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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Nasturtium Flowers
The nasturtium is a cheerful flower that does it all! This annual adds a pop of color to the garden, fights insect pests, and is even edible. Pop one in your mouth! Here鈥檚 how to plant and grow nasturtiums (as well as some tasty ways to enjoy them after you harvest the flowers).
About Nasturtiums
These lovely plants, with their unique greenery and vibrant flowers, grow well in containers or as ground cover around vegetable gardens. In fact, they are often used as a trap crop in companion planting, drawing aphids and other garden pests away from the more valuable vegetables.
- Nasturtium is a friend of beans, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, kale, melon, pumpkin, and radish.
Pests aren鈥檛 the only thing nasturtiums attract, however. They are also a favorite of pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, and their pretty fragrance makes them a good choice for cut-flower gardens, too.
Nasturtiums are grown as annual plants in most areas, though they may perennialize in frost-free zones.
Types of Nasturtiums
There are many varieties of nasturtiums, which are divided into two main types: trailing or climbing types (Tropaeolum majus) and bush types (T. minus). As their names suggest, the main difference between them is their growth habit, with trailing nasturtiums forming long vines and bush nasturtiums remaining more compact. (Bush types are also sometimes called 鈥渄warf鈥 nasturtiums.)
Trailing nasturtiums are a great choice for growing in a window box or hanging basket, as their vines will drape and climb beautifully. Bush nasturtiums are a better choice for smaller gardens where space is limited.
Nasturtiums as Edible Flowers
An important feature of all nasturtiums is their edibility! Nasturtiums鈥 leaves, flowers, and seedpods have a peppery, almost mustard-like taste, which makes them lovely as a salad garnish. The seedpods may also be pickled and used like capers.
Check out our video to learn more about the benefits of growing nasturtiums:
Planting
Plant nasturtiums in full sun (6+ hours of sunlight) for the best results. They will grow in partial shade (3鈥6 hours of sunlight), but won鈥檛 bloom as well.
Soil should be well-draining. Nasturtiums do well in poorer soils and do not typically need extra fertilizer (unless your soil is extremely poor). Too much nitrogen will encourage more foliage than flowers.
Be conscious of the growing habit of the type of nasturtium you鈥檙e growing. Plan to provide support for trailing types.
When to Plant Nasturtiums
Nasturtium seeds may be sown directly in the garden (recommended) or started indoors. Their fragile roots are sensitive to transplanting, so we prefer to sow them directly.
- Indoors: Start seeds 2 to 4 weeks before your last spring frost date.
- Outdoors: Sow seeds 1 to 2 weeks after your last spring frost date. Soil temperatures should ideally be between 55掳 and 65掳F (12掳 and 18掳C). Plan to protect young seedlings from late frosts.
How to Plant Nasturtiums
- Sow the seeds about half an inch deep and 10 to 12 inches apart in the garden.
- Plants should appear in 7 to 10 days.
Pests/Diseases
- Aphids
- Caterpillars
- Flea beetles
- Slugs
- Whiteflies
Cooking Notes
Leaves, flowers, and immature seedpods are edible and make for a beautiful garnish on any summer meal! The seedpods may also be pickled.
Catherine Boeckmann
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Hi, I planted nasturtiums for the first time in a pot, not knowing much about them. I have several plants that all shot up very nicely and I can see they all have a lot of new growth, tiny baby leaves. About a week ago smaller inner leaves started yellowing and dying. I've tried a few things, but think I might have been underwatering (watering more often, but not enough actual water each time) so I'm giving it one big water once/week, and putting it in my sunniest spot. When I watered today, water started to fill the attatched overflow container, so I separated it to dump it out, and noticed a few roots poking out the bottom of the container, about six long stringy white roots. So I'm wondering three things - does the roots poking out mean its rootbound and needs to be in a bigger container, can nasturtiums be repotted successfully, mine are quite tall at this point, and if the roots are that long, does it make sense that if I wasn't giving it enough water with each watering, the long roots were never getting the water and that's why some leaves were dying?
Thank you!
If water is flowing out the bottom of the container, that’s too much water鈥攁t least for nasturtiums. See above; overwatering is ill advised. That may be the cause of the yellow leaves, or it could be a pest bug; nasturtiums are notorious aphid magnets. See above and click through. The 鈥渓ong roots鈥 are harder to explain. Moving on, it is said that nasturtiums do not transplant well, so moving to a larger container may not be successful. If the long-term plan was to transplant them, starting seeds in peat pots is recommended because the entire pot would be planted, leaving the roots undisturbed. Depending on how the plant is doing in the near term, it may be worth your while to start again, if possible鈥攊t’s still early in the growing season! Read the guidance above and see if you get better results.
Your site says to plant my nasturtium seeds 12 inches apart. The seed package says 1 inch apart. Can you confirm one or the other for me, please? I am a lousy gardener but I am trying to learn! :-)
Hi Jill. Package directions usually assume two things: 1) Not all seeds will root and take; and 2) You are germinating before planting. If you just want to plant without germinating, then I'd recommend the 12 inches since they can get a bit bushy. However, you may risk some gaps in your garden until they fully develop out. Or you can always just plant more seeds, and try it again, in the areas where the seeds don't end up rooting.
I love Nasturtiums. However I planted them I my garden about 8 years ago & I always seem to miss picking up all the seeds at the end of the season . Spring comes around the following year and there's seedlings all over the place.I just can't bring myself to dig them up. Seems the seeds can survive even the winters in the north of England !
Autumn here in Australia but still lovely warm weather and where I removed my nasturtiums about Feb [end of summer] lots of nasturtium seedlings are appearing and look very healthy. will they die off in winter?
Hi Val
Hi from NZ! I have nasturtiums in my garden - it is now May and they are still going strong! They are supposed to die off in the first frost and we have already had that! Having said that the season has been so weird this year and some of my nasturtium seeds that fell on the ground earlier in the season have germinated where they fell and I have more wee plants popping through. I am sure they will die off over winter though, but have hope that all the seeds that fell will do the trick again in spring.
thanks Denise - it's nice to know someone else is experiencing unusual effects. I guess we will just wait and see.
As part of a science experiment, we planted some nasturtium seeds in different peat pots, watering them regularly. It will be two weeks tomorrow. When should we see any plant growth? To note, we haven't had much sun or heat this spring (we're in Seattle)
Thanks for the help
Hi Anna, It should take 7 to 10 days for nasturtium to emerge. Note: Seeds are best planted outdoors after frost danger has passed. Indoor sowing is not recommended, as Nasturtiums do not transplant well. The seeds need darkness to germinate and a temperature of 55 F to 65 F.
