Question From: MICHIGAN
Q: Hi Nancy, I don't have a question,but I do have a helpful hint about marigolds and tomatoes. Marigolds planted around tomatoes protect the tomatoes from the green tomato worms that like to munch on the plants. There's something in Marigolds that the repels the worms, but I don't know what that is.
A: Mary, For eons gardeners have used Marigolds as a bug repellant in their vegetable gardens and landscapes. The large French marigold and African Marigolds with their strong pungent odor are used for this purpose.
Brock Ingham, an experienced gardener and editor of Bigger Garden, explains that the distinctive scent of both French marigolds (Tagetes patula) and African marigolds (Tagetes erecta) comes from a chemical compound called thiophene.
It also repels white fly, blackfly and mosquitoes. Happy Yardening
