Day after day when you stroll through the garden hoping to see your little flowers coming to life, it can be disheartening to notice that some of the blooms are stubborn and just won’t grow. Some flowers need a little extra TLC or have specific requirements that help them to reach their fullest potential, and that is true when it comes to marigolds. If you find that your marigolds are not blooming no matter what you do, take a step back and consider what it is that your marigolds are really asking for to help them thrive.
1. Not Enough Sunlight
When it comes to marigolds, one of the most important things to consider is sunlight. Marigolds thrive on sunlight, especially full sunlight, and so ensuring that they are being exposed to enough is imperative. This is because marigolds constantly photosynthesize when given enough sunlight to do so, and by doing this, they can produce many flowers all at once. For the best results possible, you need to make sure that your marigolds are getting full sun for no less than six hours every single day. It does not necessarily need to be all at once, but over the day, sunlight exposure should add up to a total of six hours.
To ensure your marigolds get enough sunlight every day, it is recommended that you plant them close to the house on the south side. If your marigolds aren’t rooted in the ground but are instead in pots, consider moving the pots around to sunnier spots. If they are indeed in the ground, try to keep overhanging trees from covering them in shadows by pruning them back. The same goes for any bushes or shrubs that might be preventing the marigolds from getting maximum sun.
2. Not Enough Water
Another thing to consider is to make sure your marigolds get plenty of water. Marigolds are very thirsty plants and need plentiful watering to ensure that they grow at their best. In fact, they may stop flowering entirely if they don’t get enough water, which is the opposite of what you want to happen. This is due to the fact that marigolds are consistently working to conserve moisture and energy when it is going through a drought. Thoroughly watering the marigolds once every seven days is the best way to ensure they get enough. It is important that you are using enough water each time to get as much as six to eight inches of soil wet at a time in order to encourage the roots to go deeper and the promote the overall health of the plant.
3. Too Much Fertilizer
While some plants benefit heavily from fertilizer, this is not necessarily true of marigolds. In fact, it may surprise you to know that marigolds produce the best blooms when they are grown in low-quality soil that lacks a lot of nutrients. Too much nitrogen may deteriorate the blooms while causing the rest of the plant to grow.
If you find that your marigolds aren’t blooming, pay attention to the information outlined in this article. It may just take a little tweaking of your growth plan to get the results you’re after.
