Petunias

[Laura in Virginia]

Hi, a novice gardener here.......... Does anyone dead head their petunias? If so, do you pull just the spent bloom? or do you take the base too? and how often do you deadhead?

TIA

Laura

[escapee]

After a full flush of bloom, I cut mine back by half and give it a fertilization. I remove the flowers, sepals, stems and all. Really cut it back hard by half. If you only pull the flowers, the ovaries will still continue to produce seeds and the point of deadheading is to stop that process and encourage more blooms. Fertilizing is a very important part of cutting back any annuals.

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[GrampysGurl]

I deadhead every few days.... I spend a little time in a different part of my garden dead heading. It happens to be one of my least favorite jobs so I only do a little at a time. As far as the petunias I usually just pluck the spent flowers but if it's getting leggy I pinch back about half. Colleen Zone 5 CT