Sorry, Lorelei. I originally asked whether there was any justification for the American advice (they referred to preventing fungal attack and reducing seed-set) and proposed a simple experiment to see whether dead-heading would make any physiological, as opposed to cosmetic, difference to the plant.
Losing interest in the thread, I inadvertently wrote 'pruning' rather than 'dead-deading'. Needless to say, I do know the difference!
Thanks for Millais's advice, Grandma. Again, it would be interesting to know if it's backed up by any objective research. Obviously, they have an interest in offering plants that look good.
Joe, you are certainly entitled to question and test advice given, but who are you going to believe if not the specialists?
I did a bit of research into rhodo fungal diseases and found that the rhodo leafhopper lays its eggs in rhodo buds and flowers then dies when winter comes. The eggs overwinter in the flowers and hatch in the following spring. They do not do much harm themselves but their presence encourages the appearance of bud blast, which is a serious fungal disease. Deadheading prevents the leafhoppers from overwintering and hatching and so helps prevent bud blast.
I got this from an online article called 'Insects and other Arthropods' by David A Kendall on kendalluk.com and compared it with the RHS advice on Rhodos on their website.
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Sorry, Lorelei. I originally asked whether there was any justification for the American advice (they referred to preventing fungal attack and reducing seed-set) and proposed a simple experiment to see whether dead-heading would make any physiological, as opposed to cosmetic, difference to the plant.
Losing interest in the thread, I inadvertently wrote 'pruning' rather than 'dead-deading'. Needless to say, I do know the difference!
Thanks for Millais's advice, Grandma. Again, it would be interesting to know if it's backed up by any objective research. Obviously, they have an interest in offering plants that look good.
Joe
Joe, you are certainly entitled to question and test advice given, but who are you going to believe if not the specialists?
I did a bit of research into rhodo fungal diseases and found that the rhodo leafhopper lays its eggs in rhodo buds and flowers then dies when winter comes. The eggs overwinter in the flowers and hatch in the following spring. They do not do much harm themselves but their presence encourages the appearance of bud blast, which is a serious fungal disease. Deadheading prevents the leafhoppers from overwintering and hatching and so helps prevent bud blast.
I got this from an online article called 'Insects and other Arthropods' by David A Kendall on kendalluk.com and compared it with the RHS advice on Rhodos on their website.