If you’re growing a cutting garden and not pinching your plants, you could be missing out on a lot of flower power! Cut flower gardener Melissa Strauss has some steps you can follow to maximize the number of blooms you can harvest this year.
Cutting gardens bring so much joy, both to the life of the gardener and to anyone who receives the gift of a home-grown floral arrangement. It’s so nice to be able to gather a beautiful bouquet straight from the backyard or the side yard, in my case. I won’t say that it saves money over purchasing flowers from the supermarket, but there is a satisfaction in growing your own that the grocery store can’t match.
A problem that many gardeners run into is the volume of flowers that bloom for each seed they plant. It can be frustrating to plant what feels like a hundred seeds only to end up with one flower for each seed you planted. It’s a lot of work, and if the payoff is disappointing, you might just decide to go back to grocery store flowers and save yourself the labor.
What if I told you that there is a simple trick to making your plants produce significantly more flowers? You don’t need to plant more seeds; you can do this one simple thing, and you’ll end up with a far more bountiful harvest. That one thing is pinching, and it doesn’t hurt one bit. Let’s talk about pinching your plants to maximize the number of blooms this season. Pinching is a simple pruning technique that flower growers use to increase the number of blooms each plant produces. It applies to other plants in the garden as well. It’s also commonly called tipping. It involves removing the top of the central stem, either by hand or with a small tool, such as hand pruners.
This pruning technique encourages fuller, bushier growth. More growth and more branches mean that there are more places for your plants to set buds. It can also extend the bloom time, leading to more flowers over a longer span of time. Additionally, it increases air circulation, helping reduce the occurrence of fungal diseases. When plants are young, they apply their energy to root development and upward growth. Those with a branching nature will eventually begin to branch out, but it usually doesn’t happen until the plant is already setting buds. Pinching speeds up this process.
By removing the very top of the plant (apical bud) just above the next node down. This is where the next set of leaves grows from. The plant takes this as an instruction to apply energy elsewhere. It’s similar to what happens when you deadhead flowers. The plant understands that there is no more growth there to support, so it moves on.
While the plant ultimately continues its upward growth, this redirection of energy signals causes it to begin branching. It sends nutrients to the lateral buds, which then begin to grow. You will notice a few days to a few weeks later that those lateral buds begin to grow, and the leaves at that node may begin to die off.
The objective is to create a bushier plant with increased branching right from the start. This way, the plant will be sturdier than if the branching starts to occur farther up the stem, making it top-heavy.
Pinching will ultimately result in shorter, stronger plants with more branches and more blooms. They will be more vigorous and stand up better to inclement weather and wind. In general, it’s a good thing to do even for plants you don’t intend to harvest flowers from because it creates a more attractive form.
It’s important to note that pinching delays bloom time. It can also result in slightly smaller flowers, but in my experience, it’s not a significant difference.