Description of the calendula plant, planting and growing marigolds in the open field, recommendations for reproduction, the fight against possible diseases and pests, curious notes, species and varieties.
Calendula (Calendula) belongs to the herbaceous representatives of the flora, which are included in the genus of the same name Calendula of the numerous Asteraceae family. This genus contains almost two dozen plants, but in floriculture it is customary to use only a couple of them, which will be described in more detail in the "Species and varieties" section. Under natural conditions, these cheerful flowers can be found on the territory of European countries, in Asia and Australia, where a temperate climate prevails. The true homeland of these plants is not fully understood.
| Family name | Astrovye |
| Life cycle | Annuals |
| Growth features | Grassy |
| Reproduction | Using seeds |
| Landing period in open ground | Second decade of May |
| Disembarkation scheme | For decorative varieties between seedlings 25–30 cm, the row spacing will be 60–70 cm; for medicinal species 7-10 cm, row spacing - 30-40 cm |
| Substrate | Lightweight, nutritious, moist, well-drained |
| Soil acidity, pH | 6, 5-7 (neutral) |
| Illumination | Solar direction |
| Moisture indicators | Watering regularly, but in moderation, in the heat - spraying |
| Special Requirements | Easy to grow |
| Plant height | In the range of 20–75 cm |
| Color of flowers | All shades of yellow and orange |
| Type of flowers, inflorescences | Inflorescences - baskets of reed and tubular flowers |
| Flowering time | From early summer to frost |
| Decorative time | Summer-autumn |
| Place of application | Flowerbeds, landscaping of paths and borders |
| USDA zone | 3–6 |
The plant bears its name thanks to the Greek word "calendae", which translates as "the first day of the month", or rather the first day of each monthly segment. There are versions that the reason for this was the ratio of the flowering process with the beginning of a new cycle, since the inflorescences replaced each other at regular intervals, and the flowers closed with the coming of night. The popular name "marigold" is due to the similarity of calendula seeds with cat claws. There are other nicknames that exist in different countries - the bride of summer, the solstice (since the inflorescences turned after the sun disc), the sun flower and balaban, the sun dial and the full crocos. The latter was associated with a dialect in which "crocos" means "yellow" (the color of calendula petals), and "full" - due to the fact that meadows, fields and valleys are the place of growth of flowers in nature.
Calendula is an erect annual plant. The height of the stems varies in the range of 20–75 cm. The core system is rod-shaped. The shoots of the marigold are thick, equipped with ribs. The color of the stems is light green, there is pubescence of glandular hairs, covered with a sticky substance. The leaf plates are simple in shape, growing in a regular sequence. The foliage is light green in color, the outlines can be elongated, lanceolate or oval, there is a rare pubescence of hairs.
The flowering of calendula is bright and very decorative. The inflorescences, crowning the stems, are composed of two types of flowers (like many asteraceae) and look like baskets. The outer row or two are made up of reed colors with a yellow or orange tint, their surface on top is shiny, glossy, the reverse is matte. Tubular, small central flowers with yellow, orange or dark brown color. The diameter of the inflorescences can vary within 4–7 cm. The wrapper of the marigold is uniform, the leaves of its narrow-elongated shape have dense pubescence. Receptacle flattened, naked. The flowering process begins from the first days of summer and stretches until the first frost.
The fruits of calendula are achenes of various shapes and sizes. The sunny bride bears fruit from mid-summer to September, reproduction in nature is seed. In culture, marigolds have been used since the 16th century, to decorate gardens and parks.
Calendula: planting and care in the open field
- Tips for choosing a landing site. Marigolds will feel best in a sunny flower bed. However, partial shade, which is formed by the crowns of trees with openwork foliage, may also come up, but with such a location, the flowering will not be so intense and will end rather quickly. It is not desirable to locate groundwater nearby, since waterlogged soil can lead to the development of putrefactive processes and fungal diseases.
- Priming. A fertile, moist and loose substrate is recommended for calendula. If the soil is poor on the site, then it is necessary to add organic fertilizers to it at the rate of 5 kg per 1 m2, add 20-30 g of potassium-phosphorus fertilizers there. The soil in the autumn must be dug up and mixed with fertilizers. In the spring, new loosening and mixing with nitrogen preparations will be required, adding about 20 g per 1 m2. Ammophoska or nitroammophoska can act as such means. If the soil in the area is very heavy, you can mix a little river sand into it.
