How to properly pinch plants?
Learn the techniques of pinching plants and pinch like an experienced gardener. These lines will provide you with the theory. You can then eagerly head out into the garden and apply the theory directly in cultivation practice.
Plants and flowers are pinched for two main reasons. With proper pinching, you will achieve a more beautiful harvest, as you give the plants the desired shape, and you will also support their healthy development.
Many not only beginner growers hesitate to pinch, and the word itself creates a feeling of complexity and the impression that it is not really that necessary in order to harvest. Yet it is a very simple method that will help you achieve a much better harvest.
Influence plant growth in terms of height, direction and final shape. It is in your hands. And with quality scissors, or other aids such as gloves, plant growth management can be enjoyable.
To pinch a plant means to cut or trim its shoots and branches, thereby beautifully encouraging, or rather maximising, branching, which is a highly desirable phenomenon in plants.
With every pinched shoot, you increase the number of branches, but at the same time you also reduce the plant’s height. Are you interested in how it is that the number of branches increases in the end? If you make the cut in the right place, two new shoots will form instead of one. When you gently pinch these two shoots, the principle repeats itself and from one branch we already have four! Well, judge for yourself, isn’t it a little magical? As a gardener, you simply have that power. You will discover that cultivation gives a person space to create and does not have to be only about sowing, watering and harvesting. If you do not yet have experience with pinching, but this idea has caught your interest, or even excited you, let us explain how to do everything correctly.
It mainly depends on the type of plant you are pinching. With small plants there is nothing to discuss; use smaller and sharp gardening scissors together with a bit of manual dexterity. For large plants you will need a sterile scalpel. With a little exaggeration, pinching is actually surgical work; you must be as precise as possible. The place and execution of the cut are crucial – always pinch off the shoots just above the junction of two branches opposite each other. Remove only part of the tip. In addition to managing the growth of an existing plant, you can also grow a completely new plant from the top. Simply dip the pinched top into water, where it will root easily and well with the help of a suitable root booster. You can learn more about supporting rooting in a separate article. If you know in advance that you are cutting or trimming the top in order to grow a new plant, make an angled cut.
If you are just starting out, you do not have to jump straight into the whole harvest by trial and error. Try pinching only the tops of a single plant and observe how it develops after your gentle “surgical” intervention compared with the other beauties.
Finally, it is also important to mention the correct timing. So when should plants be pinched? It is determined by how many times you plan to carry out this task during the growing cycle. If only once, wait until just before flowering. If more than once, start pinching a little earlier during the vegetative phase.
Have you found pinching plants difficult so far and had to gather your courage? Do not hesitate, it is a pleasure! If, after reading this article, you still have unanswered questions in mind, we will be happy to remedy that at the well-known address info@higarden.cz. We look forward to your questions!