Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: robbodaveuk on May 11, 2009, 00:42
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I know it is taking off dead flowers to promote growth of new flowers, but exactly how do you do it? Do I just pull the old head off, cut it off, cut the head and some flower stem off or cut the whole flower stem off?
Robbo.
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I guess it will very much depend on what it is you are dead-heading.
Some things can be pinched off with finger-tips while others needed cutting. Mostly it is just the dead flower-head that is removed but with roses you can prune a bit more off to promote growth of new flowering shoots (no expert here with rose pruning). ::)
You seem to be early dead-heading. What are you growing?
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A few different flowers, none are ready for dead-heading yet, I just want to be prepared when the time comes.
Robbo.
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Some people remove the flower heads (not dead ones) of things like marigolds when first planting them out... It helps encourage more plant growth rather than flower... side shoots then give more flowers in the long-run.
Not sure if that makes sense? ;)
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With soft stemmed annuals you can simply pinch off the dying flower head just below the flower base. Soft stemmed perennials can be pruned off with secaturs a few inches below the flower heads to neaten their appearance. Tall perennials like delphs and hollyhocks should have dying flowerheads pruned almost into the leafy areas of the plant. Roses should be pruned to just above the leaf branch with 5 leaves below the dying flower head. Most other hard-stemmed perennials don't need to be deadheaded.
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Thanks Learner and Trillium and yes that did make sense learner, sounds quite interesting, never heard it before and will try it this year. That just about covers all I need to know for the plants I have this year Trillium.
Robbo.
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"I know it is taking off dead flowers to promote growth of new flowers"
Some plants will stop producing flowers when seed sets, and thus devote all their energy to making the fruit / seed (an accidental and overlooked Marrow appearing on a Courgette plant, or seed pods on Sweet peas, for example)
But in general I think that dead-heading is as much to stop the plant having to waste energy producing seeds, as to encourage it to make more flowers - obviously if not producing seeds the saved energy can be used to make more flowers :)
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"I know it is taking off dead flowers to promote growth of new flowers"
Some plants will stop producing flowers when seed sets, and thus devote all their energy to making the fruit / seed (an accidental and overlooked Marrow appearing on a Courgette plant, or seed pods on Sweet peas, for example)
But in general I think that dead-heading is as much to stop the plant having to waste energy producing seeds, as to encourage it to make more flowers - obviously if not producing seeds the saved energy can be used to make more flowers :)
Spot on, I'd say! :)
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It's amazing what you can learn from one simple question, thank you one and all.
Robbo.
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I generally prefer scissors (although I'll deadhead the odd thing with my fingernails). After a while your index finger starts to get sore where your thumbnail pinches, so you start tugging more and nipping less, which can damage the plant.