[digby]

This is my second year of trying to grow dahlias - last year I didn't deadhead at all, and the display was great, but always marred by dead bits, this year I've been making it up as I go along with no consistency, they are looking ok but it would be good to know what I should do?

Please help

[mumofstig]

Just cut off the dead flowers every few days, it's as easy as that

[Yabba]

Lazy way : snap the tops off with a twist of your wrist

Kinder to eyes way : cut the stem down to the first joint you've left side shoots on ... assuming you want side shoots

We're lazy, but ideally we'd cut ours back to the base because we'd have side shooted thoroughly ... ohh and it's easier to  carry a bucket to put the snapped off heads into .... but watch yer eyes on the ones you dead headed last week

¥

[digby]

Lazy way : snap the tops off with a twist of your wrist

Kinder to eyes way : cut the stem down to the first joint you've left side shoots on ... assuming you want side shoots

We're lazy, but ideally we'd cut ours back to the base because we'd have side shooted thoroughly ... ohh and it's easier to  carry a bucket to put the snapped off heads into .... but watch yer eyes on the ones you dead headed last week

¥

Excellent - the same method(s) as me,  I've been doing both of these.

[Yabba]

I normally start off with the "cut them right back" ... and end up with the "snap the heads off" ... all within a 6 week period

¥

[digby]

So essentially everyone else is as random as me?

[Casey76]

I snip mine off at the base of the stem (in the joint of the leaves).

Next year I'm going to pinch out more when they start growing and hope for bushier plants.

[Yabba]

Dahlias are bushy enough as it is

At home, when I remember, and when I can be bothered, I dead head down to the first leaf joint.

I also side shoot in a corkscrew fashion around each stem, which leads to less blooms but better ones

That normally lasts about 3 weeks .... then I just leave them to it

¥