How to stop or pinch dahlias for bushier plants and more flowers

Stopping/topping dahlias, as well as disbudding and deadheading are all techniques that enable us to get the best out of our dahlia plants.

They each have a slightly different purpose but all are ways in which we can influence the production of flowers by the dahlia plant. Here we focus on stopping or topping.

Stopping, topping or pinching out dahlias?

But first, I’ll clear up some terminology issues. There are various ways that this technique is described. In the USA, it is mostly known as topping, pinching, or pinching out dahlias. In the UK, and other parts of the world, the technique is called stopping dahlias.

I tend to use the term ‘stopping’. I guess that is mainly because it is what I am used to. But it is also because I always use the secateurs or snips to do the job as you can see in the video below, rather than simply pinching the stems between thumb and forefinger.

Why do we stop or pinch dahlias?

Stopping or pinching dahlias allows us to create a bushy plant with more blooms. It is carried out earlier in the growth cycle of the plant than disbudding and deadheading.

In order to understand what stopping is all about, it is worth understanding a little bit of the science behind it, so I’ll summarise this below.

As a matter of evolution, any plant’s principal purpose is to regenerate in order to maintain the species. For the most part, this means growing efficiently, flowering and setting seeds. The seeds will be dispersed into the soil, and then germinate and grow into a new plant to repeat the cycle.

How dahlias grow

With dahlias, if left to grow naturally, growing efficiently means the production of a strong main stem that will produce a large, single flower bloom.

At the tip of the growing stem is the growing point – this is technically called the apical meristem. In all plants, the apical meristem leads the growth, producing new leaves and stem sections (or nodes) and, ultimately, the flower(s).

At the junction of each node you will usually find leaves and, between the base of the leaf stalk and the main stem, buds. These are side shoot buds, which are properly called axillary buds.

Growth at the growing point or apical meristem is driven by the production and presence of the hormone auxin. Auxin works by inhibiting the growth of the axillary buds. If the growing point is removed, the production of auxin is stopped and the axillary buds will no longer be inhibited and will then begin to grow – creating new side shoots.

How to stop or pinch dahlias

As you’ve probably realised, the removal of the growing point is what, in the context of dahlias, we call stopping (topping or pinching out). Doing so, encourages the plant to create more shoots branching off from the main stem. This will create a bushier plant, with more flowering stems and, therefore, more flowers.

For garden purposes, you should stop your dahlias once the plant is well established with several pairs of leaves on the main stem. You can pinch out the growing point by hand, but it is usually better to use a sharp knife or secateurs, as you can see me doing in the video on this page.

Disinfect your tools between plants, so that there is no risk of disease being spread. It is worth also noting that if your plant puts up multiple stems from soil level, each of those should be stopped.

Once you have removed the growing point, you should see some new stems buds in a few weeks. You can choose to let all the side shoots develop and produce blooms, or you can restrict the number of developing shoots.

On smaller varieties, it is less important, but on larger varieties, the size of the blooms will be affected by the amount of energy the plant is putting in to growing multiple stems and flowers.

Put simply, the fewer the stems that are allowed to flower, the larger the blooms will be. Conversely, of course, the more flowering stems the plant has, the more flowers it will produce, but the smaller those flowers will be.

Dahlia growers who are aiming to exhibit their flowers will normally restrict their plants to four stems on large cultivars, six stems on medium cultivars and eight stems on small cultivars.

What do you need to stop dahlias?

As indicated above, some people simply pinch out the growing point. So, if you do it that way, you don’t need any tools.

I always use my trusty Felco no 2 secateurs:

Last update on 2023-09-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

More on Growing Dahlias

You can also get much more guidance on growing dahlias in these posts:

• Taking care of dahlias: the trick with deadheading
• Dahlia pinnata: a dahlia original
• How to grow dahlias: the complete guide to dahlia care
• How to overwinter dahlia plants and tubers
• All you need to know about dahlia tubers and dahlia bulbs
• Dahlia varieties: your complete guide to all types of dahlias
• Dahlias in my garden: Six on Saturday
• Dahlia Wizard of Oz – Beautiful pink pompon dahlia
• Can you grow dahlias in raised beds?
• Do dahlias grow in Florida?
• Dahlia Wine Eyed Jill
• Can you grow dahlias in a tropical climate?
• Dahlia Ivanetti: magnificent magent dahlia
• Dahlia Night Silence – dusky pink dahlia beauty
• Visit a dahlia farm near you
• Best mulch for dahlias: a comprehensive guide
• Dahlia Islander: large, pink, loud, showy. What’s not to like?
• Heat tolerant dahlias: beat the heat with these 120 choice varieties
• Dahlia gall: identify and prevent leafy gall and crown gall in dahlias
• When to plant out dahlia tubers