The hot weather hasn't begin yet and my sown indoors in February snaps are developing buds. I think just may get some flowers. And then when it gets too hot I will move them to pits and keep them well watered on front porch in mostly shade. Hopefully I can nurse them through to fall.

Praying for water, we are already in drought. Still minor but if the rain forecast for tomorrow doesn't come then we're in trouble. I think I'm going to rig something so we can use washing machine water for irrigating.

Good morning everyone. I had a problem with starting my snapdragon seeds this spring. It was my first time with snaps. I sowed them pretty thick (hard not to) so got them transplanted into 4 inch pots-3-4 little clumps of plants to each pot. but then they just kind of sat there and eventually died. They had almost no roots. I started the seed on grow mats in my greenhouse. Anyone have any Ideas on why that happened? They sprouted like gangbusters but never grew much root.

Connie, if I recall I started my Snapdragon seeds around Dec of last year. What I did was take one of the distilled water jugs I had and cut it just below the handle only leave the area right under the handle as sort of a hinge. I poked some drainage holes in the bottom of the jug. Next I filled the bottom part of the jug with seed starting mix, sprinkled the seeds over it, covered them very lightly with more of the mix and used a spray bottle to dampen the whole area. Next I folded the top part of the jug over the bottom part and used duck tape to seal it. I left the round top off the jug and when necessary I'd spritz some water down on them. After the seeds germinated I took off the duck tape. In the photo the jug is in the bottom left and if you look up that row you'll see a white cup. As an experiment I put a few seeds in there in Dec and the germinated just took a bit longer.

Connie, did it look like dampoff? Or could they have dried out. Tiny seedling don't have much tolerance for lack of moisture.

Karen

Success second time around with my snaps. Last year when I grew then I had gang potted seedlings closely then separated into clumps. I think they didn't like being transplanted or crowded. Plus the temps got warm quickly. This year I started earlier in January and did just a few seeds in individual jiffy pots. The kind of pot where you just plant the whole thing seedling pot and all into planter or ground. So no root trauma. Plus I put them out while it was still find because they can handle frost much like pansies.

It's very pretty.

I've heard they don't like to become root bound before being transplanted. I know this, yet mine always seem to sit in cell packs, waiting to be planted. Duh!

This year I got a really tall variety, from Johnny's http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-9...

I DID get them planted in the garden early, near a fence so if I need to tie them, AND, I even remembered to pinch them to promote branching. But I still have some others in cell packs in the greenhouse waiting. Hopefully this week yet.

Here's one that overwintered for me. I think I got the seeds from the Piggy Seed Swap but of course, the tag is missing so I'm not sure. But I like it a lot. It looks a lot like yours!

Arlene
I had mine in the piggy swap so you probably do have my seeds! Beautiful! They do get taller.

SCButtercup said:The summers here can be so intensely got that the snapdragons are dead by July.

I buy my snapdragons in six packs because I don't have much luck with growing things indoors. I have no good windows and no place to set up lights.
My snapdragons get Arkansas sun from about 10:00 a.m. to 4 or 6 depending on their location. An Arkansas summer can bring days of 90 -100 degree weather with tremendous humidity. I mulch and water. Some of the plants are from last winter, others from this spring. The pictures were taken two days ago.

Pretty! I love snapdragons!

Have you ever tried wintersowing? Snapdragons wintersow well.

Karen

Question:
Some of my mature snapdragon plants are showing stages of wilt. If trimmed of the dead branches, the plant still eventually dies. Upon examining the roots, they seem fine, not suffering from strangulation. The plant leaves are not spotted, just wilted and died. Yet, adjoining plants & snaps in the grouping are fine. All have received regular watering.
Anyone have heard of problems?

If they have gone to seed, it may just be their time to go.

katesflowers said:Some of my mature snapdragon plants are showing stages of wilt. If trimmed of the dead branches, the plant still eventually dies. Upon examining the roots, they seem fine, not suffering from strangulation. The plant leaves are not spotted, just wilted and died. Yet, adjoining plants & snaps in the grouping are fine. All have received regular watering.

Hi Kathy,

I am a zinnia hobbyist, so will respond according to my experience with zinnias. If these were zinnias, the culprit would be a stalk borer. It is the larva of a moth. It enters the stalk by eating a more-or-less circular hole in the side and proceeds to eat the insides of the stalk.

Some plants can withstand the damage without dying -- for example Giant Ragweed and some large thick stemmed sunflowers. Stalk borer attacks usually kill my zinnias, and your Snaps may also succumb.

If you still have the Snap in that top photo, try cutting the stalk in sections looking for signs of a borer. If you see signs of borer damage but no worm, it may have exited and be attacking another Snap stem. Sometimes you will find the stalk borer still in the affected stalk. One borer can kill several plants before it pupates. Catch-and-release is not a good idea with Stalk Borer larvae.

ZM

Zen thanks ! I can always count on you for detailed info. I will start the dissection today.
PS my zinnias from last years' seed are looking good. Such a pleasure to see all the beautiful colors.

katesflowers said: I will start the dissection today.

Hi Kathy,

One reason I suspected Stalk Borers is that there appears to be some evidence of stalk damage in your photo. To see this better you really do need to click on the photo to enlarge it, and hit F11 to remove your browser's headings. Hit F11 again to restore your browser's headings.

The red arrows indicate suspicious areas.

ZM

Since a vascular wilt disease is another possibility, be sure to disinfect your pruners/knife well after cutting affected areas. You don't want to spread it to healthy plants if it is a wilt disease.

Are the brown/damaged stem spots on the nodes or internodes?

I slit the stem on two plants removed from the garden with wilting problem. One plant had a healthy, white inner core and the other had a hollow dry, brown inner core, no borer was detected.

Kathy-- Snapdragons are a tender perennial. Zenman is probably right that you have a pest. It could also be a snail or slug or any plant chewer. I do a snail/slug sweep if I see that.

May you be blessed with a wonderful week!

katesflowers said:I slit the stem on two plants removed from the garden with wilting problem. One plant had a healthy, white inner core and the other had a hollow dry, brown inner core, no borer was detected.

Hi Kathy,

The cause for the death of the plant whose stem had a healthy, white inner core would remain a mystery. However,, on long stems like that, it is easy to miss localized borer damage. I have had zinnias that had a small hole in the stem near the soil surface and a relatively short hollowed out segment from the soil surface, or slightly below, up to maybe an inch or a little more above the soil. Just that localized amount of damage was enough to kill the zinnia plant.

Keep your eyes open for more plants that show signs of distress, and look for those tell-tale small holes in their stalks or stems. Those would be entry or exit holes made by stalk borers. If stalk borers are involved, hopefully you will eventually catch one "in the act".

ZM