- Planting calendula. If seedlings are planted in open ground, then a time is chosen for this in the second decade of May. The indicator to start these actions will be well-warmed soil and the absence of the threat of recurrent frosts. Although, according to many gardeners, marigolds are quite cold-resistant and can cope with a short-term decrease in heat. The soil is prepared before this in a week. When planting, the seedlings are removed from the planting cups, but in order not to perform such a procedure, it is better to immediately use peat, which are simply installed in the hole. Seedlings are planted according to the same rules as sowing seeds. For ornamental varieties in a row between plants, it is worth maintaining 25-30 cm, the row spacing will be 60-70 cm. For medicinal species, this distance should correspond to 7-10 cm, and the row spacing should be 30-40 cm. You can expect flowering after planting after 40-50 days, not forgetting about watering, loosening and feeding.
- Watering. Calendula is not a drought-resistant plant and requires periodic soil moisture. On hot summer days, it is recommended to carry out regular and abundant watering, but you should not bring the soil to waterlogging so that the moisture in it stagnates, otherwise the root system will begin to rot.
- Fertilizers for calendula. In order for the "bride of summer" to delight with lush flowering, it is necessary to apply regular feeding for her. After a week from the planting of sunny flowers, an infusion of mullein or bird droppings is used, you can take nitroammophoska, but it is better not to exceed the dosage, since the abundance of nitrogen will entail an increase in deciduous mass to the detriment of subsequent flowering. Using the same composition, calendula is fertilized after 10 days or 1-2 times with a week break. Also, complex fertilizers are used every 10–12 days until the flowers appear. In the case when the calendula is grown in balcony or garden containers, it needs feeding even during the flowering process. It is recommended to use a complete complex preparation (for example, Kemira-Universal).
- General tips for caring for marigolds. Although the plant is quite unpretentious, you should periodically fight against weeds, loosen the soil after rains or watering. Faded corollas can be removed immediately to give more space for new inflorescences, otherwise flowering will end in a month, and will not stretch, as usual, until November. Only breaking off the stems, on which the seed pods have already formed, will ensure a long and abundant flowering process. In order to stimulate lateral branching in tall varieties of calendula, it is necessary, after the first flowers to wither, to cut the shoots of the bush to the middle.
- Collection of marigold seeds. Seed pods are recommended to be removed when they are fully ripe. To prevent the seeds from spilling out on the ground, a bag of gauze or bandage is put on the almost wilted inflorescences. Otherwise, the plant will multiply by self-seeding.
- Wintering of calendula. Since in our latitudes, marigolds are grown as an annual, with the arrival of autumn days, when the flowering ends, the remnants of vegetation are destroyed, and it is recommended to dig up the soil on the site.
- The use of calendula in landscape design. Since the inflorescences-baskets of balaban are quite bright during flowering, it has long been used in the design of gardens and flower beds in a rustic style. The best flower "neighbors" for such planting will be escholzia, blue cornflowers, delicate ageratums, zinnias and rudbeckia. If the variety of marigolds is distinguished by dwarf shoots, then with the help of such bushes, ridges and borders are decorated, you can plant bushes in garden containers for landscaping terraces, balconies and loggias. To form a flower spot in mixborders, it is recommended to plant tall varieties of a sun flower. If you plant calendula in the aisles in the garden, then it will serve as a natural protection for potatoes and other representatives of the nightshade from harmful insects, which will be scared off by the smell of flowers.
Recommendations for reproduction of the calendula plant
Since it is customary to grow marigolds as an annual, they are propagated using seeds, sowing directly into the ground or growing seedlings.
Seed reproduction
You can sow calendula seeds both in spring and before winter. In the spring, this time comes after the soil is sufficiently warmed up and dries out from melt water. In the fall, sowing is performed in October. Before sowing, it is recommended to dig up the substrate in a couple of weeks and mix it with humus, so 3-4 kg of the preparation is added per 1 m2, 20 grams of potassium chloride and superphosphate, as well as 30 grams of urea. Many gardeners argue that it is better to prepare a planting site in the fall: this is how the earth is dug up with humus, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers. Before sowing in the spring, you need to make nitrogen fertilizing (for example, nitroammofoska).
