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Calendula seeds: growing
Calendula seeds are highly germinating, they can be sown in early spring directly into open ground. In addition, they can easily endure winter if planted in mid-fall.
When to harvest calendula seeds and how to harvest them correctly?
Calendula is an unpretentious plant with many medicinal properties. It reproduces exclusively by seeds, which ripen by the end of flowering in a capsule, in the place of a bud.
Calendula seeds are formed in the place of a faded bud in a brown box
The flowering of calendula continues until the end of summer, it is then that you should start collecting seed bolls. They are formed in place of a faded bud and have a brownish-gray color.
Seeds are collected in dry, warm weather, in the absence of strong wind, otherwise the seeds may scatter over the site and germinate
To avoid abundant self-seeding, you need to carefully monitor the flower so as not to miss the moment of collecting ripe bolls. As a safety net, you can use gauze bags that are worn on the inflorescence. This will help preserve the seeds and make it easier to collect.
Then the collected seed must be dried for 6-8 days in a dry, well-ventilated area and folded for storage in a paper bag.
Growing calendula from seeds
Growing an unpretentious flower does not require much effort. You can plant seeds both in open ground and in seedling pots. In the first case, the sowing of seeds is carried out in April, when the earth is sufficiently warmed up and dried out. Calendula can be planted on seedlings even earlier, at the end of March.
When planting seeds in open ground:
- Dig up the site first.
- Add humus, phosphorus and potassium supplements to the soil.
- Plant the seeds to a depth of no more than 2 cm. The plant is planted in a row every 25 cm, maintaining a row spacing of 65 cm.
Within a week, the seeds germinate. And after 10 weeks, the plant begins to bloom.
To extend the period and abundance of flowering until late autumn, you need to cut off all fully opened buds
To plant seeds for seedlings:
- Prepare specialized soil and put it in small containers where seeds are later sown.
- Spread out the seeds, deepening them a little.
- Cover the pots with foil and leave in a warm room at a temperature of 14-15 degrees.
- After a week, the seeds will give the first shoots, and with the appearance of the fifth leaf on the stem, the seedlings need to be taken outside for several hours.
- Transplant the seedlings outdoors.
Watering the flower is required in moderation, mainly in dry weather. As the soil is compacted, it is necessary to loosen it. You should also remove weeds in a timely manner and feed the soil with specialized complex agents every month.
Due to its unpretentiousness and resistance to adverse weather conditions, calendula will be a good option for decorating a garden, creating a flower bed or flower garden. And thanks to its healing properties, it can be used in folk medicine.