Marigold · León de los Aldama, Guanajuato, Mexico
When to sow marigolds in León de los Aldama
Main outdoor window
24 Jan - 7 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
17 January
In León de los Aldama, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
15 Mar - 4 Apr
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in León de los Aldama
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
6-20 Dec
Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
24 Jan - 7 Feb
One week after your last frost.
Plant out
24 Jan - 7 Feb
One week after your last frost.
In flower
15 Mar - 4 Apr
Marigolds through the year
Against the frost risk in León de los Aldama
Why these dates
Six weeks indoors produces flowering plants at transplant time. Direct sowing works but flowers three weeks later.
Killed by frost at both ends of the season, with no tolerance at any growth stage.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Marigolds are timed from 6 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for León de los Aldama.
The median frost-free season here is 329 days, against 50 to 70 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in León de los Aldama
Other flowers to time
Growing marigolds in León de los Aldama
When should I plant marigolds in León de los Aldama?
Aim for 24 Jan - 7 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 25 Feb - 11 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will marigolds be ready to harvest in León de los Aldama?
Expect to start picking around 15 Mar - 4 Apr, based on 50 to 70 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will marigolds tolerate?
Killed by frost at both ends of the season, with no tolerance at any growth stage.