I got the same from Value Seed and in 2 containers sown (half package) I got pretty poor germination too! I planted out the that gave me 6 and the other one has just 3 sow far. These were germinated by Mar 9 and Apr 9 from Dec. and Mar sowings. Still holding out hope on the later ones. Now I also sowed some taller crowing Calendula from trade and these didn't have much better germinaton, so maybe Calendula is just a poor germinator?

Vera

Chiming in that I am not having great germination either.... containers with 20-30 seeds are getting 6-12 seedlings. Maybe this is just the way it goes?

I was just reading an article that says its "one of the easiest" to grow. geesh.

One place is says fresher is better, another place says let them sit for six months ....

Wanna know what I did? I picked some green seeds off a plant growing right now and stuck them directly in the ground. cant get any fresher than that...Ill let ya know.

I sowed 4 different kinds from various companies, and out of approx. 50 seeds sown, I have 9 sprouts. Definitely disappointing performance, however, the ones I direct sowed last May had almost 100% germination, and were blooming by July. Maybe this one just does better direct sown?

Bonnie

I had wonderful germination with my cals. My citrus cocktail is bursting. I don't know what the answer is to Calendula. I had crummy results last year after plantout.

I just allow my Calendula to reseed themselves and I have so many I have to take a hoe and dig up literally 90% of them. Mine are just plain yellow and the original seeds were agricultural seeds collected 30-40 years ago. Farmers once grew them for chicken feed, makes the chicken flesh more yellow in the store which was once quite popular.

BTW, we have had perhaps a dozen nights below 32° at sunrise since they started to germinate and none of my calendula have shown freeze damage. We do not have periods below freezing for hours at this time of year.

It may be "Citrus Cocktail" just has a much poorer germination rate; a bad year for Calendula "Citrus Cocktail" suppliers, perhaps.

I have Calendula Pink Surprise from Valueseeds that I just planted out today. I believe I had 16 sprouts in the milk jug. However, I planted the seed very thickly, in HOS fashion, so that's not quite as many as I would have thought.

I hope they make it. I probably should have waited another day as the soil is soggy, but I was just too impatient. It's such a gorgeous day out today! I may sow a second batch if I have more seeds.

I had pretty good germination on my Citrus cocktail and Pink surprise. I planted thickly, too, and they were coming up on top of each other. They are already planted out.

Becky

I haven't had much luck with them either, three kinds, three sources and three jugs(not sown HOS) one seedling so far!! Not ready to dump them yet, also still waiting on the columbine.
-B

I also had very low germination on Calendula Touch of Red Orange and Orange Porcupine. Not like in prior years.