Marigolds on the balcony - a real decoration that will delight with its flowering almost all summer. To achieve abundant flowering, you need to know when to plant marigolds on seedlings and how to care for them after picking in pots.
Growing marigold seedlings
Planting marigolds on the balcony involves pre-sowing the seeds of these beautiful flowers for seedlings. This is also necessary in order to achieve the earliest possible flowering and to make it easier to create really attractive and not dense plantings in pots.
When to plant seed for seedlings
For planting seedlings on the balcony, seeds can be sown as early as possible, especially if you have a glazed balcony and, if necessary, boxes can be hidden from frost. In this case, you can sow the seeds in February. Then in the middle of March you will have the opportunity to swoop down your marigolds, and at the end of the month transplant them into balcony drawers. 
In the question of the date of sowing seeds in seedlings, be guided by the fact that from the moment of sowing of these flowers until the first flowering occurs, in general, about two months pass. That is, if you want to get flowering boxes as early as possible, then it is necessary to sow the seeds early. Consider only that, despite the resistance to cold, the temperature below + 5˚С is not acceptable for marigolds, therefore it’s impossible to keep them in such weather on the street.
Important! Keep in mind that when sowing too early, young seedlings of marigold seeds may lack sunlight and they will look sluggish. To prevent this, sow the seeds either at the beginning of March, or purchase a phytolamp in advance to illuminate the seedlings.
Soil selection
For sowing marigold seeds, it is necessary to prepare the most fertile soil. For this purpose, you can buy a soil mixture for this kind of colors or you can mix it yourself in such proportions:
- 1 part of the humus;
- 1 part turf;
- 1 part peat;
- 0.5 parts of sand.
In addition, it is important to disinfect self-prepared soil mix. For this purpose, it can simply be placed in the oven for 20 minutes, heating the oven to 200 ° C. You can also water the soil with a solution of any fungicide or potassium permanganate.At home, you can grow not only flowers, but also vegetables, fruits and herbs: cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, dill, basil, medlar, lettuce, parsley.
Seed preparation before planting
Reproduction of marigolds involves only their cultivation from seeds, since no other way is suitable for these one-year flowers. Seeds can be sown in open ground, but this should be done not at the beginning of spring, as for seedlings, but at the very end.
But regardless of whether you sow seeds in open ground or in pots to obtain seedlings, it is important to prepare them:
- Wet the seeds and sprinkle them in a thin layer on a flat plate.
- Cover with a damp cloth.
- Wrap a plate in polyethylene, almost completely limiting the access of air.
- Put a plate of seeds in a warm place for 1-2 days. In the presence of sunny weather can be put on the windowsill.
- After 1-3 days the seeds should germinate and they can already be sown.
Important! For growing marigolds on the balcony, choose the most stunted varieties. For this purpose, suitable for stunted (rejected) marigolds, in particular varieties "Bonanza Orange", "Bonanza Bolero", "Bonanza Flame". But the most miniature type of these flowers are marigolds thin-leaved or Mexican, among which for your balcony you can choose the varieties “Paprika”, “Dwarf”, “Lulu” or “Ursula”.
How to sow seeds on seedlings
So, how to plant marigold seedlings? The prepared soil is poured into any convenient containers, compacted a little and shallow grooves are made on its surface. The distance between them should be at least 4 cm. After that, seeds are poured into the grooves at a distance of 2 cm from each other. 
If the seeds have already germinated, then the distance can be increased, if not - it can even be reduced. Now the grooves are filled with soil, but not compacted strongly by it, to avoid damage.
After sowing, it is important to moisten the soil with marigold seeds, but this should be done carefully so as not to wash them. It is best to sprinkle it out of the spray. 
Conditions for germinating seeds
Unlike other flowers, when sowing marigolds on seedlings, boxes with seeds do not need to be tightened with polyethylene. Simply put them in a warm place with an air temperature of about + 25˚С. If the seeds have already been germinated, the first full-fledged seedlings can appear even on the second day, although in general it takes 2-3 days (only in rare cases, the germination process can be delayed for a week). 
When shoots appear, it is very important to move the containers with future seedlings to a cooler place with a temperature not higher than + 19˚С. This is necessary so that the seedlings could not start up in rapid growth, but instead calmly and confidently gained strength.
Diving of marigold seedlings
Growing marigold seedlings involves their obligatory picks. This is due to the fact that we usually sow the seeds thickly in order to prevent the lack of germination. However, if this leaves thickened crops, then each plant, instead of rapidly gaining strength, will simply be pulled upwards. Agree, in a box on the balcony such tall and delicate flowers will not look very attractive and their flowering will be weaker. 
In many forums, the question often arises: is it possible not to swoop marigolds? In fact, it is better to do this, and the need for this will arise at the very moment when 3 true leaves appear on each seedling. Picking seedlings into separate cups allows the root system of marigolds to grow stronger and grow as much as possible. 
