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| Hello, I'm new here. I live in Central Arkansas and have 79 roses so I do lots of deadheading! I used to deadhead by just pinching it off just behind the spent bloom. Then I read the rule of cutting the the stem back to the second leaf from the top having at least five leaflets. My father in law swears you have to cut it back to the first cluster of leaves with two or three leaflets. Today I read an article that said my original method promotes more blooms, although they will be smaller. Opinions? |
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| Welcome! I use all of the methods you describe. It depends on the rose. What I do is observe the rose. I may pinch just behind the spent bloom, but if the rose consistently sprouts good new blooming growth 3 or 4 bud eyes down, I might as well cut 2 or 3 bud eyes down. Some of my roses produce good new blooms with just-the-spent-bloom method ('Barcelona'), and some do not--I get ugly misshapen blooms from some roses ('Top Notch') when I do that. Learning to observe and "read" my rose's behavior has been educational. :) |
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| Like hoov, I do it many ways. For the most part I just snap off the spent bloom just below the hip. If I'm being fussy and in the mood I'll cut to the first 5 leaflet. But later in the season they can start to get pretty leggy so I will cut them deeper to keep them in better proportion. There is no "rule" or "you HAVE to" about it. I've found that no matter how you do it (and even if you don't dead head) the roses decide for themselves when and where they'll grow. |
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| It's cut back to the second 5-leaflet leaf from the bottom, not top. Now, that's the best advice for a mature, strong modern rose such as a hybrid tea. That doesn't apply to weaker or younger roses - although you should always make the cut at a 5-leaflet leaf. Climbers should be deadheaded, which I always took to mean that you pretty much just cut the blooms off. I still try to cut at a leaf joint even then, though. |
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