Calendula seeds are planted to a depth of 1–2 cm, leaving 25–30 cm between them, and a row spacing of 60–70 cm (if the variety is decorative). For medicinal products, these indicators are lower - between the seeds 7–10 cm, and the row spacing - 30–40 cm. After 14–20 days after sowing, you can see the first sprouts of marigolds. Although, if the planting was done correctly, the seedlings hatch after 7 days. When the sprouts have emerged from the ground together, they thin out, leaving the strongest ones, so that the distance between them is 25–35 cm. The torn seedlings are often rooted in another flower bed, since the transplant is not terrible for them. After almost 10 weeks, you can enjoy the flowering of calendula.
Growing seedlings of calendula
To get an earlier flowering, it is recommended to grow seedlings from marigold seeds, and then plant them in open ground. Sowing in this case is carried out at the end of March or the very beginning of April. A small container or cups made of peat are used (you can take plastic ones). The soil is suitable for ordinary flower or peat-sandy. The seeds are immersed in the substrate 1–2 cm, watered and covered with a plastic bag. Then they are placed in a warm (with a temperature of 18–20 degrees) and well-lit place.
As soon as the seedlings of calendula seedlings appear (this happens after a week), the shelter can be removed, and the temperature can be reduced to 14-15 degrees. When caring for young marigolds, it is important not to forget about watering and feeding (use a full complex fertilizer, for example, Kemiru-Universal) every 10-14 days. When a pair of true leaf plates unfold on the seedling, a dive is performed (when grown in a common seedling box) so that the distance between them is not less than 5 cm. Or, transplanting plants in separate pots is needed.
As soon as weather conditions permit, you can transplant calendula into open ground, but the seedlings are hardened in a week. It is first exposed to fresh air for 15–20 minutes, gradually bringing the time to around the clock. Solstice with such reproduction will delight with flowering after 2, 5 months from the time of sowing.
Fight against possible diseases and pests when growing marigolds
Marigolds are a fairly resistant plant in relation to both diseases and pests. Troubles arise due to violation of the rules of agricultural technology.
If the thinning of calendula seedlings was not carried out in time, the plants can be affected by fungal diseases, such as, for example, black spot. The foliage in this case becomes a black shade or spots of black color appear on it. Such bushes are subject to immediate disposal.
At high humidity and low temperatures, the solstice can be affected by false or powdery mildew. Then a whitish bloom appears on the leaves or stems, resembling a frozen lime solution, which turns brown over time. Then the entire aboveground part of the plants stops developing and dies. With such a disease, it is necessary to perform treatment with fungicides, such as, for example, Topaz or Fundazol.
Aphids can be distinguished from pests. Green small bugs cover the stem and foliage quite strongly, leaving behind a sticky bloom (the pad is a product of the insect's vital activity). If the fight is not carried out, then this substance becomes the cause of the occurrence of a sooty fungus, which will lead to the death of the calendula bush. The best choice would be an insecticidal treatment like Aktara or Aktellik.
You can not be afraid of other pests, since the marigolds scare them off with their smell. Therefore, some gardeners prefer to plant flowers in the aisle of nightshade crops or potatoes.
Curious notes about calendula
Even ancient healers were aware of the medicinal properties of marigolds, the first mentions are found in Dioscaris, who lived at the beginning of our era. Such famous doctors as Galen, Avicenna and the same Amirdovlat Amasiatsi actively used calendula to treat all kinds of diseases. Do not forget about the plant and Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654), who was known as a famous herbalist. Calendula-based preparations have the ability to heal wounds, soothe pain, fight bacteria, relieve spasms, and also have diaphoretic and expectorant properties. Calendula has a calming effect on the nervous system and serves to strengthen the body.
Dried inflorescences of marigolds do not lose their properties with proper storage (if you put them in a dry place) for two years. Moreover, not only tinctures or decoctions are prepared from them, but they are introduced into the composition of ointments or essential oils. Such drugs will help get rid of problems with the gastrointestinal tract (ulcers or gastritis), remove stomatitis, uterine erosion and nephritis, relieve symptoms of asthma, hypertension and heart failure, cure angina, trichomoniasis and cholecystitis.
