Pinching Snapdragons for Maximum Blooms | And Bonus Plants!
Pinching snapdragons encourages a more compact plant with abundant blooms. Learning how to pinch snapdragons is a common practice among many gardeners.
The argument is compelling.
This simple gardening hack literally multiplies the blooms you can expect!
Snapdragons tend to grow bushier with more branches after pinching.
Not only that, but you can pinch snapdragons and then plant the bit you pinched off in damp soil, or root it in water.
The entire process takes only minutes to prepare and about a week to get results.
It. Is. So. Worth. It!
I cannot recommend this gardening technique enough when it comes to snapdragons, and frankly, many other flowers, too.
Pinch and propagate! It really is that simple.
Are you ready? I am so excited to share this process with you.
Here we go…
Should I pinch snapdragons back?
Pinching snapdragons encourages your plants to produce as many blossoms as possible. You should pinch snapdragons early when they are still seedlings to avoid pinching off flower buds.
Benefits of Pinching Snapdragons
When you pinch off snapdragons, the plant creates new shoots from the leaf joints below the pinch.
Here are some benefits of pinching snapdragons:
- Grow bushier snapdragon plants.
- Avoid leggy, sprawling branches.
- Enjoy plentiful blooms.
- Double the number of snapdragon plants!
When should I pinch snapdragon plants?
Plan to pinch off snapdragons as seedlings when they are three to four inches tall. You can also pinch them again when they are taller to encourage even more branching.
How do you pinch snapdragons?
You can literally pinch the top of the snapdragon plant between your finger and thumbnail when pinching out snapdragons. If the stem is too tough, you can use a pair of scissors or garden shears or pruners to snip off the top of the snapdragon plant.
Pinching Snapdragons
Follow these simple steps on how to pinch snapdragons:
- Allow your snapdragon seedlings to grow undisturbed until they are between 3-5 inches tall.
- Pinch off the central stem with growing point, removing about half of the plant.
- Tip: Be sure to keep leaf nodes on both the top and bottom half of the cutting if you plan to try rooting it.
- Monitor your snapdragons daily, giving them ample light during this time. New growth should soon begin emerging from the leaf nodes below where you pinched.
The process of pinching snapdragons is so incredibly easy. But, I wouldn’t stop there.
I highly recommend taking the pieces of plant that you pinched off and propagating snapdragons from those cuttings. You can follow the exact steps I used to successfully root antirrhinum flowers in water and damp soil.
Pinch snapdragons to encourage branching and more blooms!
Final Thoughts: Learning How to Pinch Snapdragons
The best thing I love about learning how to pinch off snapdragons is how easily this technique translates to so many other flowers.
I’ve enjoyed great success pinching cosmos for bushier plants and even more blooms. We’ve also pinched a coleus plant and grew two instead of one, since the top piece rooted readily in damp soil under grow lights!
Also, zinnias rooted easily in soil when a piece broke or came from a pinched piece. I’ve heard you can pinch off strawflowers, as well.
With so many flowers in the world, I am truly looking forward to the limitless gardening experiments that lie ahead.
Have you tried pinching snapdragons? What about pinching and then planting the tops?
Gardening is so amazing to see all of this stuff in action! Please share your questions and personal experiences pinching snapdragons in our comments below!
Happy Gardening!
11/18/21 – Edited to fix broken url.
05/05/22 – Updated to add photo of pink and orange snapdragons and resized other images to full size.
