How to care for snapdragons during the flowering period? These key points are crucial

Snapdragon is a perennial herb with a tubular, two-lipped corolla, swollen into a sac-like shape at the base, with the upper lip upright, spreading and curving outward, mainly in colors such as white, pale red, deep red, flesh color, deep yellow, light yellow, and yellow-orange. How should snapdragons be cared for during the flowering period?

When is the flowering period

Snapdragons are generally suitable for sowing in late August or September, and will bloom in April-May of the following year.

When seedlings are raised in cold frames in early spring or sown in spring and summer, they can bloom in June-July or September-October. Of course, in this case they will not grow as well as autumn-sown plants, and the flowering period will be shorter. Generally speaking, sowing snapdragon seeds in autumn will bring flowers the following year, and after hard pruning they can continue blooming into late autumn, with very beautiful flowers.

In addition, for those used as cut flowers in winter, they are often sown in late summer, cultivated in the open field, moved into a greenhouse when autumn turns cool, and kept at 22°C during the day and above 10°C at night in autumn and winter, and they can also bloom successively in December.

How to care for them during the flowering period

Fertilizing: Fertilize once every half month, and you can choose Huifriend or a special fertilizer for potted flowers. Do not apply nitrogen fertilizer during the bud stage, as it easily causes excessive vegetative growth.

Watering: During the flowering period, prevent the soil from becoming too dry or too wet. Keeping the potting soil moist is enough, and waterlogging must be avoided. You can spray water mist around the plant to keep the flowering branches bright and hydrated.

Pruning: After flowering, the aboveground part can be cut off, then water thoroughly once. After a week, new branches will sprout again. Apply a dilute liquid fertilizer about once every ten days until flower buds form. Alternatively, after the flowers bloom, pinch the tips, and the new branches that sprout can keep blooming continuously and are very gorgeous.

Cut flowers: Snapdragon cut flowers are not resistant to compression, but if cut too early, the buds are not easy to open. Therefore, it is best to cut when 2-3 flowers at the base of the inflorescence have opened and the upper buds are just beginning to open. After cutting, grade the cut flowers according to flower color, plant height, and spike length, in bundles of 10-20 stems.