Planting Snapdragons
I love snapdragons they remind me of my childhood and picking the little flowers and making them snap snap and ‘biting’ your finger (I will add a little video of what I mean when they actually grow).
My seeds are from Swan Cottage Garden again I am a massive fan and can’t say enough about how FABULOUS Zoe and her husband are – go follow her if I were you her grow along videos/ stories are just amazing and keep you out of trouble – with loads of amazing help and advice this isn’t an AD or anything but I think I am partially only still on this journey thanks to their posts and support.
You can order seeds from soooo many places – you can also buy plug seedlings from lots of places as well – I have done this before but it is much more expensive way – however does have positives.
I did sow in autumn and to be honest I am not sure how sucessful it really was due to my crappy documentation and moving in November – it was all a little – actually VERY traumatic – you can read about this in post … moving November 2020 if you are remotely interested.
This weekend I am sowing MORE sigh as my luck is so bad with them and I so desperately want them…
You don’t need to cover the seeds so this is what I am doing this time around- I am batch sowing – insert pic and putting a little vermiculite on the top (the vermiculite on top is a new tip I am trying…) last time I put in individual cells but to be honest I am so running out of space and when you have a 40 cell tray and only 3-5 randomly germinate the space is premium – when I batch sow I use old plastic tray – fruit tubs most of mine – yes it can be a faff as you have to prick out etc… but I am just finding it a little better for me this time around with the tiny tiny seeds at least! and these seeds are sure tiny.
Some tips from Erin Floret Farm the book Cut Flower Garden She sows hers in early spring and places 1-2 in a cell and covers with a light dusting of vermiculite. As the seeds are SO TINY she picks hers up with a slightly damp end of a toothpick – she says to increase the number of blooms pinching would be recommended when plants have about 5 sets of true leaves snip back to about 3. (however can delay flowering by up to 3 weeks so maybe mix and match to get a good combination).
Also tonight I am listening to Let’s Grow, Girls snapdragon secrets pod cast with Gemma from GreenRabbitFlowers I can’t recommend the pod casts enough and this ones will not disappoint I feel. Go go listen 😛 Some excellent information and talk about propagating.
Top Tips
- Surface – light to germinate
- Pinch out when about 5-6 true leaves – (you can propagate the cutting…)
- Fertilize when plants first start to produce flowers
- 2 – 3 in 10Lt pot – 1 in 3lt pot – 2 in 5lt pot
- Thinking maybe back wall – Fill sun to partial shade
- Flower time appears to be spring and autumn slowing down in the summer…
- Rich well draining soil