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Harvesting Marigold Seeds – Learn How to Save Marigold Seeds

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The scent of marigolds takes me back to my earliest days gardening as a child. I loved how the spent blossoms held loads of seeds, just waiting for the next season to grow! Harvesting marigold seeds is now so much fun with my own kids!

Now our daughters enjoy deadheading marigolds each season, and collecting and saving marigold seeds so we can seed swap and plant for next time. They also help me plant the seeds we save.

Child harvesting marigold seeds from strawberry blonde marigolds
My young daughter helping to harvest seeds from strawberry blonde marigolds!

It’s easy to find marigold plants in cell packs or flats at just about any gardening center. However, I find it so much more rewarding growing gorgeous, hardy summertime flowers from seed.

If you haven’t had a chance yet to grow marigolds from seed, now’s your chance! I’m excited to share all my best tips on collecting marigold seeds for your garden.

What do Marigold seeds look like?

Once you’ve seen them, seeds from marigolds are unmistakable. The scent alone gives them away, but marigold seeds are a delicate stick-like seed that’s mostly dark with a white tip. It’s slightly reminiscent of a matchhead. These seeds tend to be pointed on the darker end and more frayed on the lighter end.

Marigold seeds from orange flowers in a glass dish with craft bowls
Here’s a dish of homegrown marigold seeds saved for a crafting project.
Try it yourself or with your kids and make your own homemade tie-dye Plantable Paper!

Saving Marigold Seeds

Saving marigold seeds is so easy and fun for the kids! Try these steps to get a nice stash of seeds to swap with your gardening friends!

  1. Pick marigold blossoms that have already faded.
  2. Save them all in a brown paper lunch bag or a large paper envelope. Be sure there’s some opportunity for air flow to prevent mold.

    Pile of seeds saved from marigolds
  3. Open the flower and discard the outside.
  4. Pull the seeds away from the stem.
  5. Place the seeds in a safe place, such as a paper envelope.
  6. Label the envelope or bag with the type of marigolds, date harvested, color, and any other useful information.
Marigold Seeds are Easy and Beautiful to grow all summer long! Handmade marigold seed packets by little girl.

Marigold Seed Harvesting Tips

Follow these helpful tips on how to harvest marigold seeds quickly and easily from your garden.

  • Wait until the marigold blooms are spent, dry, and brown. You may still get viable seed from faded blossoms but best marigold seed germination will likely come from the more mature ones.
  • Separate the seeds or keep seed heads intact if you’re in a rush. You can always break them apart and scatter the seeds in the next growing season.
  • Take note of the marigold height while seed saving. Knowing how tall the plants should be will help you determine where to sow the seeds next spring.
Hand holding marigold seeds and a strawberry blonde marigold blossom
Saving Marigold Seeds from our Strawberry Blonde Marigolds in our 2022 garden!

Final Thoughts: Marigold Seeds

My youngest daughter especially loved deadheading the marigolds for seeds and taking them out of the seed heads to share or save. Some of them we just left intact for future use.

It will be so much fun to experience her joy in growing the flower seeds she saved last year! I can’t wait to plant them with her. We’ve researched marigold companion plants and already have some seedlings started.

Besides the sentimental aspects of marigolds, one seed produces a plant with tons of flowers that can turn into TONS more seeds!

Growing marigolds is a great idea for anyone wanting to get stared in seed swaps with gardeners from many different zones.

Many marigold seeds on a pink purple background
So many marigold seeds to grow in the future!

Marigolds are one of the easiest summer flowers to grow – a great choice for gardeners of every experience level.

Our website features affiliate links to products that we personally believe in. If you make a purchase from a link on our site, we may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you! This helps our girls chase their garden dreams! Thanks for your support. (View full affiliate disclaimer at the end of the page.)

Do you have any special memories of saving marigold seeds? Let’s chat in the comments about favorite marigold seeds to grow.

09.20.22 – Edited to add more photos and change existing ones to full-size. Broke up text with better spacing. Fixed the focus on the post to narrow it down to collecting seeds.

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