Mexikanische Riesentagetes / Huacatay

Season Overview

Description

Huacatay is South America's culinary secret. This impressive spice tagetes, which can grow up to 3.5 meters tall, is less impressive for its tiny flowers than for its unique aroma. The scent of the leaves is an intense blend of mint, lime, basil, and anise. A must for fans of authentic Peruvian cuisine! Use: Fresh or processed into a paste, it is the basis for the famous ocopa sauce. Also excellent as an aromatic tea or for seasoning hearty stews.

Growing tips

🌱 Pre-cultivation - Time: April - Planting after 3-5 weeks (after the ice saints) - Germination temperature: 20-25 °C - Germination time: usually 5-10 days - Light: bright, but no direct blazing sun during germination - Sowing container: seed tray or small pots with loose sowing soil - Sowing depth: 2-3 mm - Watering: carefully, keep the soil slightly moist, but never wet. - Covering: optional foil/cover until the seedlings appear - ventilate daily - Pricking out: as soon as the seedlings have 2-3 true leaves - Harden off: place outside during the day 7-10 days before planting out - Not too warm and not too dark - Fertilize sparingly - only after pricking out and only very mildly. 🌼 Direct sowing & planting - Direct sowing: from mid-May (after the ice saints) - Low varieties (20-30 cm high): 20-25 cm row spacing, 15-20 cm plant spacing - Medium varieties (30-50 cm high): 25-30 cm row spacing, 20-25 cm plant spacing - Tall varieties (over 50 cm): 30-40 cm row spacing, 25-30 cm plant spacing 🌱 Location & soil - Full sun is ideal. The more light, the more compact and flowering - Soil: loose, humus-rich, well-drained. No waterlogging - pH value: slightly acidic to neutral 💧 Care - Watering: regular, moderate. No waterlogging - Fertilize: sparingly - Remove faded plants 🌿 Use - Perfect for flower beds, balcony boxes, border planting. - Good companion plants in vegetable beds, e.g. with tomatoes, peppers or cabbage. - Attract pollinators and improve soil quality (nematode-reducing). 🌼 Harvest - Seeds: from August to October (seed heads brown and dry) - Carefully pull off or break apart the dried flower. - Inside you will find many narrow, black and white seeds. - Allow to dry well and store in a dry, dark, airtight place. - Flowers: are edible and are used for tea or decoration. - In the morning, when the dew has dried. - Only pick fresh, fully opened flowers. - As edible decoration for salads, cakes, drinks. - For tea (slightly lemony and spicy). - Dried as a colorant in herbal mixtures. 🌿 Good neighbors - Tomatoes, peppers & chilli, potatoes, eggplant, okra - Cucumber, celery, melon - Lettuce, spinach, chard, beet - Cabbages, turnips, rapeseed - Strawberries, roses, rhubarb - Beans, peas - Onions, leeks, garlic, chives - Carrots, parsnips, radishes, radishes, salsify - Basil, dill, parsley, thyme, oregano, marjoram, lemon balm, mint - Lavender, coneflower, sage, gaura, coreopsis, funkia, sedum - Berry bushes, summer lilac, weigelie, deutzia, spirea, fruit trees 🚫 Bad neighbors - Fennel - Wormwood / mugwort - Marigolds, ferns - Pumpkin, zucchini, corn - Rhododendrons - Jerusalem artichoke - Blackberries, hazelnut, elderberry, walnut - Spruce, fir, pine, maple, beech, willow, alder 🌿 Common diseases - Powdery and downy mildew - Root rot - Leaf spot diseases 🐛 Typical pests - Snails and slugs - Aphids - thrips - Spider mites

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Dry

Soil

Light (sandy)

Nutrient requirement

Low

Germination temperature

20 – 25 °C (Degrees Celsius)

Plant distance

20 cm

Row spacing

30 cm

Seeding depth

0.2 cm