How to grow snapdragons? Keep this cultivation guide handy
Snapdragon is also called dragon's-mouth flower, dragon-head flower, and so on. It originated near the Mediterranean coast of southern Europe and North Africa. It gets its name because the flowers of snapdragon (detailed introduction) look very much like swimming goldfish. Snapdragons can be grown in pots, and because their flower colors are gorgeous, they are very suitable for ornamental viewing. Below, the editor of Boqi Web will tell everyone about snapdragon cultivation methods.
Snapdragon (detailed introduction)
Potted snapdragons commonly use 10 cm pots. Seedlings from sowing can be transplanted into pots 6 weeks after germination. During the growing period, maintain a temperature of 16°C, keep the potting soil moist, and provide plenty of sunlight. Some dwarf varieties can bloom 60-70 days after sowing. For tall and medium-stemmed varieties, pinching promotes more branching and more flowering. To date, growth regulators are more often used to dwarf plants and regulate the flowering period. Spraying 0.05%-0.1% daminozide 10 days after pinching has a significant dwarfing effect. Spraying 0.25%-0.4% daminozide at the seedling stage can advance flowering and make the flowers more compact. If 0.4%-0.8% daminozide is sprayed 2-4 times, flowering can be delayed. During the growing period, fertilize once every half month, or use Huiyou 15-15-30 special fertilizer for pot flowers. After flowering, promptly pinch the top and increase fertilizer. At a temperature of 13-16°C, it can continue to bloom continuously. Snapdragons readily cross naturally. To keep varieties pure, seed-bearing mother plants need to be isolated for seed collection. Of course, many double-flowered and F1 hybrid snapdragons are very difficult to obtain seeds from.
Propagation methods: mainly by sowing and tissue culture propagation.
Sowing propagation: In areas south of the Yangtze River, autumn sowing can be done, preferably in September-October. For the sowing soil, use peat soil or a mixed soil of leaf mold, culture soil, and fine sand. After high-temperature sterilization, put it into a sowing tray. Snapdragon has 6300-7000 seeds per gram. After sowing, do not cover them; just press the seeds lightly. The suitable germination temperature is 21°C. After watering, cover with plastic film and place in a semi-shaded place. Germination occurs in about 7 days. Avoid direct exposure to strong sunlight. After germination, the seedling growth temperature is 10°C, and transplanting can be done 6 weeks after emergence.
Tissue culture propagation: In 1984, Pfister of the United States used young stems as explants. The sterilized explants were cut into 5 mm sections and inoculated on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 6-benzylaminoadenine and 0.2 mg/L indoleacetic acid to culture clustered shoots. After cutting the clustered shoots and subculturing 1-2 times, transfer them to 1/2 MS medium supplemented with 0.2 mg/L KT and 2 mg/L indoleacetic acid. Only then can complete snapdragon plants be obtained.
Pest and disease control
If damping-off occurs in snapdragons at the seedling stage, spray with 65% zineb wettable powder at 600 times dilution. During the growing period, leaf blight and anthracnose can cause damage, and 50% tuijunte wettable powder at 800 times dilution can be sprayed. Pests include aphids and noctuid moths, which can be killed by spraying 40% omethoate emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution.
Snapdragon cultivation methods
Snapdragons can be grown in pots. Because their flower colors are gorgeous, they are very suitable for ornamental viewing. They originate from the Mediterranean region, with a distribution range extending north to Morocco and Portugal, south to France, and east to Turkey and Syria. They are named because their flowers resemble goldfish. They are also a traditional Chinese medicine, with effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling blood and reducing swelling. They can also be pressed for oil for consumption, which is nutritious and healthy. Now let us take a look at snapdragon cultivation methods together!
Snapdragon growth habits
Snapdragons like sunlight and can also tolerate semi-shade. They are relatively cold-tolerant and not tolerant of intense summer heat. They are suitable for growing in loose, fertile soil with good drainage, and can also grow normally in calcareous soil. The plant height is 20-70 cm, and the leaves are oblong-lanceolate. The inflorescence is a raceme, and the corolla is tubular and lipped, with a swollen sac-like base, the upper lip upright and 2-lobed, and the lower lip 3-lobed, spreading and curved outward. There are colors such as white, pale red, deep red, flesh color, deep yellow, light yellow, and yellow-orange.
