I've had good luck with marigold seeds last year, but those were ordered online.

This year I planted some seeds collected from my own late autumn garden, in addition to a few white varieties which again I bought.

I placed them inside at 70+F.

The white bought varieties (Eskimo, Kilimandjaro) germinated very fast, in 2-3 days. In fact I was surprised to see them emerging so fast. However, the ones I collected from my garden are taking their sweet time, even after a week (almost).

Only today I saw a tiny one come out.

I wonder why mine take longer than the ones I bought or whether they will even germinate at all besides this tiny one. Everything else is perfectly silent.

I really hope the seeds I collected will work because I need more of them to achieve some mass coverage in the front beds and I can't do that with bought seeds bc it would be too expensive.

I also have some questions:

1. If seeds are placed outside and it is too cold, do they eventually germinate when it warms up (after many more days than the specified germination period) or they never will if they didn't within the expected time frame? Since I read marigolds self-seed, I suppose any seed lying right under the surface will stay there through cold, rain and everything until it warms up in spring and then it will finally germinate. Am I correct? Would that be the same with a container placed outside?

2. Do all marigold seeds must come from completely dried out, very dark old flowers or they would be OK even if the flowers still had a bit of dried up orange when they were collected?

Should they always be dried and gone like the one at the top or seeds from the one at the bottom could work too as long as they have been stored well, in a dry, dark place?

It was my understanding they should be fine as long as they don't have any dampness that would harbor mold over time. My spent marigold heads were all dry and stored adequately.

3. Am I just being impatient and my orange varieties may simply take longer to germinate than the white ones I bought?

It may just be a case of holding my horses, after all.