Why does marigold crowded by alyssum seem much happier?

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RosemaryA Toronto, ON(Zone 5b) Aug 04, 2008

My landlord planted a bunch of purchased marigold plants around the garden. One of them was planted where I had already sown some alyssum seeds but they hadn't sprouted yet.

Most of the marigolds have grown very little (only about 15 cm tall), have few flowers, and seem to be struggling, but the marigold surrounded by alyssum is 10 times as big (in terms of volume), about 25 cm tall, and loaded with blooms.

I would have expected the opposite, that the marigold crowded by alyssum would be having more difficulty because of the competition.

Here is the happy marigold:

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RosemaryA Toronto, ON(Zone 5b) Aug 04, 2008

And here is one of the unhappy marigolds:

Thumbnail by RosemaryA
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RosemaryA Toronto, ON(Zone 5b) Aug 04, 2008

So what do you think? Are the alyssum helping the marigold by keeping the soil from drying out? Or is this some kind of companion planting effect?

Thanks!

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 04, 2008

I suspect it's just a coincidence and there's something else in the cultural conditions in that part of the bed that are causing the differences you're seeing--could the "good" part of the garden have more sun, better drainage, better soil, more/less water, etc. Or it could be that particular marigold was just a healthier plant in the first place, or its roots were damaged less during transplanting, etc.

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