Where is the snapdragon native to? Cut flower care and potted flowering methods
Today we introduce a flower native to South America - the snapdragon, also known as dragon's mouth flower. Its flower shape closely resembles a swimming goldfish, and its colors are diverse, including red, pink, yellow, white, and some are even two-colored on a single flower, making it highly ornamental.
The snapdragon symbolizes having gold and fish, prosperity and flourishing, and also represents a lively and cheerful mood, generally expressing praise for the other person. So how do you care for it? Generally speaking, in the flower market, snapdragon cut flowers range from 9-20 yuan, while potted snapdragons cost around 30 yuan.
Taking cut flowers as an example, when choosing them at the flower market, first check their freshness, and see whether there are rotten petals or slime. After taking them home, they will generally be dehydrated to varying degrees. At this time, you can fill a bucket with water and first give them a 2~5 hour deep-water hydration. During hydration, be sure not to let the flower heads touch the water. Then, after hydrating, remove all the leaves. This way it looks good and also will not steal the flower's nutrients. Finally, take out a taller vase, add about 2/3 water, pour in preservative or 84 disinfectant, gather the flowers in your hand in a spiral manner, insert them beautifully with the upper left and lower right, and later when changing the water, clean the vase and the roots. Change the water every 2~3 days, place it in a cool and ventilated place, and avoid direct sunlight.
If what you bought home is a potted snapdragon, the editor suggests that if conditions permit, you can repot it into soil rich in humus. Doing so can help healthy growth. Second, you can place it in a spot with direct sunlight, but also note that in hot summer you need to avoid scorching sun exposure. Then for watering, follow "soil moist, avoid overly wet." In summer the water amount can be slightly more, and in winter when watering it should be reasonably and appropriately reduced.
Finally, the key point of growing flowers is to add fertilizer. Many beginner flower lovers overlook the action of fertilizing. This is a huge mistake! Especially when caring for potted types, fertilizing is very important for them. During the snapdragon's growth period, apply liquid fertilizer once every two weeks. During the flowering period, you can increase the application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to promote flower bud formation.