2024 IHF Field Notes
Giant Marigold -- Tagetes erecta -- Giant Orange
Giant Marigold -- Tagetes erecta -- Giant Orange
Sown 4/10
Germination 4/13 (3 days)
Germination counts
4/12, 2pm: 0
4/13, 9am: 0
4/13, 3pm: 4
4/14, 8am: 15
4/15, 7am: 22
4/16, 9am: 26
4/21, FINAL COUNT: 26
4/21 -- These were a 2023 leftover seed situation - had a half tray worth of leftover Giant Orange, so figured I'd give them a shot, in a tray shared with zinnia. Definitely know how to plant these too, so no drama there. They did - OK. Last year, I got 95% germination, this year ended up with 26/37 for 70%. Not bad but not great. These were also part of a mix experiment, which may also be a factor. My notes claim that two of the Marigold rows were in FoxFire mix, and the other four rows were in ProMix. Honestly, after this much time, I can't visually tell the difference, so I'm trusting my notes here, but if they're correct, germination rates were pretty consistent across both. 8/12 in the FoxFire (67%) and 18/24 in the ProMix (75%).
4/28 -- 26 marigolds still growing well, no issues.
5/11 -- Hardening these off right now. Not planning to pinch them, because I did that last year and it resulted in plants that basically disintegrated in heavy rain.