How Often Do You Water Marigolds? — #1 Best Answer

How often do you water marigolds?

This depends on whether they are African marigolds or tagetes or Common marigolds called calendulas, whether they are grown in a pot or in the ground in clusters, rows, or hedges.

Marigolds are beautiful garden flowers that are commonly found bordering vegetable beds.

They have elegant carnation-like blooms and can be grown in patches or in evenly spaced rows.

They also grow well alongside strawberries.

Some varieties are edible, and their petals make a beautiful and tasty addition to a summer salad. 

Marigolds are a fairly low-maintenance flower, but you should still inform yourself about how to care for the variety you want to plant before deciding to make them a feature in your garden. 

 

How often do you water marigolds?

Water marigolds once a week down to one-and-a-half inches. Always keep tagetes’ soil gently moist by watering them to an inch deep twice per week from late spring to early autumn. If in a pot, check tagetes flowers daily and water if the top half-inch of soil is dry. 

 

 

Watering Calendula marigolds in pots

Common marigold or pot marigold, aka Calendula, is a short-statured perennial that only takes around two months to flower after seeding.

It comes in beautiful yellow and orange varieties.

Calendulas are members of the daisy family, and their care is therefore like that of daises––both require very little maintenance.

Provided you plant them in a sunny spot and in fertile soil, your calendulas will do very well.  

Calendulas are edible and are a favorite among kitchen gardeners.

They can be planted in borders around your vegetable patches, or, alternatively, in pots.

They can be sown with even spacing or in small clusters for a bushier look.

Watering calendulas regularly will encourage them to bloom.  

If you are growing your calendulas in pots, give them about two inches of water during the summer months. 

Water your flowers once per week and then allow them to dry out almost completely between waterings.

Use a well-draining potting mix or compost soil.

If you are growing your calendulas in a pot and have clustered several seeds together to give your flowers a bushier appearance––with the result that your pot is quite full––you will need to give them slightly more water than if you have planted fewer flowers in your pot. 

You can help your calendulas make the best use of the water you do give them by cutting off dead flower heads as they die.

This allows the plant to channel all the water it receives into its new and fresh blooms and will lead to bushier growth and more blooms.

 

 

Watering Calendula marigolds in the ground 

Calendulas that have been planted in the ground should be given between an inch and an inch-and-a-half of water every week. 

Calendulas require a bit more water before they begin to bloom than they do after they have flowers.

After transplanting calendulas from a seeding tray into a pot or the ground, give them two inches of water per week until they begin to show the first signs of flowering. 

After this you can reduce your watering to between one and one-and-a-half inches per week.

Watering marigolds regularly during the hot growing season helps them stay cool, especially if you are growing them in the ground, which absorbs and traps the heat of the sun. 

 

 

Watering Tagetes marigolds in pots 

Tagetes, are a half-hardy annual marigold variety that prefers a warmer climate.

They come in bright yellow and orange colors, and more rarely in red, maroon, white, and bicolor varieties. 

African, French, Afro-French, and Signet marigolds are all Tagetes. They are native to Mexico and taller than common marigolds.

Tagetes require more water than their namesakes from the daisy family and need to be watered more than once a week.

They also prefer potting soil that retains moisture.

The perfect soil for tagetes marigolds is well-draining but with the propensity to stay gently moist. 

Supplementing the soil in your garden––or, alternatively, filling your pot––with a chalky, loamy, clay-based, sandy soil will be highly beneficial to tagetes’ growth and ability to make use of the water they get. 

If you have questions about how to find the right soil for your marigolds, read this guide to topsoil!

While you water you can also keep an eye out for signs of slugs and other pests that may be eating your marigolds. 

 

Watering Tagetes marigolds in the ground

Tagetes marigolds growing in a garden should be watered to an inch deep twice per week from late spring until early autumn. 

 

Overwatering marigolds 

Marigolds do not require much water and they will begin to suffer if their root systems are left sitting in water for too long. 

Overwatered Calendulas will begin to wilt and then lose their petals, which is often an indication that they have root rot. If you suspect they do, read up on how to save a plant from root rot.

Overwatered Tagetes will similarly begin to wilt, and their stems will become soft. They may also begin to lose leaves.

These are all signs that your tagetes marigolds are suffering from root rot. 

Make sure that you hold back on watering for a while if you notice symptoms of overwatering. 

Make sure that the potting soil you use does not retain too much moisture and that you are adjusting your watering schedule based on the amount of rainfall in your area. 

If it has been pouring rain all week, you do not need to water your marigolds at all! In fact, if they are in a pot, you might consider moving them to a sheltered location.

 

Underwatering marigolds 

Even though marigolds are low maintenance and do not ask much of their carers if they receive no water at all they are liable to dry up and die. 

Their leaves will become brown around the edges and curl, and their petals will begin to drop. 

This often occurs if there is drought during the hot summer months. 

Make sure to check that you water both calendulas and tagetes a little more than usual during particularly hot and dry weeks.