Snapdragon propagation methods
Snapdragons are mainly propagated by sowing. Sowing can be done in spring or autumn. In the Yangtze River basin, autumn sowing is mostly used, and in northern regions pot sowing is also mostly done in autumn. Autumn-sown seedlings grow more robustly and bloom more abundantly than spring-sown seedlings. After autumn sowing, seedlings emerge in 7-10 days. Soaking seeds in 50-400 mg/L gibberellin solution can increase the seed germination rate. Spring sowing should be carried out in March-April, and cutting propagation can also be used.
Snapdragon cultivation methods
1. Soil: Snapdragons do not have very high soil requirements, but they grow best in fertile, loose, slightly acidic sandy loam with good drainage.
2. Watering: Snapdragons are very sensitive to moisture. The potting soil must remain moist. When potting seedlings, they must also be watered thoroughly, but the potting soil must have good drainage and must not accumulate water, otherwise it can easily cause root rot as well as yellowing and wilting of stems and leaves.
3. Sunlight: Snapdragons are light-loving herbaceous plants and need to grow under conditions with sufficient sunlight. The plants are dwarf and compact in clumps, grow neatly, remain uniform in height, bloom neatly, and have bright flower colors. If under semi-shaded conditions, the plants will grow taller, the inflorescences will elongate, and the flower colors will be dull.
4. Temperature: Snapdragons are relatively cold-tolerant but not heat-tolerant. The most suitable growth temperature is 7-10°C. High temperatures are unfavorable for growth and development, while the most suitable flowering temperature is around 15-16°C. For some varieties, if the temperature exceeds 15°C, they will not branch and the plant form will be affected.
5. Fertilization: Strengthening fertilizer and water management is necessary. When fertilizing, pay more attention to the combination of phosphorus, potassium, and so on, because it itself has root nodules and therefore has nitrogen-fixing ability, so under normal circumstances there is no need to apply nitrogen fertilizer. During the growing period, combine watering with applying fermented oil residue water once every half month. Before fertilizing, also loosen the soil and weed appropriately.
6. Pruning: For snapdragons, only after each flowering ends, cut off the branches that have already flowered, so as to better promote the sprouting of new branches and continued flowering.
Dwarf snapdragon cultivation methods
Dwarf snapdragon is a biennial herbaceous plant of the genus Antirrhinum in the family Scrophulariaceae under the order Tubiflorae. It is also called toadflax, little snapdragon, Moroccan toadflax, and so on. The plant height is about 30 cm, and the flower colors are red, yellow, white, snow blue, blue-purple, and so on. The flowering period is April-June. It can tolerate cold but not intense heat. It requires relatively fertile soil with good drainage, can self-sow, and can be used as material for flower beds and flower border edges, and can also be grown in pots for ornamental viewing.
Dwarf snapdragon propagation methods
1. Sowing propagation: For sowing propagation, sow in late September to early October. Level the seedbed finely and evenly. Mix the seeds with fine sand and sow evenly into the seedbed, cover with reed curtains for shading. Before the seeds emerge, spray water evenly to keep the soil moist. After two weeks, cotyledons germinate. During the seedling-raising period, pay attention to thinning the seedlings so the seedlings grow sturdy. When 5-8 true leaves have grown, pinch promptly. There are many lateral roots, making transplanting easy. When 2-3 branches have grown, transplant once.
2. Cutting propagation: Cutting propagation is usually combined with pinching work. Use the robust, pest-free top shoots that have been pinched off as cuttings, and directly use the top shoots for cuttings. The optimum temperature for cutting rooting is 18°C-25°C. Below 18°C, rooting of cuttings is difficult and slow. Above 25°C, the cut end of the cutting is easily infected by pathogens and rots, and the higher the temperature, the greater the proportion of rot. When low temperatures are encountered after cutting, the main heat-preservation measure is to wrap the flowerpot or container used for cuttings with film.
