Question
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Followup To
Question -
Does anybody out there have a picture of pinching a flower or some plants? I dont know how to pinch or deadheading is this the same thing. I FEEL REALLY DUMB!! PLEASE HELP!!
Answer -
Pinching and deadheading involves the same physical action, but the reason for the action is different, hence two different names.

I do have a picture (see below) and an article (maybe rather technical) which explains what happens when a plant is pinched. You can read the article if you like, but it is not required reading.

Deadheading refers to the removal of spent flowers. An annual plant, by defintion, is a plant which grows, set flowers, and dies in one season. Some annuals (true annuals) are genetically programmed so they will grow as fast as they can, flower, and set seeds. After seeds are produced, the useful life of the plant is done and it will not flower any longer.

If, however, the flower is removed prior to setting seeds, the plant's "purpose" is not completed. In response it will promptly send out another flower. If this one is also pinched before setting seeds, another flower will be produced, and so on. E.g. by regular deadheading, you can prolong the flowering period.

Deadheading is done as the flower withers. E.g. starts to turn brown and loose color. If you wait too long after this point, seed development starts.

Certain plants will flower happily if not dead headed (impatiens for example), and others just require an occational mid season removal of the flower heads (salvia splendens, perennial geranium) while others require dead heading as soon as the flowers wither (marigolds, pelargonium, celosia, roses etc).

When you deadhead, you simply cut the flower off just below the head. This will remove the tissue which would otherwise "puff up" and become a seed storage sack. Cutting a few inches below the flower head itself is usually enough. On some low growing, mounded plants, like perennial geranium (cranesbill) using a scissor or machette and shearing the entire plant is more feasable since removing individual flowers would be impossible.

Pinching is really the same technique. With the nails of your thumb and forefinger you simply pinch and remove a portion of the flower stem. You can of course also use scissors and may have to do that on harder stems like roses. Scissors often give a cleaner cut also.

Ok, so how do we do this excactly:
- find a place between two sets of leaves on the flower stem, insert your scissors, and cut off the flower stem at this point. See this picture:
http://www.suite101.com/files/topics/18505/files/zinnia2.jpg

Note that leaves develop at intervals a long the stem. You "pinch" by inserting your thumb and forefinger (or scissors) at a point BETWEEN two sets of leaves and then remove the top of the plant. New growing points are actually located in the leaf axis (where the leaves are attached to the stem) inside the two leaves immediately below your cut. When you pinch, hormonal changes inside the plant will signal these two dormant growing points (buds) to elongate and these will grow into new stems.


Pinching is done to keep plants compact and branch out. To understand these concepts, consider two different flowers: a sun flower and a chrysanthemum. A sun flower is a single long stem with one flower on top. A chrysanthemum is a bushy low growing plant which multiple stems (growing points). These stems each produce clusters of flowers making the plant appear like a "bush" full of flowers.

If you did not pinch chrysanthemums regularily through the growing season, chrysanthemums would be long skinny single stemmed plants which would look like vines. To improve the appearence, gardeners will "PINCH" them when the plants are young. E.g. when the plant is 5 inches tall, they will physically cut off the top 2 inches, leaving the bottom 3 inches of the plant. This action will cause the plant to "divide" at this point and grow two flower stems (like an Y shape). If you then pinch these two new growing points again when they are 5 inches tall and cut them back to 3 inches, these two will then divide again, into 4 growing point. E.g. like the skeleton shape of a tree (one initial trunk which then branches into more and more growing points). At the end of the these growing points, flowers will develop.

Pinching is just like deadheading. e.g. you physically remove the tip of the growing point. When deadheading you are removing the flower at the end of the branch. When you pinch, there typically are no flowers, but you remove part of the plant.

Plants which are grown from seed, or perennials which are very young, should be pinched as they grow larger. This will keep them bushy, with more growing points and thus more flowers.

If you buy annuals from garden centers, you should not have to pinch. They should already be low and compact and the only thing you would need to do is to deadhead after flowers wither. If during the growing season the plant becomes overgrown and unattractive, you can pinch most annuals back (e.g. physically cut long green stems in half) if you desire.

Here is the article I mentioned:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/18505/105386

Generally:
- annual flowers should be deadheaded reguarily because if you do not, they will stop flowering
- you should not have to pinch back annual flowers unless they are overgrown. If they are overgrown, pinch them back to a low point on the plant (e.g. if the stem is 14" long, cut it back to 5-7" length).
- when you pinch a plant, count on 3-4 weeks before it will flower again, sometimes longer. if you pinch back a plant which has flower buds you loose that spray of flowers. in that case it may be better to wait for them to bloom before you pinch.

deadheading is the removal of the spent flower.

pinching is removal of the growing point BEFORE flowers can develop.

Not all plants should be pinched, but most annual bedding plants can. If in doubt, ask...

I hope this answered your question.
Kenneth  To Ken, Thanks for thr reply, Another question.  I have impatiens in a hanging basket that i bought from the nursery. They are blooming. Do i pinch them later on. Please explain!! Also your picture link or article link is not showing.  

Answer
Impatiens tend to continue to bloom without being dead headed. You can simply play it by ear. If the plant appear overgrown and have more leaves than flowers, you can pinch back long stems to about 4-6 inches from the crown and then wait a few weeks for it to bloom again.

Also, add 1/4 tsp Miracle Grow 15-30-15 flower fertilizer to a gallon of water and use it to water the impatiens. This way they flower better.

Impatiens do not need to be deadheaded to continue flowering, but they can be pinched back to improve appearence. As long as you like the looks of the plant, you can continue to let it grow.

I am surprised about the link. at least the article should be available. I went to a different computer and checked, and both works .. strange!! We are not supposed to ask for personal information including email, so the best i can suggest is if you know somewhere that I can put a picture for you which you could then see. maybe try the link again later ?

alternatively, take a look at the annual forum on the garden web site where I saw a post of a similar question. I posted the same picture there.

Basically, the picture shows a zinnia seedling with an arrow pointing to a place on the stem. The place is between two sets of leaves. All you do, is to pinch (cut) the stem in between two sets of leaves. That is all there is to it.