Radio Calendula

Latin name: Calendula officinalis

🌱 Days to Sprout: 6-14

😋 Plant Food: after true leaves

✂️ Thin to: 3 plants per yCube

🍅 Days to Maturity: 50-55

💡 Light Zone: Moderate

📏 Plant Size: 2 ft

💚 Care Level: Intermediate

Calendula flowers are native to the Mediterranean and have been widely used since at least the 12th century for their medicinal properties. This specific variety was first bred in the 1930s. Its name comes from the Latin radius, for ray or beam, and refers to its flower petals, which each stand up rather than lay flat, creating its unique, sun-like appearance.

Each Radio Calendula flower looks like its own, bright orange sun, instantly brightening any Gardyn. Flower stalks grow up to 18 inches tall and make excellent cut flowers. Calendula petals and leaves are edible. Petals have a tangy-sweet taste while leaves are more bitter. The plant has anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and antibacterial properties.

Sprinkle the edible flower petals over salads or add them to your favorite drinks to add a splash of color and a tangy, sweet taste. The flowers also have many cosmetic and medicinal uses. You can make a natural dye and colorant from the petals, and, like Arnica or St. John's Wort, it’s a must-have in your natural first-aid kit! Try leaves in fresh salads for a pleasantly bitter note.

✂️ Pruning: Check the roots monthly and trim any that are brown or extending past the yPod. To keep the plant bushy, neat, and within your Gardyn’s light, occasionally pinch off the tops of developing stalks. To encourage new flower bud development, remove dead flower heads, called deadheading. When deadheading, also trim back the bare stem that remains on the plant to prevent it from rotting.

🔎 Plant Health: Aphids and spider mites are a common pest, but you can use our prevention tricks to keep them at bay!

🌼 Harvest: To enjoy as cut flowers, harvest the blossoms when they are half-open by cutting the long stems and putting them in water immediately, but know that blooms last longest on your Gardyn! To display your flowers’ beauty cut-free anywhere, use the Gardyn Vase.

Our Plant Health & Nutrition Team thoroughly tests each variety we offer to bring you the most flavorful and high-quality plants. We regularly rotate our plant portfolio, so please note, availability varies.