On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:04:20 -0500, Derald wrote:

Let's just say that I no longer plant marigolds or nasturtiums for any productive purpose and if I'm ever
caught in possession of neem oil it will be because I lost a fight.

I grow nasturtium not for any claimed beneficial process, but rather
because they're wholly edible - the leaves add a spicy zing to salad,
the flowers some colour, and the fresh seed pods are also spicy. The
fact that they're mildly attractive is a plus.

FTR, we have sandy loam where I'm at - nematodes would go nuts here.

"dwarf" marigolds require cutting back and, of course, constant deadheading.
Otherwise, I'd soon have marigold beds instead of vegetable beds! LOL
I had a dozen+ marigolds in the garden last year. Marigolds elsewhere
as well, but in the garden, each of the individual (not cluster)
plants grew to about 2' across. Nice blast of colour around the
beans, tomatoes, cukes, eggplant, and fennel.