Calendula varieties with descriptions, cultivation and propagation methods

Calendula is widely used by humans. Many medicines and traditional medicines are made from it and used in cosmetology and cooking. Also, this bright flower is often used in decorating flower beds, lawns, borders and balconies. There are about 20 varieties of calendula, but only 2 types are used in floriculture.

Description of the plant

Calendula or marigold is a perennial plant with yellow or orange flowers that has a characteristic balsamic aroma. In Latin, its name sounds like Calendula, which means “small calendar” or “small clock”. This is no accident, because the flowers of the plant always close and bloom at the same time of day.

Flowering of marigolds occurs from June to mid-autumn. Most often they are found in garden plots and gardening farms; they are extremely rarely seen as weeds.

Advantages and disadvantages

Calendula has many benefits. Among them are the most important:

• available seeds;
• easy cultivation;
• unpretentiousness to conditions;
• widely used in various industries;
• a large number of varieties.

It is difficult to find any disadvantages of this plant, since there are practically none. But still, the disadvantages include the fact that calendula is contraindicated for pregnant women.

Variety of calendula

There are quite a few varieties of calendula, although initially there were only 2 of them - field and medicinal, and the remaining types were bred by breeders. All varieties of calendula are divided into low-growing, medium-growing and tall-growing varieties.

Field

The homeland of field marigolds is southern Europe. The inflorescences of this species are small. They have an ocher-yellow hue. They grow from 10 to 30 centimeters.

Medicinal

Medicinal calendula is the most common. This is an annual plant, which, like field calendula, is the ancestor of other varieties.

Radio

A large-flowered variety, the inflorescence of which is 8-12 cm in diameter. The stem reaches 50 cm in height.The inflorescences are bright orange with a pleasant aroma. Flowering occurs from August to September.

Yuvel

A branched bush with light green foliage, the height of which is 40-50 cm. The flowers are 5-8 cm in diameter, semi-double, orange.

Bonbon

This variety is slightly lower than the previous one, about 30 cm tall. It has flowers in the form of a thick terry cap with a diameter of 8 cm. The color can be yellow or orange.

Indian Prince

The Indian Prince variety has a tall stem, up to 75 cm, and flowers are 9 cm in diameter. The flowers of the variety are bronze-orange. They have a dark center with burgundy strokes along the edges of the petals. Often these flowers are used to decorate flower beds and flower beds.

Features of growing crops

Growing marigolds is not difficult. They reproduce by seeds, which can be purchased or collected from other representatives of this crop.

Landing dates

The best time to plant marigolds is early spring or before winter. Gardeners in each region independently decide when exactly it is best to do this.

Spring planting should occur when the snow has completely melted and the soil has thawed at least 10 cm. And in the fall, calendula is sown between frosts and freezing of the ground.

Preparation of planting material

At the end of March, calendula seeds without any treatment should be planted in separate peat cups. From above everything is covered with 2 cm of earth and sprayed with warm water. Then they are covered with film. Keep the cups in a dark place where the air temperature is 18-20 degrees.

After a week, the first shoots will appear, remove the film and move the cups to a place where the temperature will be a maximum of +15. The seedlings should be in diffused light and shed as needed.When the plants have 2 leaves, they can be picked. And plant them in the ground when they already have 5-6 leaves. 2 days before planting, the plants are hardened off, leaving them outside all day.

It is also possible to sow directly into open soil, since calendula is a frost-resistant plant. At the same time, growing through seedlings significantly accelerates the appearance of the first flowers.

Selection and preparation of a site

The ideal site for calendula flowers is an open, sunny place with moist, loose soil. In 10-15 days, the site is dug up, humus and mineral fertilizers are added, this can be potassium chloride, urea or superphosphate.

Planting process

To sow seeds, the soil should be leveled with a rake and grooves 2 cm deep should be made. A distance of 30-40 cm is maintained between the rows. Sow the seeds and fill the grooves with soil.

When planting seedlings of ornamental species, maintain a distance between plants of 25-30 cm, and row spacing should be at least 60 cm. When planting medicinal varieties, maintain a distance between seedlings of 7-10 cm and 30-40 cm between rows.

Subtleties of flower care

Caring for nails does not require any special processes. It is enough to carry out standard care procedures, such as weeding, loosening, watering and fertilizing.

Watering

Calendula loves water, so it should be irrigated regularly. After planting seedlings in open ground, watering is carried out 3-4 times a week. While an already mature plant needs additional moisture only during periods of drought. If there has been no rain for a long time, then water the marigolds 2 times a week.

Fertilizer and feeding

Feeding is carried out at least once a month. For this purpose, ammophoska or nitrophoska is used.

Important! Directions for use on fertilizer packages must be followed; if more than the specified amount is used, illness may occur.

Fertilizers are applied during planting in the form of humus. If the soil is poor in nutrients, a phosphorus-potassium mixture is added to the humus.

The soil

Marigolds grow and develop better in loose, moderately moist soil. To check whether the soil is loose enough, you need to take the lump in your hands and toss it. If the soil crumbles, it is quite loose.

Wintering

Calendula is not a perennial plant, so after the flowers finish blooming, the bushes are dug up and removed from the site.

Trimming

Marigold flowers are pruned so that more new inflorescences appear. This should be done regularly when they begin to fade. If this is medicinal calendula, then the flowers are cut off when fully opened.

Peduncles are also pruned, but this happens later, towards the end of summer and beginning of autumn.

Pests and diseases

The most common plant diseases are black spot and powdery mildew. With black spotting, black and brown spots appear on the leaves, and with powdery mildew, a white coating forms.

To avoid diseases, you need:

• thin out plantings in a timely manner;
• remove weeds;
• properly fertilize plants;
• dig up the site in the autumn;
• Remove already affected plants from the site, preferably with roots.

Of the pests, only aphids can live on calendula. But sometimes this is also a plus, because if there is calendula on the site, then all the existing aphids will gather on it, and it will be easy to destroy it with the help of one of these drugs: “Actellik”, “Akarin”, “Antitlin”, “Biotlin” or “ Karbofos."

Calendula propagation

The plant reproduces using seeds. They are quite large and have a shape similar to the letter “C”. The seeds are collected when the inflorescences begin to wilt. To prevent self-seeding, which often happens if the seeds are not collected in time, a gauze bag is placed on the flower that has not yet withered. Its edges are tied to the stem of the plant.

After collection, they are dried in a ventilated, dark place and winnowed. Store in cloth bags until sowing.

Application in landscape design

In landscape design, calendula flowers harmonize well with warm red, orange and yellow shades. Also with cold ones: blue and purple. Of the neutral shades, white and cream are perfect.

Marigolds look good in border compositions; low-growing plants are often used for them. They are also used as an accent in a vegetable or apothecary garden. Flower beds are also collected exclusively from calendula flowers of different varieties with different shades.

Calendula will decorate any area, either alone or in combination with other plants. At the same time, marigolds are not just a beautiful flower, but also useful. In addition to its medicinal properties, it repels pests from the site, thereby helping other plants.