Purple Marigold Leaves

16 years ago

I bought Tashkent Marigold seeds from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and started them indoors. Seven of the eight that came up (I knew they were poor germinators ahead of time so I started them pretty early, too) were planted outdoors about three weeks ago.

hey seem to be doing okay, aside from the fact most of their leaves have turned reddish purple, and they haven't grown much, and one got attacked by a critter and thus died. The one I kept back indoors because its growth was very very slow is still green and has finally put on a growth spurt so its as big as the others.

I should note that the temps dropped after they were planted outside, tho I do cover them when the temps get below 40 at night. The daytime temps have been up in the 60's, tho, and I'm thinking that they may possibly have gone dormant until the temps get higher. They're still strong and not drooping.

This is the first time I've grown any kind of flowers from seed, especially indoors, and only my second year gardening, so I'm wondering if the purple leaves are a sign I screwed up and sewed them too early indoors, which led to me planting them outdoors too early? Are they gonna die? I hope not...but I do have more seed to direct seed in a few weeks if they do.

--GW

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Comments (3)

stevation
16 years ago
If your zone is correct, you planted them out too early. I'm in zone 6, and rule around here is to not plant summer annuals until Mothers' Day. You might get lucky one year, but most years will have a few surprise cold storms, even if it's been hot already. I think the cold can cause the purple leaves, but others should chime in here with more specific experience with this.
Kat SE Wisconsin z5
16 years ago
Mine get the purple leaves when it gets cold. Marigolds take the cold pretty well. I wouldn't worry about the color. Keep covering them when it goes below 40. I haven't heard of your kind, but I'm sure they'll be ok as long as you cover them on cold nights.
Good luck and enjoy!

Kat
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gardenwolverine
Original Author
16 years ago
Whew! I thought it might be reaction to the cold, thanks for the confirmation!

They're a rare variety of French marigold from Uzbekistan that aren't supposed to have the 'astringent' smell of other marigolds yet are still fragrant enough to do their job. They were over $4 for a packet of seeds, and rather hard to get going at first, so I really didn't want them to die now that they're in the ground. They're mah BABIES! :) They did spend almost a month getting hardened off because there wasn't any room under the light for them anymore, plus my heat was shut off for the year, and weren't planted until I was sure they could take at least 40 degrees at night.

Its not supposed to get above 51 today with the possibility of thunderstorms and back down to 30 tonight, tho, so I'm going to leave their peat pot covers on today. Supposed to be above 60 tomorrow, tho.