Hello,
Was at Lidl, in check out line, saw some seeds. Back of the store had a cool planter with a cover. In a split random act of spontaneous reaction, I went back and grabbed both and went home.
Planted the seeds with no experience. Marigolds and 4'Oclocks.
I for sure planted them way too close together and I used the full packs 🤣.
Anyways, below is the progress. Do you think the flowers will kill each other for space? I really don't wanna relocate or get more planters. (Renting and don't have a garden area).
Thanks!
by anoncertifies
22 Comments
I think it looks great. Yeah the marigolds are dense but I don’t think they care. Hopefully those are all short varieties. Or at least semi short.
It’s always hard as a first time grower, no they will not kill each-other for space however, they will stunt each other’s growth. You will need to cull the weaker sprouts so the stronger ones can thrive. Review the spacing requirements on your seed packet and try to limit 1 seedling per “zone” (as per seed packet spacing requirements) choosing the strongest ones. You don’t need to remove or replant them, you can just pull them out and chuck them like you would with any weed.
You can thin them, but don’t just pull them out of the ground; use a pair of scissors or pruners to cut them off at ground level. This avoids accidentally pulling out a neighbor or disturbing roots.
You don’t have to thin them either. They will still grow.
I personally love a crowded garden
I’ve grown those exact four o’clock seeds. They grow pretty tall, so I wonder if they’ll tower over the marigolds?
I wouldn’t trim the marigolds, I don’t think leeching out of the side is even a thing to worry about. They may just be bushy or leaning out the sides towards the sun.
Both plants put out a lot of seeds so the ground around the planter may end with some marigolds or four o’clocks. You can also save the seeds to grow them again.
four o clocks will bush out a lot, each of those pots has room for 1, maybe 2 plants. you can experiment with trimming them to keep them smaller so they dont cover up your marigolds, I’ve never done it but four o clocks are extremely forgiving so I bet it will work. keep up on deadheading those if you live somewhere warm enough to survive the winter because they self seed aggressively in some climates. they smell wonderful at night though, you’re in for a treat!
in my experience you can sow marigolds super close together, closer than what you did even and they don’t care. each plant will be smaller but they still put on a lot of blooms
I’ll try to put as much effort into a response as you put into growing a garden.
They’re going to get really tall fighting each other for light, grow smaller flower heads, and likely break without supports. For instance, growing marigolds for cut flowers, you plant them 6-12″ apart, and that’s very tight spacing because you want them tall for putting in a vase. 4 o’clocks don’t make for good cut flowers, but they’ll probably behave the same way. I’d go through and snip out the excess at the soil line, or I’d snip out most, attach bamboo poles to the container and legs, and attach plastic trellis horizontally to those poles at about 8″ and 12″ above the soil. Alternatively, you can let them grow and see what happens for learning experience. Rain and wind will be your greatest threats but especially rain, and those are full sun plants.
And fwiw, every gardener has messed up plant spacing and been loathe to cut plants that are growing well at the moment. It’s going to be a recurring issue so there’s some merit in getting used to removing plants. But sometimes conviction only comes with experience.
yes they will kill each other so you must transplant them all into the ground or pots.
four o clocks get quite large, a few feet high and wide.
the marigolds will be much shorter but each one will get a good foot and half wide if not bigger.
you will LOVE the four o clock scent!
they will eventually grow a large tuber underground, they dont really grow roots.a huge potato looking thing that ive seen get as large as the biggest potato you can find at the grocery store.
once planted they will reseed heavily but they are easily weedable.
these 4 oclocks are plants to just leave alone.i never water mine.just let them go once you put them in their spot.
they can handle any kind of soil and hummingbirds love them, they will come for these plants.
just get them in the ground ASAP, all of the babies.
if you dont want to replant, id suggest cutting all of them out except a couple in each.
Carefully dig out each individually and repot or put in ground leave about 4 in original space
Now is an excellent time to transplant them(use your hands to scoop into the dirt and under the root systems to get all of the roots) into permanent locations, especially for the Four O’clocks, as they form tubers and are perennials that will return and spread, year after year.
The Marigolds, transplant about half of them into either the ground or even large pots. If you transplant all of the Four O’clocks, you can spread the Marigolds out in the planter more.
Deadhead the Marigolds (remove spent flowers) to encourage more blooms until late summer/early fall, then let them set seed for next year.
no idea where you are four o’clocks are basically invasive where I am. I planted them once 7 years ago and I am STILL fighting them to this day
I love it! Welcome to the gardening bug club! Well done, the plants all look nice and healthy! Next time if you plant annuals by seed again, experiment with how many you sew and see what you prefer, I am a fan of a nice full garden/bed so I think what you’ve done is great! Dont feel the need to plant all seeds at once, get some baggies and a sharpie and label any leftovers 🙂
Four o clocks can become quite large, like a bush, there isn’t enough room for them
Having a crowded garden with healthy plants like you have suppresses weeds.
Looks fine. You can thin them if you want, but I think once they bloom it will look very nice
Looks perfect
i did something similar recently, but i’m at the stage in between images 3-4. but glad i’m not alone lol
They’ll do fine, just let them vibe 🙂
You can pot up the 4 o’clocks and put them where you can enjoy the fragrance in the afternoons! They’re a shrub, so choose nice-sized, well-balanced pot. I planted 8 and they all popped, so I’ll have a lovely smelling patio, with the Snow in Summer, pansies, and moonflowers!!
The closer they are the more nutrients and water they’ll pull from the soil so just make sure to use fertilizer and keep an eye on water. They look like they’re doing great.