Do You Deadhead Sunflowers
Yes, you should deadhead sunflowers if you want a flowering season that is long as when you cut back the sunflowers you are encouraging the plant to refocus its energy on growing more new flowers. If however, you want sunflowers seeds so that you can plant more sunflowers then you should not deadhead sunflowers and let the plant enter the seed production phase so that the heads of sunflowers start looking brown and dry. So if you are looking for an answer should you deadhead sunflowers the answer is that it depends on whether you want more flowers than you deadhead or you want more seeds than you don’t deadhead.
Why Should You Deadhead Sunflowers: Benefits
Deadheading sunflowers leads to multiple benefits
- Deadheading leads to the growing of more flowers and a longer blooming season.
- Deadheading improves how your garden looks by getting rid of all sunflowers that look dead and dry.
- Deadheading also discourages all the birds and squirrels who are otherwise attracted to seek seeds.
- Deadheading directs the energy of your plant towards growing more blooms rather than making seeds.
- Deadheading also prevents the self-seeding of sunflowers and thus also prevents pests that are attracted to them.
When to Deadhead Sunflowers for More Blooms
You should deadhead sunflowers when the first bloom starts to fade or the petals of the flower have fallen off which should happen sometime in the middle to late summer or by fall depending on when you have planted sunflower seeds or plants. If you deadhead the sunflowers before their seeds mature then you are encouraging sunflowers to produce more blooms and also helping your garden look tidier.
You should select all the sunflower heads that look faded or spent and not as vibrant as before for deadheading. You should also deadhead those sunflowers whose petals have fallen off or those that have been eaten by insects. If you have sunflower varieties that have multiple stems then also remove all the sunflowers that are looking faded or less vigorous than before.
How To Deadhead Sunflowers Step by Step
Step 1: Clean Your Tools
You will need sharp hand pruners or scissors or a kitchen knife as your instruments to deadhead sunflowers. Make sure that before deadheading your tools are sharp and clean as dull tools might damage the plant while if your instruments are not clean they might end up infecting the plant with bacteria so it is better to sanitize them. To sanitize and clean your tools you should dip them in rubbing alcohol (isopropyl solution) or Lysol and leave them for 5 minutes to soak and thereafter rinse with water and clean your tools. Just as a precaution before you start deadheading you should put on gloves and wear full sleeves.
Step 2: Identify the Sunflower
You have to figure out the sunflowers that need to be cut and have to be pretty ruthless about it any sunflower that is looking spent or not looking as vibrant as before or has been chewed by any insects should be identified for deadheading.
Step 3: Figure out Where to Cut
The point where the first leaves come out from the stem below the flower head is the point where you need to cut the stem making sure you leave most of the leaf nodes intact so that new growth can come. For the sunflower that you have identified before move down the stem and identify the first leaf node as the point to cut. If the sunflower you have is of multi-stem variety you have to repeat the process across each of the sunflowers and see where each of the stems comes out from the main stem and then identify them accordingly.
Step 4: Cut the Stem
Use one of your hands to hold the stem firmly but not too hard while you use the other hand to make a cut on the stem just above the node that you identified before making sure that you make the cut at an angle of 45 degrees which will prevent any damage to the plant caused by rainfall as rain will not be able to settle on the stem of the plant.
Step 5: Clean the Debris
After deadheading clean the debris including the flowerhead, stem, and all the foliage that will not only help make your garden look better but also give you a chance to collect seeds from any spent flowerheads that may have already developed.
How Often To Deadhead Sunflowers
You should be Deadheading sunflowers at least once and ideally twice during their growing season with the best choice being to deadhead the plants once during the middle or late summer and once during autumn. Though you have the choice to deadhead whenever you see your sunflower blooms wilting.
Deadhead Dwarf Sunflowers / Potted sunflower
Deadheading Sunflower varieties like dwarf sunflowers or potted sunflowers or teddy bear sunflowers is the same as the process described above for normal sunflowers and deadheading these plants will also extend their blooms.
What to do with dead sunflower Heads
After deadheading sunflower plants you will have to figure out what do you do with all the dead sunflower heads and seeds here are some suggestions to help you
1. Use Sunflower heads for decoration
Sunflower heads and seeds used along with pumpkin make for a great fall decoration for your house. Sunflower heads look great with pumpkin and can work well in providing the house with a festive vibe.
2. Save all the sunflower seeds and use them for Growing new plants
You can save all the seeds that come out of sunflower heads and use them for growing new sunflower plants in the next season. You can store all the seeds and use them for seed swapping with other gardeners.
3. Grill Sunflower heads
You can always grill the sunflower heads and enjoy all the seeds inside it or roast them both of which will result in healthy snacks.
4. Feed the Birds
You can use seedheads and take out the seeds inside them and use them to feed birds and squirrels. you can put the seeds directly in a feeder or if you have a lot of seeds you can place them in storage containers and use them for feeding birds throughout the winter.
5. Remove the Complete Plant
If the whole plant has stopped flowering it is time to completely remove the plant and use the plant as well as seed heads and turn it into an organic mulch.
Takeaway
- You really should deadhead sunflowers to redirect their energy and encourage it to produce new blooms.
- You should deadhead sunflowers when the first flowers start to fade which usually happens in middle to late summer.
- You would need to deadhead your sunflower once or twice during the season.
- To deadhead sunflower identify the sunflower that has faded and spent and then look down and identify where the first leaves come out of the stem and make an incision at that point at 45 degrees.
Also Try: