Snapdragons are colorful, whimsical bloomers that lend a romantic cottage garden feel to your garden. These cool-season flowers bloom in early spring into summer and then again in the fall. Snapdragons are low-maintenance plants requiring adequate sunlight, drainage, deadheading, occasional fertilizing, and regular watering in order to bloom well. Factors including over-pruning, poor drainage, low light, or over-fertilization can decrease blooming in snapdragons.
Common Reasons Why Snapdragons Aren’t Blooming
Snapdragons may not be blooming due to lack of sunlight. Full sun will promote maximum blooming. Another reason why snapdragons may not bloom is if they have too much or too little water. Regular watering and adequate drainage is important for keeping your snapdragons healthy and blooming. Proper pruning and deadheading maintenance is also important to keep your snapdragons blooming.
Pruning Snapdragons To Help It Bloom
Deadheading, or pruning off spent flowers, is an important maintenance task to help your plant continue blooming. Once a flower stalk fades, cut it back to just above the next set of blooms or new growth. Deadheading encourages new buds to form instead of seed. Be careful not to trim off the new buds or new growth.
Cutting the plant back is another way to prune your snapdragons to encourage flowering in the next season. Snapdragons fade when the summer heat sets in, and this is a good time to cut the plant back by about a third. This pruning allows it to rest prior to putting on new growth and flowers for the fall.
Fertilizing Snapdragons To Help It Bloom
Fertilizing is an important task to keep your snapdragons healthy and full of blooms. Begin fertilizing snapdragons once they begin flowering, using a balanced formula (e.g. 10-10-10 NPK ratio). Follow a 2-4 week fertilizing schedule, being careful not to over-fertilize your plants.
Why Snapdragons Aren’t Blooming
- Snapdragons are not receiving enough sunlight
- Snapdragons are not receiving enough moisture, or drainage is poor
- Spent flower stalks are going to seed and preventing further blooms
- Plants are hungry and should be fed with a balanced fertilizer once flowering begins
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Author Katie Endicott - Published 7-05-2022 |