I believe it keeps some pests, I was taught this 40yrs ago by someone
who was two generations older than me,

by veryzeppelin

23 Comments

  1. Ordinary-You3936

    I do, but not in pots. My potted tomatoes are all by themselves as to reserve the limited nutrients for the tomatoes alone. I do interplant my tomato beds with French marigolds to deter root knot nematodes. It’s unclear how well this works from what I’ve read in papers but it seems like it could actually be at least semi effective. It also happens that I like the way they look so it’s a win win as far as I’m concerned.

  2. Impressive_Okra_2913

    I usually to but for whatever reason, this year, none of my ever germinated.

  3. Luna_Llena18

    I did this year ,one plant per 10 gal grow bag , I probably won’t do it next year though, due to the concern of how much nutrients are they taking from the soil .

  4. I do and have for years but I might stop. They seem to also attract spider mites.

  5. nostigmatahere

    I started doing this several years ago because I heard they may deter some pests. I’m not sure if it makes much difference in pest control, but I think they are beautiful so I continue to do it.

  6. red60bill

    Pots of marigold scattered thruout container garden.

  7. Dry_Difference_4250

    Yes, and I see a lot of posts saying to do that. I have snakes in my yard and I hate them. I saw that Marigolds could help my problem so have planted ever since, around my tomatoes and many places.

  8. Zealousideal_Bee3665

    chatgpt recommended this when i asked it for a garden plan

  9. NPKzone8a

    Yours look very nice. I like that vibrant color.

    I grow them in 1 liter pots that I set right outside my tomato grow bags. This year, however, my marigolds never took off properly, never made many flowers. Last year they were so pretty and I think, as you say, they probably also kept away some pests.

    Hard to say for sure, because I had other small pots with basil, some with rosemary, some with green onions also set among my tomatoes. Had very few pests, but I’m not sure which plant should get the credit. (Not a scientific method!)

  10. Looks good, I used to do this too…but actually the study that showed this correlation was bad science and also not even applicable to most gardeners. They noticed less bugs *after they tilled marigolds into the ground*.

    Ultimately as far as I know they’re no better or worse than planting any other plant. They attract some bugs, actually (might make good trap plants). They repel nematodes.

    https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/article/magical-repelling-powers-of-marigolds-myth-or-fact/

  11. It’s my first time messing around with companion plants. I have two cherry tomato varieties and a beefsteak, and I’m pairing my cherries with basil and marigolds and the beefsteak with nasturtiums. I’m just experimenting a bit.

  12. Yes, I do that because the Epic Gardening people recommended the French marigolds as a companion plant but I’ve only been gardening for a couple of years.

  13. Anxious_Resistance

    Wait are we supposed to make the leaves off once we have tomatoes ?? I thought only leaves under the first tomato . Thanks !

  14. Lovebuds420

    A couple volunteer tomato plants popped up in my onion bed. They’re doing the best. So next year I think I’m gonna companion plant with onions and basil.

  15. poppycock68

    My brown thumb barely can grow a tomato. Now you want me to grow flowers with them. Lol you are like my sister. She can water a rock and get a tomato or flower to grow out of it.

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