Marigolds...

[wsmoak]

Is there any other use for marigolds besides just companion plantings? I have ended up with a bunch of very productive plants.

Mine are also still blooming! I wanted the space for lettuce, but I can't bear to pull them out. Definitely something I'll grow again next year, I started them from seed and they survived our hot dry summer just fine.

-Wendy

 

[StupidBird]

Some wild birds seem to enjoy the seeds quite a bit. I've left the frost-killed plants in the garden for now. I've collected a small paper bag - about a pint - of seed heads to start more plants next spring. The little finches, sparrows and wrens are always hanging around the garden.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Well, my chickens didn't like the marigolds I tossed into the chicken tractor last night. They pecked at them, but they were still there in the morning. Silly chickens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Mine don't like then a lot either, but if they don't have much of an option of things to peck at, they will eventually disappear. The dried dead zinnias even go faster than marigolds.

 

[the1honeycomb]

Hahaha -my chickens stick their necks out really far, smell the marigolds, and then run the other way. They hate them!

picky chickens!!!

 

[Just-Moxie]

Well...I made some chicken granola out of the chicken feed dust. It has all the nutrients, they just can't pick it up with their beaks. So, I boiled some water, put all the dust in a big pan, mixed in some old sunflower seeds DH had packed away and forgotten. And about 3 cups of marigold seeds I had harvested from my marigold...so far. I also put in cooking oil, and molasses..and about 1 cup of oats. Mixed it all up....had the consistancy of moist dirt. Baked it in the oven for 1 hr, at 250. Now I just need to let it dry. We gave them a sample the other day...and they munched it down. I take that as a "yes"....they liked it. Funny, they liked the dried seeds, better then the fresh marigolds.

Oh man, does baking it make he kitchen stinky!!

 

[hoodat]

(click) Marigolds (Tagetes spp.) for Nematode Management, University of Florida

digitS'

Thanks for the link. The way I read this, the marigold root gives off the substance that helps, not the rest of the plant. Please correct me if I read it wrong. So I guess I'll keep feeding the tops to my chickens. At least I won't have as many volunteer marigolds next year that way.

I really appreciate that list of French Marigolds. I had heard they are the most effective and the article says they are one of the best. Have you ever tried to find "French" marigolds? I don't remember where I got them, Burpee I think, but I had to mail order some to get "French" marigolds. That's not the type of thing I see on the seed packets at the gardening store. At least, I've saved my own seeds now for next year.

It was also interesting that companion planting was not considered effective, though they were a little wishy washy on that, saying it may have not beed studied the proper way. To gain the effect, you need to plant the marigolds a couple of months before the crop as a pre-cover crop. I had not seen that before.

Thanks again for the article. VEEEERY Interesting.

Copper Canyon daisies (a wild type marigold from Mexico and Southwestern US does the best job of all. It also repels pests like aphids. Unfortunately it isn't much good as a companon plant unless you have a lot of room. They get huge and bushy.

 

[April Manier]

Marigolds tilled into the soil kill root knot nematodes. It also has several uses as a medicine herb.

This is a fabulous tip!

Thanks