Snapdragon "Maximum" (high mix)

High snapdragon (mix) - Antirrhinum majus.
Location: blooms profusely in open sunny places, but can also grow in partial shade. Requires areas sheltered from the wind.
Soil: grows best in a well-drained, medium-moist, loamy soil.
Plant care: normal.
The culture relatively easily tolerates short-term drought but is very responsive to watering and fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, which are carried out 2-3 times before flowering.
With excessive moisture, it gets sick and dies, especially at the age of seedlings.
In order to extend the period of the highest decorativeness, it is necessary to regularly remove faded inflorescences.
This technique stimulates the branching of the bushes, resulting in increased flowering.
Frost resistant.

Propagation: by seeds and cuttings. The plant is cold-resistant, seedlings and hardened seedlings can withstand short-term frosts down to -3-5°C.
You can sow seeds in open ground before winter, but in this case flowering begins late, in August, so it is better to grow this crop as seedlings.
Seeds are sown in mid-March, tall and medium varieties require double picking.
For sowing and picking, prepare a light soil mixture consisting of light turf and humus soil in equal proportions.
Seeds germinate very slowly, at a temperature of +20...+ 22°C, seedlings appear only on the 10-14th day.
When germinating, seeds need light, so do not sprinkle them with a thick layer of soil.
The seedlings are transplanted into peat-humus pots measuring 3x3 or 4x4 cm.
In the first week after transplanting, the plants are very sensitive to excess moisture in the soil (affected by black leg), so it is better not to water them, but to spray them with a spray bottle.
The first feeding with complete mineral fertilizer (5-8 g of nitrophoska per 10 l of water) is carried out 7-10 days after transplanting, the second - after 10-12 days.
For better branching of the bushes, it is recommended to pinch the plants after the formation of 5-6 true leaves above the 3-4th leaf.
The cut off tops of the shoots can be used for cuttings.
At the seedling stage, you can determine varieties with dark and light colored flowers.
In varieties with a dark colored perianth, the leaves are darker than in light-colored ones, and the veins and petioles are reddish. If you decide to collect seeds from your favorite plants, remember that the seeds do not ripen at the same time.
First of all, the seeds in the lowest seed pods ripen.
Usually, the upper third of the fruit is discarded, the lower two thirds are collected when they acquire a yellow-brown color.
Seeds should be collected carefully, as the seed pods open easily and the seeds can spill out.
1 g contains 4000-8000 seeds. Germination is maintained for 3-4 years.
In addition to seeds, snapdragons are propagated by cuttings. Cuttings easily take root in sand, in which case the mother plants are kept indoors in winter.
This method is used very rarely (only when breeding some terry forms).
Planting conditions: hardened seedlings are planted in open ground in the second ten days of May, the distance between plants is from 15 to 50 cm, depending on the variety. Antirrhinum grows best in well-fertilized, breathable, light, medium-loamy soils with a pH of 6-7, cultivated to a depth of 30-40 cm.
A sunny location is preferable for plants, but they can also grow in partial shade. In areas with mild winters, antirrhinum can overwinter in the ground.
Use: recommended for flowerbeds, borders, group and mass plantings, mixborders, edges of shrubs, for landscaping balconies, vases, pot culture, cutting and forcing.
When cut, they stand in water for 7-14 days, and all the buds bloom.
It is best to take plants with buds for cutting, when only the first lower flowers have opened in the inflorescences.
Plants transplanted into pots in the fall and transferred to a room retain their decorative effect for a long time.
Partners: goes well with cosmos, sea sage of similar colors.

Garden snapdragon.