In spring my spouse purchased two tetrapacks of marigolds.
At that time, all of the eight marigold plants looked the same.
She planted seven towards the outside of a large pot and one in the middle.

At the current time, however, while seven of the marigolds are the size of marigolds we were expecting and have bloomed all summer,
the middle one is now two foot tall, still gaining height and hasn't bloomed yet.
See picture below (Aug. 22, 2016)

Common sense might suggest that the plant in the middle grew from a seed for a large variety of marigolds,
but it seems odd that it is the marigold in the middle that is the giant one.
When planting, there was only a 1 in 8 probability of planting the one plant from a large variety in the middle.

Have other people had related experiences with annuals they've purchased?
Or perhaps with annuals they've grown from seeds they purchased?

Now that is my kind of marigold! If it blooms before frost, it would be interesting to save seed and see what develops.

Exactly, Gary!

please update us when it blooms

Will.
Still waiting, Monika.

That tall Marigold looks really cool (even if it doesn't bloom)!

Current status of that mysterious giant marigold:

Current total height: twenty-nine inches, with some branching starting at about 25 inches.
The tallest branch (rising above the rest of the plant) has branched as well.

Gary, Monika, Flip, perhaps it's now a race between when it blooms and the first killing frost.
But will try to keep it protected for a while.

That top bit was curled and looked a bit like a question mark but we moved the plant into the sun and it's straightening out.

Today.

Charlie are there any buds developing yet?

SunnyBorders said:Current total height: twenty-nine inches, with some branching starting at about 25 inches. The tallest branch (rising above the rest of the plant) has branched as well.

Hi Charlie,

On the chance that this thing might be some kind of mutant, try to save seeds from it if you can. It is possible that a seed company might be interested in it, and might even pay some money for the seeds. I guess that might depend on how tall it eventually gets, or how tall the plants grown from the seeds can get.

ZM

Not yet, Gary; but hoping.

Will Zenman. Great idea, but not expecting mega- (any) bucks!

It looks like some one slipped an african marigold among the french type.
My grandmother use to grow marigolds that were almost 3 foot tall , but the smaller french types are almost all you can find now days.

Hope you get to see it bloom

gardengus said:It looks like some one slipped an african marigold among the french type. My grandmother use to grow marigolds that were almost 3 foot tall , but the smaller french types are almost all you can find now days.

Hi Cinda,

That sounds like a plausible explanation. But let's wait and see how big this thing gets.

ZM

Took it in for one potential frost but it should now be OK outside for a while.
Still no buds, Gary.

Today.
Total height: 34 inches.
At least six branches and no sign of a bud.

It is really pretty as it is. Very interesting!

Mine were not so tall, but were enthusiastic growers.

The giant today.

Had been protecting it from the cold and finally moved it indoors on November 11.
Buds on it only finally began opening after that date.

As per Cinda, assuming it started as a misplaced seed (a Tagetes erecta marigold), but the three foot giant does seems to only noticeably differ from the other seven marigolds in it's size. To me, it looks like a scaled up version of them.

Have tried to collect seeds from the small marigolds which spent all summer outside.
None of the flowers on the giant have died.
Guess there's no chance of insect (bee) pollination indoors.
(Never saw bees on the small ones outside).

At this stage, I've failed to get seeds from the small plants. Am thinking they're sterile.
Speculation: perhaps they're the sterile male FI hybrids I've read about.
Apparently sterile male hybrids produce long-flowering, self-cleaning (etc.) marigold plants;
sterile male FI hybrids are now being propagated by tissue culture.

Was also reading marigold branches can be rooted in water or planted directly into potting or garden soil.
Have started to at least make an attempt to root a cutting indoors, though am not able to do so in a recommended way
(e.g. there's no flowerless branches).

Meanwhile the giant gives quite a splash of colour.
And the small ones are still blooming away.

Charlie ~ What happened to your giant marigold?

Thanks for asking, Evelyn!

No seeds to collect and root cuttings failed.
Now sure, as others suggested, it came from a misplaced seed.
Last picture (Jan 30, 2016):



Was beginning to die back a bit.
Had to clear the decks.
Below: two days later at Shark Tales (overlooking the intercostal).
Choices!!!

Yardenman said:Mine were not so tall, but were enthusiastic growers.

I don't usually grow marigolds, but these two were left at a plant exchange. I felt sorry for the little "orphans". As they grew, I had to move one. I didn't know marigolds grew this large. Too much rain has affected their bloom lately, but I expect they'll perk up soon.





That's a 12" ruler laying on each one for comparison.

Buzzbea424 said:

I don't usually grow marigolds, but these two were left at a plant exchange. I felt sorry for the little "orphans". As they grew, I had to move one. I didn't know marigolds grew this large. Too much rain has affected their bloom lately, but I expect they'll perk up soon.





That's a 12" ruler laying on each one for comparison.

Wow, I thought the volunteer from a 'Collossus' marigold in a pot from last year was large. That's awesome! But mine IS in a pot...

And that was last week.