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Deadhead Verbascum Helen Johnson ?
Unionworkeruk
Posts: 187
in Plants
I have several which have reached the stage of being very tall with only a few flowers on each and a few new shoots which havent really taken off.
Some advice says to deadhead them to encourage new flowers. Others to cut the main stem back to encourage new growth of stems.
Does that mean just snip the individual flower heads that have expired on all the stems or the more drastic cutting of the main stem completely and cutting the other stems as the flowers fade ?
Which is recommended by those who actually grow the plants. Thanks
Some advice says to deadhead them to encourage new flowers. Others to cut the main stem back to encourage new growth of stems.
Does that mean just snip the individual flower heads that have expired on all the stems or the more drastic cutting of the main stem completely and cutting the other stems as the flowers fade ?
Which is recommended by those who actually grow the plants. Thanks
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Do keep an eye out for verbascum caterpillars - they demolished one of mine last year before I caught them, there were 20 or more on a single plant -
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I didn't notice them until the plant was almost stripped bare - and it was right at the front of the border.
I cut off the remains of the spikes and put them in the compost bin with the caterpillars - some distance from the plant.
An hour later I noticed the fence behind the compost bin had all the caterpillars crawling up it making their break for it - I'm hoping the birds made the most of them
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.