marigold have a bit of a reputation in the gardening world . They ’re known for snub all personal manner of pest and disease , whether they ’ve technically earned these laurels or not .
It ’s extremely common to see their cheery head nodding in the summertime sunshine next to tomato , squelch , and broccoli .
But as with many garden practice , is there any scientific discipline behind those things that we ’ve been doing for years – or sometimes centuries ?
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When it get to using these blossom as a frame of pest repellant , there ’s a good grounds to be embed those favorable beauties next to your edible plants , and scientific research has confirmed it .
Marigolds can help you to control certain pests that may wreak havoc on your veggies .
Here ’s what we ’ll speak about in this coming guide :
How to Use Marigolds to Combat Garden Pests
Whiteflies
Nematodes
Slugs and Snails
Keep in intellect that it might not be as unsubdivided as catch a flat of French marigolds and plopping them next to your nigh - maturepotatoes .
Using natural methods of pest control can take a picayune advance provision , so allow ’s jump right in .
A 2019 cogitation published inPlos Oneproves that glasshouse whiteflies ( genus Trialeurodes vaporariorum ) are repelled by French marigolds , Tagetes patula .
Niall Conboy at Newcastle University ’s School of Biology and Dr. Thomas McDaniel at Newcastle University ’s School of Natural and Environmental Science looked at whether the humble flower could chase off the nasty whitefly .
It turns out that the limonene in marigold deters this pesky and destructive pest .
However , that does n’t mean that if you have a whitefly infestation you may just carry out and catch a four - plurality of flower . Nope .
You need to begrowing marigoldsnext to whatever flora you want to protect from the get - go . The result plainly does n’t work if you pop a these flowers next to an already - infested plant .
Basil , Formosan boodle , andnasturtiumsalso repel whiteflies , so if you struggle with this pestilence in the garden , you might require to dot all of these plants as well as marigolds liberally throughout your space .
con to combat a whitefly plague in our guidebook .
marigold are fantastic at repellingroot - greyback nematodes(Meloidogynespp . ) . They secrete alpha - terthienyl from their roots , a chemical substance that inhibits the development of nematode eggs .
If you plant them in advance of other crop , root word - mi nematodes wo n’t be able to build up in the grunge . And given how difficult it can be to control this common pest , that ’s welcome news !
Researchers at Yunnan Agriculture University showed via theCanadian Journal of Plant Sciencethat marigold were efficient against ancestor - gnarl nematodes when growingangelica .
But , of course , the effect likely sour just as well when growing other plant that are susceptible to these pest .
The enquiry signal that regardless of whether you practice rotation or intercropping , you could foreshorten populations of rootage - mi nematodes to the point where it may serve to better harvest yields .
Antoon T. Ploeg showed alike results in a cogitation published in the journalPlant Diseasesfor the University of Hawaii at Manoa .
In this field , researchers search atmarigolds and their impacts on love apple yields , proving that the benefit is there for a variety of industrial plant species .
What ? These flowers repel poke and snails ? ! Unfortunately , no they do n’t , but would n’t that be squeamish ?
Still , these flowers can facilitate with gastropod control in your garden by act as decoys instead , andattractingslugs and snail .
I get it on that might sound eldritch or a little counterintuitive , but since they are so easy to raise and they self - seminal fluid so readily , they are an excellent alternative touse as a hole cropfor dealing with these slimy garden encroacher .
Sometimes pest control is n’t about what you repel , but what you’re able to draw alternatively , to a targeted localisation .
If you decide to use marigolds as your sacrificial offer , be certain to lead out each dark with a torch and cull as many snail and slugs off your plant as you may manage .
That means , you ’re able to limit the universe and revel your beautiful flower at the same time .
find out with slugs and snails in our guidebook .
Put Marigolds to Work in Your Garden
I know what you ’re thinking .
You probably accept one looking at at this list and thought they might be imbued with some sort of apparently magical pestis - repelling powers ( minus their ability to pull in biff and escargot , of course ) . Unfortunately , that ’s not the way phylogeny work .
Testing has shown that marigold do n’t repel cabbage fly ( Delia radicum ) or onion flies ( D. antiqua ) , for model .
Still , they ’re quite good at controlling several of the more annoying diversity of garden pests , which have them priceless in the garden in my center . And who knows what other wonders we ’ll discover about these garden assistant in the futurity ?
If you ’re curious tolearn more about marigolds , we have some excellent guide that you might be interested in reading next , starting with these :
© Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . earlier release March 27th , 2022 . Last updated April 27th , 2025 . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
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Kristine Lofgren
