouch of seeds in one container. I don’t have any A/B tests on the seeds to tell if another factor may have negatively affected the growth.
Solution: A/B tests.
The next time I plant an entire packet of seeds, I will have at least an A/B test going to determine the best conditions for growing. I will document this in my garden journal for future reference and so I can switch tactics mid-growing season, if it will improve the harvest significantly.
4. Improper sun exposure. Not enough. Apparently, they like to bake like we did in the eighties.
Solution: Full Sun
Unfortunately, that also equals certain death on this farm. If I set the marigolds out in full sun, the morons will eat them. This means they’ll have to stay put on the side of the porch that gets afternoon/evening sun, as that is the most sun I can offer a plant. Sorry, Goldies!
5. It’s recommended that marigolds are planted at least a foot apart. Well, that didn’t happen here.
Solution: Make Some Room
Sometime this week, I’m going to separate each marigold plant into its own container to give them room to grow. They’ve obviously been crowded.
I can’t wait to harvest the seeds from these flowers and plant them again next year.
~ Erica, from Owning Burton Farm where Every Dollar Goes to Work. What did you plant this week?
* In watering the marigolds, I stirred up a couple of cucumber seeds to the appropriate planting depth, because they popped up, too. Remember? The vine is 18 inches long and I’m super-excited. I loooove cucumbers and cottage cheese. There are two more sprouts (more cucumbers?) in my five-gallons-o-carrots bucket, too. This is exciting because the cukes in the big garden didn’t make it, so I still have a chance to grow some cucumbers that taste like summer!
