Annual
How to grow French marigolds
Tagetes patula
French marigolds are half-hardy annuals, so frost kills them. Sow indoors in March or April at 18 to 21 °C, harden off from mid May and plant out in full sun after the last frost, for flowers from June to October. They grow in almost any drained soil and need little feeding. Slugs on newly planted seedlings are the main cause of failure, and weekly deadheading keeps the flowers coming.
- Hardiness
- Half-hardy annual
- Position
- Full sun
- Soil
- Most soils; free-draining
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.5
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting French marigolds
WhenSow Mar to Apr indoors; plant out late May; flowers Jun to Oct
Starting off
Sow Mar to Apr indoors at 18 to 21 °C in a tray, 5 mm deep; germination takes 5 to 10 days. Prick out into modules, harden off from mid-May and plant out after the last frost in late May; a direct sowing in May flowers from Jul.
Spacing and planting
Plant 20 to 25 cm apart; sow 5 mm deep. Fine in a 20 cm pot, window box or around a tomato in a grow bag.
Varieties worth growing
- Durango Series
- Large anemone-centred flowers on compact, even plants of 25 to 30 cm. The dependable bedding and container choice.
- 'Naughty Marietta'
- Single golden-yellow flowers with a maroon blotch at the base of each petal. Open flowers that pollinators can use, on plants about 30 cm high.
- 'Strawberry Blonde'
- Flowers open rusty pink and fade to yellow and apricot, so one plant carries several shades at once.
- 'Burning Embers'
- A tall single at about 60 cm, mahogany red edged in orange. Loose and airy enough for a border or the vegetable plot, and good for cutting.
French marigolds month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Nothing to do.
- February
Nothing to do. Order seed.
- March
Sow indoors at 18 to 21 °C, 5 mm deep.
- April
Sow again. Prick out into modules. Pinch out the first bud on young plants.
- May
Harden off from the middle of the month and plant out after the last frost. Sow direct outdoors for flowers from July.
- June
Finish planting. Guard against slugs for the first fortnight. First flowers.
- July
Deadhead weekly. Begin a light monthly feed for pots.
- August
Deadhead and water pots. Feed pots once.
- September
Let a few heads dry on the plant and save the seed. Last feed for pots early in the month.
- October
Pull up and compost plants after the first frost.
- November
Nothing to do.
- December
Nothing to do.
Feeding French marigolds
A light feeder. In garden soil French marigolds need no fertiliser, and rich feeding gives leaf at the expense of flower. Only plants in pots, window boxes and grow bags need a little liquid feed.
Undemanding, a light feed at most.
Feeding plan
Planting out, beds
Nothing
No fertiliser on ordinary soil. Water in well and that is all.
After pricking out and again at planting out
1 g per litre of water as a drench, once each time, to help seedlings root.
July to early September, pots and window boxes
3 ml per litre of water (30 ml in a 10 litre can), the bottom of the label range, once a month. Go to once a fortnight only if plants in a small pot turn pale.
Signs to watch
Lush leaves and few flowers
Nitrogen excess from rich compost
Stop feeding and use a high-potash liquid
Pale leaves and stunted plants in a small pot
Nutrients washed out
A half-strength balanced feed fortnightly
Scorched leaf edges in a hot window box
Dry roots and salt build-up
Water daily and flush the pot
Pests, diseases and problems
Young plants stripped to bare stalks within days of planting out
Slugs and snails, which seek out French marigolds in preference to most other bedding
Grow plants on to a sturdy 9 cm pot before planting, plant out in a dry spell, hand-pick at night for the first two weeks and use nematodes on beds from April.
Flower heads turn brown and mushy with grey fur, mostly on double varieties in wet weather
Grey mould (botrytis) on flowers that hold water
Deadhead promptly, removing rotted heads to the bin, and space plants at the full 20 to 25 cm. Single-flowered varieties shed rain better.
Leaves finely speckled pale and bronzed, with webbing, on plants under glass or in a hot window box
Glasshouse red spider mite, which breeds fastest in hot, dry air
Water regularly, mist the foliage in the evening and move pots out of the hottest spot. In a greenhouse use the predatory mite Phytoseiulus.
Seedlings collapse at the base in the tray
Damping off in wet, cool, crowded conditions
Sow thinly in fresh compost, keep at 18 to 21 °C until germinated, water sparingly from below and ventilate.
Leaves turn purple or blacken and growth stops after planting out
Cold nights or a late frost on plants put out too early
Harden off over ten days and do not plant until the last frost has passed, late May in central England. Cover with fleece if a frost is forecast; chilled plants usually recover when it warms up.
Pruning
Pruning and care
Deadhead weekly, pinching spent heads back to a leaf, which keeps flowers coming until frost. Pinch the first bud on young plants to bush them out. No staking or winter protection: pull plants after the first frost and compost them, saving dry seed heads in Sep if you want to resow.
Good to knowDeadhead to keep flowering; a classic companion plant near tomatoes.
Growing French marigolds in pots
French marigolds are among the easiest plants for a container. One plant fills a 20 cm pot and three fill a 60 cm window box, in any peat-free multipurpose compost. Full sun is essential. Water when the surface is dry, daily in a hot spell for small pots, and aim at the compost so the flowers stay dry. Fresh compost feeds them for the first six weeks; after that a monthly liquid feed is plenty. They are often planted in the corners of a tomato grow bag or greenhouse border, where there is trial evidence that their scent helps deter glasshouse whitefly if they go in at the same time as the tomatoes.
French marigolds: common questions
Do French marigolds come back every year?
No, French marigolds are half-hardy annuals that are killed by the first frost and do not regrow. They are easy to keep going, though: let a few flower heads dry on the plant in September, pull out the long black seeds, store them dry in a paper envelope and sow them the next March. Seed saved from F1 varieties will not match the parent.
Do French marigolds keep pests away from tomatoes?
They help against one pest: research has shown that the scent of French marigolds deters glasshouse whitefly from tomatoes, provided the marigolds are planted alongside from the start and not added once whitefly are established. They will not protect tomatoes from blight, aphids or caterpillars, and the open flowers do attract hoverflies.
Do slugs eat French marigolds?
Yes, slugs and snails are very fond of French marigolds and can strip young plants overnight. Plant out large, well-hardened plants, check them after dark for the first two weeks and use nematodes on the bed. Once plants are established and woody at the base they suffer much less.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.