However, despite its medicinal properties, calendula has long been used as a filling for dumplings or pies, wine was made from it and added as a spice to soups or oatmeal porridge. Since oriental spices, which were brought by merchants from across the sea, cost a lot of money, marigolds were considered the spice of the poor. The flowers of this plant were successfully replaced by saffron, since the balaban's petals were also golden yellow, and dishes with such an addition acquired a tart taste.
Shakespeare mentioned the plant, and Queen Margot, known to everyone from her literary creations (Margaret of Valois of Navarre), loved the flowers of the sun more than other garden plants.
Part of the crocos is used for the manufacture of infusions and decoctions in cosmetology. If you rinse your hair with such means, it becomes shiny, their condition improves, with regular rubbing of the skin, acne and blackheads disappear.
Types of calendula
Among the many types in floriculture, only the indicated two and their varieties are used:
Calendula officinalis (Calendula officinalis)
Annual and most common. It is the base for a large number of both medicinal and ornamental species. The latter also have healing properties to a small extent. When breeding new varieties, the priority will be given to the size of the inflorescences, their double shape and the height of the stems. Medicinal plants are valued for the greatest amount of beneficial ingredients. The bush is powerful, its shoots are upright, thick, with ribs. Branching of the stems starts right from the base. The height of the branches can vary in the range of 40–70 cm. The stem is sticky to the touch due to the hairy glandular pubescence. Its color is light green. Leaf plates in the lower part of the shoots with the same color, their shape is oblong-ovate. In the upper part, the foliage is devoid of petioles (sessile), it can be lanceolate or oblong.
During flowering, which begins from the first days of summer, an inflorescence basket is formed at the top of each stem. The doubleness of the flower will depend on how many rows the reed marginal flowers are located. If there is only one row, then the inflorescence is simple, 2 or more - terry. The shades of the petals can be bright yellow golden or orange. The tubular flowers in the central part of the basket are always of a darker color - dark orange, brownish-red or brown.
The flowers have a strong balsamic scent. They stop opening only with the arrival of November, with the first frost. In rainy weather and in the evening, the calendula petals also remain closed. Seeds in achenes are stunned with a claw-like shape and are painted in gray or brown tones.
Among florists, the most popular varieties are:
- Radio (Radio), with branched stems, not exceeding 35–40 cm in height, the foliage is oval, on its surface you can see a pattern in the form of a mesh of relief veins. Blooms in double inflorescences with a hemispherical shape. Their diameter is 6–7 cm. The petals are painted in bright orange tones.
- Juwel, represented by a bush with branched shoots, which grows, reaches a width of 0, 4–0, 5 m. The foliage is colored light green. During flowering, inflorescences-baskets with a diameter of 5-8 cm are formed, their shape is semi-double, the color is orange.
- Bon-Bon (Bonbon) looks like a bush with a height of 0.3 m. Its inflorescences do not exceed 8 cm, with a dense double shape, terracotta color.
- Indian prince. The plant is tall - 75 cm. On the tops of the shoots, inflorescences-baskets of orange color bloom, in which the central part is of a bronze shade. The petals have a cut burgundy edge.
Field calendula (Calendula arvensis)
… This species is more decorative than medicinal. In nature, he prefers abandoned fields in the south of the European territory. From late spring to June, small inflorescences with ocher-yellow petals open on the tops of the shoots, or in the basket the tubular flowers are bright yellow, and the reed flowers are of a grayish-yellow hue. Shoots can stretch from 10 cm to 30 cm, they have little branching.
The following varieties have been bred by breeders, which are popular with flower growers:
- Pacific Beauty or Pacific Beauty has stems, the height of which is in the range of 60–80 cm. The tops of the shoots are decorated with inflorescences-baskets of large sizes, with a double structure, which is not 7–9 cm across.
- Pacific Tiforange differs in basket inflorescences, in which the marginal flowers are bright orange, and the tubular (in the center) are dark.
- Pacific Apricot pleasing to the eye with apricot-orange color of the petals, while there are marks in the form of orange stripes on the petals.
- Pacific Goldgelb with baskets of bright yellow color.
Video about growing calendula:
