mawmaw, Some people routinely "top" their plants. It will keep them shorter, and cause the plants to bush out. There isn't much point in a 9 foot plant that requires a step-ladder to pick the fruit at the top, especially if you are a short person. lelia, Tomato plants can be prone to fungus, particularly if your weather is both hot and humid. If you plant them close fungus can be a difficult problem, and pruning will decrease the density of foliage and improve the air circulation, thus lessening the chance of fungal growth. You can also spray with an anti-fungal of your choice. What you choose to do should depend on your weather conditions and your garden. Having faith in mother nature is a philosophy, and not the only one. At the very least, species go extinct, all by themselves. Not all species thrive in the natural environment. So much for the perfection of Mother Nature. Caging and staking, just like vegetable gardening, are constructs. They are not necessarily easier (catering to the human), in fact they can be a lot of work. They allow the gardener to plant tomatoes closer together, when space is an issue. More importantly these techniques keep the fruit off the ground, where it can rot more easily and may be vulnerable to pests like slugs. Mulching can help with the rotting problem, but will provide a wonderful habitat for slugs. Caging and staking will fix that, but may make your 'maters more vulnerable to birds. Once again it depends on your garden conditions. Petro

we planted 4 last fall. my father in law grew them from seed, so they are 3 years old now. he said he would pinch/clip the new growth fromteh trunk except for that onthe upper limbs. we did the same thing a couple weeks back. you prune it to basically define the shape of the tree, so use your own discretion. never prune more than about 30% of the tree mass as you could kill it. try to get things before they get too large, i get them when they are basically jsut green leaves forming on teh trunk.

This is my first time growing the tall dahlias. I started the tubers indoors, and they are getting quite big now. My question is regarding pinching them back. As I understand it, you pinch out all side shoots and disbud side buds in order to get larger flowers. This would give you larger flowers but less of them, right? I'd prefer more flowers even if they were a little smaller, so I am wondering, should I let them grow naturally without pinching? Or, are they pinched in the same way as other annuals, to give you more bloom? I've grown the shorter, bedding dahlias but these seemed to take care of themselves, and I am not sure about the tall ones.

It sounds like your Pelargoniums are growing along a single main stem and putting off leaves only along this main stem. (I am going to call it the "trunk" like a tree trunk, although this is not its technical term). What you want to do, is get them to branch out, just like a bush. This is done by pinching them back. A lot of flowers will grow up like this and not put off any off shoots (branches) unless they are pinched. The leaf stems are not branches, they are only leaf stems that support one single leaf. If you cut off the leaf stem, most likely a new leaf and a new stem will grow from the base of the leaf stem, where it joins the "trunk" or main stem of the plant. So, you can very safely pinch off or cut off the large leaves you don't like the look of on your plants. I am not sure if it will put them back from flowering, but I really don't think so. However, you will likely see in a few days that a new leaf is forming. To get the plant to branch out though, you will need to cut off the growth node on the top of the plant. This is done by pinching the top off. The best place to do it so that it does not look odd, is right above the next set of leaves. Then you are not going to get an odd looking stump. The plant will then be forced to branch off to the sides if it wishes to continue growing, which it will. Because there are two growth nodes now (or meristems,) you will get two branches. Let them grow a bit more, and pinch back the branches again. After a few pinches, you will get a fairly bushy plant. Even if they are not flowering, I would still suggest selling them. Undercut the local nursery prices, and you should find buyers!