Get Gainda in Your Balcony – With Amber-Sienna hued flowers that attract butterflies, Marigold is a great addition to any sleek balcony container garden. You can plant it in a pot next to your window with little support, or you can just hang a small pot on your balcony or simply place it in the sun.
With the least maintenance that Marigold needs, no wonder this beautiful Gainde ka Paudha is a favorite across India and is largely seen in urban DIY and landscape gardens. Our tropical weather that stays enriched with ample sunshine during the entire year, also makes growing Gainda a fitting and aesthetic choice throughout the country. Moreover, Marigold has a pungent odor that helps in keeping the insects away, so it is your natural, a soothing and delightful insecticide with none of the side effects!
If you are planning on growing this pretty, sparkly flowering plant on your balcony, here is what you need to know:
- Marigold flowers all year long and does well under consistent sunshine so pick a place in your balcony where the plant will get ample light.
- Watering the plant every third day is plenty.
Planting: Where to get the seeds?
You can just plant seeds from any available old marigold plant, or you can even take the dead flower heads off and plant them in a small container and put it in the sunshine. To initiate healthier growth, make sure you pinch the flower heads before the seeds have been produced in them.
Placement: where to put the containers?
If you grow veggies or herbs in your balcony garden then placing growing marigold close to them would be beneficial because it keeps insects away. Partial to full sunlight with hydration twice or thrice a week would be great.
Container type, size, and soil
Marigold (Garuda) is among the least effort intensive and one of the fastest growing flowering plant and doesn’t need any specific type of soil. As long as the soil is well-drained, fertile and has been killed, you won’t have any problem growing the plant.
Clay or brick containers are used throughout India for growing plants, but you can also use wooden containers and hang them up by a rope on the balcony but make sure that drainage is fully functional. You can pick a bigger container if you want larger growth but an average sized container should be enough to sustain a medium sized plant.
Sowing and germination
Begin the growth indoors by using warm soil to sow the seeds. Sow before or during spring and examine the seeds every day for damping off if you are keeping them indoors.
Now, ensure that the seedlings have been separated when they are at least a few inches taller. You can either plant them directly in separate containers (clay gamla) or even use loose soil but using gamle would be a far more convenient option for the balcony.
Watering at the base and deadheading and letting the soil dry out before you water again would be feasible to keep the plant blooming.
