Tagetes minuta

[jethro]

Hi all, has anyone grown tagetes minuta from chiltern seeds? aparently they are good for clearing weeds as they secrete toxic substances from their roots and kills the weeds (mares tail, ground elder, thistles,nettles etc) but thet leave the veggies alone? how do they know the difference. It all sounds strange to me but if it works why not give it a go, they also grow 4-8ft tall. So has anyone tried these beasts.

[busy_lizzie]

Jethro, We have mares tails in abundance, nettles and thistles at the allotment and Ground Elder in the back garden so I am willing to have a little experiment with the Tagetes minuta, though they don't sound very "minuta" to me. Hope you are doing okay, by the way!    busy_lizzie

[jethro]

Fit & well B-L thanks, yeh you would think a name like minuta they would be 4 inches tall not bl**dy 4 ft  :-/ .
If i plant them around the lottie they will cover the plants, stopping the light getting to them  :-/ , but i'm still willing to give them a go if they work   .

[Tenuse]

Maybe they should be called Tagetes "Mile-a-minuta".

Ten x

[cleo]

Yes I have tried them, tall boring plants that had no effect whatsoever.

Stephan.

[Mrs Ava]

Cor, what a little ray of sunshine you are Stephan!  

[jethro]

Hi cleo, did you plant them next to the veggies or around the perimeter? only asking cause i'm thick i am.

[cleo]

Hi Jethro

I grew them in between soft fuit bushes that had couch and bindweed running through them. There was no noticeable reduction in weed growth.

In the end I pulled up the fruit bushes and dug the thugs out by hand-it`s the only half effective way.

Stephan

[jethro]

Cheers Cleo, i'll just have to dig the weeds out by hand, or try to   .