Dwarf snapdragon potted management
1. Potting: When potting seedlings, first place coarse-grained substrate or ceramsite 2-2 cm thick at the bottom of the pot as a drainage layer, then sprinkle a layer of fully decomposed organic fertilizer on top as base fertilizer, about 1-2 cm thick, then cover with another layer of substrate about 1-2 cm thick, and then place the plant in, so as to separate the fertilizer from the root system and avoid burning the roots. For the substrate used for potting, one of the following can be selected: garden soil: cinder = 3:1, or garden soil: medium-coarse river sand: sawdust (mushroom residue) = 4:1:2, or one of paddy soil, pond mud, and leaf mold.
2. Watering: After potting, water once thoroughly and place in a slightly shaded environment for one week of care. When transplanting seedlings, first dig the planting hole, sprinkle a layer of organic fertilizer at the bottom of the planting hole as basal fertilizer (base fertilizer), about 4-6 cm thick, then cover with a layer of soil and place the seedling in, so as to separate the fertilizer from the root system and avoid burning the roots. After placing the seedling in, backfill the soil, cover the root system, and press the soil firmly with your foot, then water once thoroughly.
3. Pruning: During the flowering process, cut off spent flowers together with three leaves, which can extend the flowering period.
4. Pinching: Before flowering, generally pinch twice to promote the sprouting of more flowering branches. One to two weeks after potting, or when the seedlings are 6-10 cm tall and have six or more leaves, remove the top shoots and keep the lower 3-4 leaves to promote branching. Three to five weeks after the first pinching, or when the lateral branches grow to 6-8 cm long, carry out the second pinching, that is, remove the top shoots of the lateral branches and keep the lower 4 leaves of the lateral branches. After two pinchings, the plant shape will be more ideal and the number of flowers will also be greater.
Dwarf snapdragon cultivation management
1. Humidity: It likes a relatively dry air environment. If rainy days last too long, it is easily infected by pathogens. It fears rain exposure, so keep the leaves dry at night. The optimum relative air humidity is 40-60%.
2. Temperature: It likes a cool climate, avoids intense heat, and is tolerant of frost and cold. It does not have very strict temperature requirements for winter; as long as it is not subjected to frost, it can overwinter safely. It dies when the temperature rises above 30°C in late spring and early summer. The most suitable growth temperature is 15-25°C. Try to sow in autumn and winter to avoid high summer temperatures.
3. Light: In the three seasons of late autumn, winter, and early spring, because the temperature is not very high, it should be given direct sunlight to facilitate photosynthesis and the formation of flower buds, flowering, and seed setting. If high-temperature weather occurs in summer, it needs to be shaded from about 50% of sunlight. If it is kept indoors for ornamental viewing after flowering, place it near southeast-facing doors and windows to extend the flowering period and increase the number of flowers as much as possible.
4. Fertilizer and water: Like other herbaceous flowers, it has relatively high fertilizer and water requirements, but it is most afraid of indiscriminate fertilization, concentrated fertilizer, and one-sided application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers. It is required to follow the two fertilization (watering) principles of “apply light fertilizer frequently, small amounts but many times, complete nutrition” and “alternate dry and wet, when dry let it dry thoroughly, do not water if not dry, water thoroughly when watering”, and after fertilizing, keep the leaves and flowers dry at night:
5. Autumn: After the sown seedlings have been potted and recovered for a period, fertilizer and water management should be quickly stepped up. Fertilizer and water management follows the cycle of Huabao→Huabao→clear water→Huabao→Huabao→clear water, with an interval period of about 1-3 days,
6. Winter: Although it is still continuing to grow, the relatively low temperature will slow its growth rate, and its fertilizer and water requirements are not great, so fertilizer and water may even need to be controlled. Fertilizer and water management follows the cycle of Huabao→clear water→clear water→Huabao→clear water→clear water, with an interval period of about 4-7 days. Try to arrange watering at noon on sunny days when the temperature is relatively high.
7. Spring: After the temperature rises, growth recovers rapidly and gradually enters the flower bud differentiation stage and flowering stage, with very high fertilizer and water requirements. Fertilizer and water management follows the cycle of Huabao→clear water→Huabao→clear water, with an interval period of about 2-4 days. On sunny days or during high temperatures, the interval period is shorter; on rainy days or during low temperatures, the interval period is longer or no watering is done. After entering the seed-setting stage, stop fertilizer supply.