In gardening, what is the meaning of “deadheading” a flower?

Lola: In gardening, what is the meaning of “deadheading” a flower?
I was reading an article about container gardening and it reads: “Feed monthly with a balanced fertilizer, and deadhead spent flowers regularly to keep them blooming.” Are we just talking about getting rid of the old flowers? Or is there any particular way you have to cut the flowers in order to encourage more blooms? Thanks!

Answers and Views:

Answer by sunkissed_07
All you have to do is pinch off the dead flowers.

Answer by Rae
Just pinch off the dead blossom.

Answer by 55yrsnholdin
Regularly pinch the dead blossoms off from the plant.

Answer by RBRN
Cut or pinch off the spent or dead flower heads.

Answer by Queen Victoria
You remove the dead flower heads but try to remove them back to the stems…they usually connect to the plant in a Y formation, this helps to not have a dried stem left in a few days/weeks.
You deadhead to keep the plant from wasting energy on making seeds, thusly making later flowers smaller and less abundant.

Answer by Rich Z
After a flower has bloomed energy from the plant will continue to go into that fading flower to produce a crop of seeds. If you want more blooms you need to snip off or snap off that faded bloom so the energy will instead be available to encourage the side blooms to grow.

Answer by whitefleur369
Yes, we are talking about getting rid of the dead flowers. But, make sure you take the entire flower, down to the base so the plant does not set seeds. I don’t use scissors, I use my thumbnail so I can feel where to pinch. Seeds are the plant’s way of telling the plant that it is done flowering and will not produce any more. That is one of my favorite gardening jobs. Very relaxing.

Answer by doris_38133
You pinched off the dead flower head and it promotes the plant to produce more flowers.

Answer by Tim M
Yes it is getting rid of the dead flower. I pinch them off with my finger nail but you should use a pair of pruning scissors, Also to help prevent spreading an fungus you should spray or dip your pruners in a plant disinfectant . You may use water and Clorox mix , But I don’t like to . you may get the ratio of mix off the net or call your local florist. As for a particular way to cut , only the dead .

Answer by Goldenrain
You’ve got it, just “deadhead” or remove the dead flower heads. Cut off the tough ones with scissors or pruners and pinch off the delicate ones with your fingers. Removing the dead flowers will promote more blooms.

Answer by kaneijim
This is to promote new blooms, just take off the old blooms

Answer by melly
after your flowers have bloomed and then finally begin to fade, snipping the faded flower off to promote additional flowering of the plant, is what is known as “deadheading”.

Answer by curious2
I have always just pinched or cut off the dead blossoms. Sometimes they have a lot of dieback, so I don’t cut too far down the stalk.

Answer by Graeme H
Removing the dead flower heads, so that they will not damage the healthy parts of the plant