How do you deadhead petunia's?

Question

I have a beautiful plant & am just pulling the flowers out as they die. Should I be pinching the whole head off? I'm a little confused about deadheading & pinching. I have a lot of brown leaves also. Some of the short stems are dieing which makes me think I should be taking the whole head off instead of just plucking the flower out.

Answer 1

petunias are annuals so that means the plant dies.  you are deadheading correctly.   consider burying each spent bloom in hopes that the seeds will produce another plant.

Answer 2

Yes, you have to take the whole head off. Otherwise, you are not even deadheading. Take the dead parts off, and make sure the plant has a lot of sun. Petunias need a lot.

Answer 3

As has already been said – if you are only removing the petals of the flower, you are not deadheading. You need to remove the developing seed capsule as well. So remove the flower and the stem the flower is growing on, which will include the seeds.

Petunias can be cut back hard and will send out many new branches with a flush of fresh flowers. Sometimes this is more productive than deadheading - you end up with plants that are NOT LEGGY but plants that are full of flowers. Deadheading Petunias leaves you long green stems with flowers on the ends – it is better to cut them back.

Answer 4

You are doing it correctly.  Just pull off the dead bloom this is suppose to promote more bloom.  I have petunias every spring and summer for more years than I can remember and always have good luck with them and they last till fall and the first frost, all I ever do is miracle grow as directed and pull the dead bloom off.  If it looks as though the whole stem is drying up or dying cut the complete stem off at that time..The leaves will turn brown as the summer season comes to an end.  It isn't were you are only taking the bloom off it is just the life span of the plant.   This year I had a purple double wave petunia.  The flowere on this one almost resembles a rose bloom.  Very pretty..

Answer 5

When you dead-head, I would take the flower, bud and the stem all the way down to the next joint or branch.  Same with the leaves.

Answer 6

last week i had the same problem, and its what petunias just do in summer when its hot, brown leaves and the beat way to fix that is to cut them back about 3 inches from the soil, just whack them back . trust me they will come right back in no time. took mine about a week to start blooming again. whack um and add fresh soil to the top and then water well with just a touch of miracle grow, trust me this has always worked for me. i do it every summer. best of luck with that.

Answer 7

Take the whole head of the flower off. It stops the plant from sending energy to it.

Answer 8

you are deadheading.  If you 'pinch' the stem under the flower then you are still deadheading.

Pinching is done early in a plant's life to the main growing head to make more branches and make the plant grow bushier.

The brown leaves may be on the underside of the plant where they aren't necessary to support the plant.  As the petunia gets older much of the under side will die.

Answer 9

To answer the question of deadheading - you should pinch the entire blossom off back to the main stem, not just the petals.  The purpose of deadheading is to prevent the plant from going to seed.  Remember the flower is the plants reproductive system.  When growing it as an annual, you generally want blooms, not seeds!  If they get leggy, do not be afraid to prune harder, it will have a great shape and may even produce more flowers for you!

The browning of the leaves and the stems turning brown are a natural occurance since that part of the plant has served its purpose (to bloom and produce seed) Just pinch or use a pruning shear to cut off.  Sometimes petunias can get sticky...so I use a shears.

NOTE:  If you purchase the newer varieties of petunias, "Wave", "Supertunias" just to name a few, they are more expensive, but you do not need to deadhead them hardly at all and they bloom all summer!  As with all hybrids, you loose something like fragrance or size of bloom to gain the other "desireable" traits!

Happy Gardening!