With its cheerful color and easy care, the marigold (Tagetes spp.) is a flower for both novice and experienced gardeners. It's often used to teach children about gardening because of its reliability. While you can buy marigold seeds from garden centers or online, you may prefer to save your own seeds to use next year.
Flowers and Seed Heads
Marigolds resemble small carnations or daisies, depending on the variety. The petals are perched on a green base which is attached to the plant stem. As the bloom dies, the petals and finally the base turn brown and dry out. When the seeds are ready to be harvested, the base, or seed pod, will be completely brown.
Collecting Seed Heads
Collect marigold seeds into an envelope or small paper bag. Choose seed heads that are dry and brown, but still have green left in part of the stem. Older seed heads with completely brown stems have been left longer on the plant, leaving them open to a greater possibility of mold or insect infestation, so you should avoid these. Snap off the seed pods from the stem and place them in the envelope or paper bag.
Separating and Storing Seeds
Pull the dried flower petals from the seed pods and discard them. Break open the pods and shake out the long, brown and yellow seeds. These seeds look like small two-colored needles, and can be sharp. Spread the seeds out in a single layer on paper towels and allow them to air dry. Place the dried seeds in an envelope labeled with the name of the marigold variety and the date. Store the envelope in a glass jar with the lid tightly secured. Place the jar in a cool, dry place.
Hybrid Marigold Seeds
Like many plants, marigolds come in two varieties: heirloom open-pollinated and hybrid. The heirloom types breed true, from parent to child. Saving heirloom seeds and planting them the next year will result in a carbon copy of last year's flowers. Hybrid flowers are the result of cross-breeding two different plants to create a third. When you save the seeds of a hybrid marigold, the resulting plant will demonstrate the characteristics of one or the other parent plants, but not the plant you harvested the seeds from. There is no way to predict what kind of flower hybrid seeds will produce the next year.
Reasons to Save Seeds
Although marigold seeds are not particularly expensive, if you're frugal, you'll enjoy growing marigolds for free next year. If you grow heirloom varieties, you may want to continue the line, or share seeds with members of a seed sharing organization. If you're adventurous, you may want to save hybrid marigold seeds just to see what unusual or different varieties the seeds will produce. Because the seeds are so simple to save and grow, it can be worth the additional time and effort to experiment with growing different new plants.
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