How to Save Marigold Seeds

Learn how to collect and store seeds from marigold flowers! (Never buy marigold seeds again!)

In this article, you’ll learn how to collect and store seeds from marigolds (Tagetes spp.) that may be growing in your garden.

Be sure not to confuse marigolds with calendula (which is sometimes called pot marigold) – here’s an article to help you tell the difference!

Calendula vs Marigolds – the Differences

Collecting marigold seeds may result in being buried in beautiful marigolds, because these flowers produce a lot of seeds per bloom!

It’s easy to wind up with enough seeds to fill a mason jar by constantly harvesting from only a few plants- and then filling another, and another, and another…

Harvesting Marigold Seeds

If you want to collect marigold seeds, you have to wait for the seeds to mature first. This means you have to leave your wilting and dying marigold flowers on the plants for a while- if you start snapping them off as soon as they start to flag, the seeds won’t be ready yet.

To check if the seeds are mature, you can gently use your fingers to slightly split open the seedhead. When you do this, you’ll be able to see the seeds, still attached to the plant. The seeds are ready to harvest when they’ve gone dark.

Pale seeds aren’t quite ready yet. Check them again later!

Drying

In order for the seeds to make it to next year, they need to be dried.

Set out a cloth, or a paper towel. The collected seeds will need to be scattered over it to dry over the next couple of days, so pick your drying area with that in mind.

Break apart the marigold heads with your hands, using your fingers to pull the seeds free from the seed pod. Sprinkle the seeds over your drying area, making sure to break up clumps.

Now leave them be! Once seeds are completely dried, they can be scooped up and stored away. Test them after a week – pick up a seed and try to snap it in half. If it’s dried enough, it should break. If it bends, let them dry more!

Video: Saving Marigold Seeds Slideshow

Here’s a slideshow summarizing this article. (Sometimes an ad plays first, but the video will start right after! The video player won’t show up if you have an adblocker.)

Storage

Dried seeds can be stored in glass canning jars, paper envelopes, brown paper lunch bags, or homemade seed packets, tucked away from the heat and direct sunlight. Wherever you store your seeds, try to find a place that doesn’t fluctuate much in humidity and temperature. Avoid moisture- wet seeds can rot, mold, or sprout.

Sow your collected marigold flower seeds in spring, after the last frost date for your area has passed, and enjoy beautiful blooms in summer. As with all seeds, viability and germination rate will decrease over time.

This doesn’t mean your dried marigold seeds are useless once they’ve tallied a couple years- go ahead and plant them, but keep in mind that many of them may not germinate (or none at all, if the seeds were improperly stored/simply don’t have any viability left).

That being said, taking a chance and getting spotty germination is better than simply throwing out the seeds and getting nothing at all!