Pinching off the flowers or NOT

15 years ago

One of my very nice neighbors told me to pinch off the flowers on the vegetables AND strawberries as they are growing. They said that was done to promote root and vegetable production.

However I am looking at a book which shows producing tomato plants with flowers intact.

When/if I am to pinch off these flowers on my veggies and strawberries?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

momamamo
15 years ago
First year strawberries - it is often suggested that you pinch off the flowers to promote strong growth for the next year. I didn't do that with my new strawberries, though, and had some very decent quantity and quality. And lots of new babies.

Peppers - nip off the first flowers, they say, to promote much higher pepper production. This I believe because I experimented last year; the pinched ones did far better.

Squashes need male and female flowers open at the same time for pollination. If you see only one sex, you can pinch them off. But nature will take care of it quickly anyway if you don't.

As for the tomatoes, those flowers become the fruit and I've never heard of pinching them. If you want stronger roots, you can mound up soil around the plants.

I hope this helps! Maureen
digdirt2
15 years ago
Your neighbor is right - in a way - but there is plenty of room for misunderstanding in their instructions. ;)

On immature or just-transplanted plants, some removal of blooms can be of benefit as it does allow the immature plant to devote it's energy to root and top growth development rather than fruiting.

A good example is the 6-8" tall tomato seedlings or the 6" tall squash seedlings you often see at the big box store nursery that already have blooms on them. Those plants are in no way ready to support fruit so the blooms should be removed when they are transplanted.

But a 16" tall plant that has already been growing in the ground for 3 weeks or is established in it's final container will do fine if the blooms it then develops are left on.

Crucial difference. ;)

As to strawberries, as Maureen said, many do remove the blooms the first year to allow the plants to better develop. Strawberries aren't an annual after all and removing the blooms the first year has been proven to increase production the second year as well as increasing resistance to disease. But some also choose to leave them so to get fruit sooner. It is your choice. Better yet, try it both ways and note the differences. That way you'll know what works best for you.

Hope this helps. ;)

Dave