What flowers do we pinch ?

15 years ago

Karen made me think. I know nothing about pinching flowers and I am sure there are other newbies that need to know too. Can we start a list here of what flowers need to be pinched and when. Thanks for the help.... Barb

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Comments (3)

kqcrna
15 years ago
Yes, I am a chronic pincher. I pinch so many things but I don't have a list. When in doubt I just give it a try and see what happens.

Sometimes pinching results in shorter, stockier plants. It can delay blooming a little but not usually more than a week or two.

I always pinch hardy hibiscus, and this year I liked what it did for lobelia cardinalis.

I often pinch zinnias. This year they were so slow to grow and bloom I didn't do it because I didn't want to delay blooms. (they were late do to cooler weather). Now I wish I had- they're tall and lanky, not many stems. I should have pinched the celosia, too.

Things like petunia, blue flax, BBs, veronica, coreopsis moonbeam - can't call what I do pinching. I hack them back to encourage another round of blooms. I just take scissors to them and cut them down by 1/2 or 1/3.

I pinch coleus.
Basil if it starts to flower.
Cleome

There are lots of things. Try it if in doubt and see if you're happy with the results. I don't think you can hurt anything by pinching, and most times end up with a nicer plant.

Karen
etravia
15 years ago
I pinch mums, sedum autumn joy, salvias, phlox, and tomatoes.
When I pinch the sedum, I usually put the pinchings in soil to start new plants. I planted 12 out this past weekend from my spring pinching!
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Is there a "guideline" for this? Or...to all plants benefit from pinching back? No, not all plants benefit from pinching back. This is especially true for any and all vegetables. As grandma44 said, tomato seedlings definitely do NOT benefit in any way and in fact, are harmed. Pruning/suckering a fully established tomato plant is one thing - a highly debated thing - but done by some depending on how the plant is supported. But doing any "pinching" of seedlings, regardless of type (determinate or indeterminate) is guaranteed to damage the plant and reduce your production. As to flowers: single stem plants - those where additional branches develop from the stem itself) - isn't recommended because you end up with a top heavy plant that the main stem cannot support, either physically or nutritionally. Plants that develop their other branches from the base of the plant (cluster growing plants such as herbs and low growing flowers) can be pinched but isn't required. There are many helpful posts here on "pinching plants" that a search will pull up for your review if you wish. Dave
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I always pinch flower buds on plants that I am getting to root (especially on hard to root stuff). This is because of determinism. When a plant is flowering all the energy is being put into that flower to create seed and reproduce itself. It is beneficial to pinch the flower off. This will change the hormonal balance in the plant. It will make it regroup and make more roots and re-try to flower again. I would pinch, it should increase the success. DAN
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There's always a huge debate as to whether or not buds and blossoms should be taken off before planting outside. Some remove most of them and leave just a few to get some tomatoes earlier. If I want earlier fruits I plant earlier varieties. But once a plant goes into the reproductive cycle of blossom formation and fruit set the energy of the plant is directed more to that process than maturation of the plant itself. And for that reason I take off all buds and blossoms as they appear and before planting out. Orange Minsk is a variety I got quite a few years ago from Andrey in Belarus from whom I get some wonderful varieties every year. He got this variety at a farmer's market in Minsk, where he lives, and so named it Orange Minsk. The full history can be found at Tania's wonderful online tomato base. I wasn't the only one he shared seeds for this variety with but I was the first to list it in the SSE YEarbook thus making it more available and I did send seeds of it to several seed sites for trial, as I do every year to those sites where I've known the owners for many years, thus making it even more available to the public at large. So enjoy it. Carolyn
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Alright, thanks! I just wanted to know if there was anything special with okra's behavior regarding pinching-off. I guess I'll leave it be. I pinched off tons of buds on overwintered peppers a few weeks back, but the plants kept on growing them; I now have a few that set pods and will get an early crop before my seedlings get to the fruiting stage. Yeah, zone 4 is probably not the best, but a good season should handle a modest production IMO. The problem is our seasonal variability; one can't just assume summer will be consistent from year to year, nor within its own duration.
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gnomey
15 years ago
Should moonvines be pinched?

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What flowers do we pinch ?

Comments (3)

kqcrna

etravia

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gnomey

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