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Avatar for osorio661
Oct 21, 2014 5:38 PM CST
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I got some snapdragon and cherry blossom and i just planted the plants in a pot i need some tips on how to care for them so they can look healthy and grow bigger
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Oct 22, 2014 8:55 AM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
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Hope you are in a warm zone, osorio? It would help us a lot to know where approximately you are. (there are spots in your personal profile to put your city, and climate zone so they appear automatically in your posts)

Snaps are annuals, and will bloom nicely through the winter here in Florida. They need regular water (pots dry out quickly, and ever more quickly as the plants get bigger) but it depends upon your climate (dry air or humid, how warm?) so just testing the soil with your finger at first will give you an idea how often to water.

They will also need fertilizer. Check if the potting mix you used has fertilizer already added. If not, mix it into the soil around your plants now, while they're small, and then keep an eye out for them to need more in a couple of months. Leaves will be paler, blooming will slow down. A pelleted time-release fert like Osmocote (my fave) will save you from having to remember to mix liquid fert every week or two. In really warm and humid areas, the pelleted fert is used up much faster than the 3 to 4 months it says on the label.

A sunny spot will be good through the winter, but as it heats up in spring, morning sun and shade in the afternoon might keep them going longer. Also you will need to deadhead them. Each time a flower stem finishes blooming, cut it off above the first leaves so that the plant doesn't go into seed production. This will keep the plants producing new flower stems.

If you keep them going through to next spring, you may need to move them to a bigger pot. They'll tell you, by wilting in the heat of the afternoon because they're using up all the water the pot can hold before the day cools off.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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Oct 22, 2014 10:14 AM CST
Name: woofie
NE WA (Zone 5a)
Charter ATP Member Garden Procrastinator Greenhouse Dragonflies Plays in the sandbox I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
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And that appears to be a terracotta pot? If it is indeed terracotta, be aware that the unglazed pots dry out MUCH faster than glazed or plastic pots.
Confidence is that feeling you have right before you do something really stupid.
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Oct 26, 2014 9:06 AM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
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More on the subject of soils: ground dirt is for walking on, not for container plants. You can use a formulated bagged potting mix or make your own, but potted plants have rather specific requirements that need to be met in order to excel. No amounts/types of post-planting fertilizer, watering or sun exposures will fix it, it's simply a matter of healthy root development and the exchanges that happen beneath the soil's surface layer.
Cottage Gardening

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Oct 26, 2014 9:25 AM CST
Name: Lynn
Oregon City, OR (Zone 8b)
Charter ATP Member Garden Sages I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Plant Database Moderator
Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant and/or Seed Trader Garden Ideas: Master Level
I live in zone 8 and have had several snapdragon plants that come back every year. And a few seedlings that popped up. But they were planted in the ground.
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Oct 26, 2014 10:44 AM CST
Name: Deb
Planet Earth (Zone 8b)
Region: Pacific Northwest Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Garden Ideas: Master Level
I use native soil in my pots...?? It seems to work fine.
I want to live in a world where the chicken can cross the road without its motives being questioned.
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Oct 26, 2014 10:47 AM CST
Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!
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Shrug! Shrug! Perhaps @osorio661 is outside working in the garden?
Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"
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Oct 26, 2014 10:58 AM CST
Name: woofie
NE WA (Zone 5a)
Charter ATP Member Garden Procrastinator Greenhouse Dragonflies Plays in the sandbox I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
The WITWIT Badge I helped plan and beta test the plant database. Dog Lover Enjoys or suffers cold winters Container Gardener Seed Starter
Deb, I'm coming over there and stealing some of your native soil. Hilarious!
Confidence is that feeling you have right before you do something really stupid.
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Oct 26, 2014 11:10 AM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
Yep, I was just going to say the same thing! It really depends what the garden soil is like. Here, pure sand, and in Utah in "my other" garden at my daughter's house, clay clay clay. Ick. Both would not work in a pot at all.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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