Expert: C.L. Fornari - 6/15/2007

Question
I have marigolds that I started from seeds.  They are growing and most
of tem are about 6"high but there are no blooms yet.  What should i do?
Plenty of sun, water & care.
They were planted heavy in a pot(more than needed). They were also very well fertilized, maybe too much? Cut down on N and increase the P&K?
Thank you for your time
Thee; Always in a hurry, never enough time to... gardener.


Answer
Craig,
They just might not be old enough yet, especially if they are large plants.  All annuals and perennials have a juvenile period and a particular number of leaves that they must make before they start to bloom.  For dwarf marigolds it is less leaves than for taller varieties.  Dwarf marigolds start to bloom at about 6" but the types that get 10" or taller will need to be larger before they set a bud.

Have you seperated them out of the pots and put them in the ground?  If they were planted heavy in the pots, and then seperated, you've disturbed their roots, and when a plant has had root damage it first works to repair the root system and only after that is in place will most plants flower.  Roots come first.

Also, Marigolds like heat - if you've had cool weather that might be holding them back as well.  

Finially, it might be a combination of some of the above...sometimes a more than one thing stress a plant.

Hold off on the fertilizer for a while - marigolds are known for blooming well in poor soils.  Don't overdue the P&K - once they start blooming you can fertilize again with a product with fairly even numbers across the board.  It turns out that high K does not always boost flowering of annuals.  In fact, some of the newer annuals such as Wave and Superpetunias are nitrogen hogs!  marigolds, on the other hand, do not demand a high rate of fertilization.

Water deeply less often, and let the soil dry out a bit in between.

I hope this helps!
C.L.