You yourself will be surprised that in two weeks the roots of a small seedling will hardly fit in a glass. In this way, marigold picking is best done, and after two weeks after it can be planted seedlings in boxes on the balcony. 
Planting marigold seedlings in boxes on the balcony
Transplantation of marigolds is a fairly responsible task, because, in addition to not damaging the seedlings during this procedure, it is necessary to perform it at a certain time. The idea is that the seedlings in the general plantings can not be held for a long time, since it will be pulled out. But even if transplanted too early, marigold seedlings may die. 
When planting in the boxes for the balcony, prepare a similar soil mixture as for sowing seeds. In the box, mark a place for each seedling, taking into account the necessary distance - 15 cm for short growing varieties and 20 for medium growth. After this, make dimples and transfer the seedlings to them along with the soil in which they grew in cups. Thanks to this, you will provide the plants with maximum survival rate, and they will go to growth just on the second day.
Did you know? Dried marigold flowers are used even in traditional medicine. Infusion of them treat stomatitis, sore throat, bronchitis and even asthma. Infusion is prepared from just 1 tbsp. l crushed flowers and 1 liter of water. After three hours of infusion, the medicine can be drunk, taking 1 tbsp. 30 minutes before meals.
We select partners for the cultivation of marigolds on the balcony
In the question of how to grow marigolds on the balcony, the aspect of the neighborhood of these flowers with congeners is also important. In general, marigolds can take root with any other flowers, the only question is whether other plants will be able to live with them, since the flowers we are describing grow quite fast and can stifle other seedlings.
For this reason together with marigolds it is recommended to plant:
- calendula;
- dwarf dahlias;
- hydrangeas;
- balsamine.
How to care for marigolds on the balcony?
Marigolds are sun-loving flowers, so they should be grown on the south or west balcony. If this is not possible, then you should not give up floriculture, but for good growth and flowering, the marigolds will have to provide the maximum amount of light.
Watering mode
Marigolds are considered to be drought-resistant flowers, but in practice the lack of regular watering can turn into the fact that the lower leaves on the plants just turn yellow. In the case of stunted balcony varieties, this is unacceptable, so you should water them in drawers daily, but in small portions of water. 
On hot summer days you can even water the watering - every morning and every evening. At the same time, do not be afraid to pour flowers - due to the drainage at the bottom of the box, excess moisture always recedes from the roots.
Important! In addition to moisture, marigolds also urgently need air, which must always be accessible to the roots of these flowers. To do this, every week in pots with marigolds it is necessary to gently loosen the soil. Such manipulations improve even the intensity of flowering.
Do you need feed
When grown in flower beds, marigolds are rarely fed, applying fertilizer only once - during the autumn or spring preparation of the flower bed. But when growing in boxes, feeding is still worth pursuing, as for good growth and flowering, marigolds need sufficient nutrition. 
The first dressing can be done two weeks after sowing the seeds, the second - at the time of the appearance of the first buds on the adult plants and the last - when the marigolds are blooming. For top dressing, it is best to use a complex mineral fertilizer, as compost or other organic matter can spoil both the appearance and the scent of flowers.
Pruning of flowered inflorescences
Each inflorescence, which has already managed to please its flowering, it is important to immediately prune. This is necessary in order for the plant to have the strength to dissolve other buds. In addition, if you have planted the marigolds very early and by July they have already managed to bloom, you can try to cut each bush. Under favorable conditions, such a simple procedure will allow re-flowering by the end of autumn. 
Important! It is not necessary to remove the flowered inflorescences only if you want to collect seeds from the marigolds for sowing next year. For this they need to be given enough time for aging. Consider only that almost all varieties of stunted and medium-sized marigolds are hybrid, so their next generation may differ slightly in flower color.
Possible difficulties in growing
When growing these flowers in boxes on the balcony, it is important to remember that marigold diseases and pests can affect them in such conditions. Most often they are affected by gray mold or slugs. To combat the latter in the thickening of marigolds, you can put a glass with diluted bleach, which will scare pests.
But when the rot appears, it is better to remove the flowers, because they cannot be saved, but the infection can spread further. In addition, in order to avoid this disease and slugs, do not over-flood the flowers, and in rainy weather it is recommended to remove them from the balcony. 
Another pest that damages marigolds to a drought is spider mite. You can remove it from the flowers by spraying with a special solution made from onions, red chili pepper and a millennial. And so that he could not even appear, in severe droughts, not only water, but also spray marigolds.
Did you know? Despite the fact that under adverse conditions marigolds can be affected by slugs or spider mites, they are not afraid of other pests, which is possible due to the specific smell of these flowers. For this reason, marigolds can be planted even around the beds with garden crops as a kind of preventive measure.
If you start sowing marigold seeds in a timely manner and fulfill all the necessary conditions, then these flowers can please you with their bright inflorescences all summer long. But after the last flowering, do not rush to pluck the flowers and throw them away - leave at least one box so that seeds can be used in its inflorescences that can be used next year.
