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PLANT PINCHING

Pinching Plants for Bushiness

Photo Credit (C) Dennis Lee Brown 2017

Pinching

Plants

PLANT PINCHING

Pinching Out the Tips

The theory behind “pinching a plant”, pinching a plant is to pinch out the center of the stem just above the leaf node. This gardening technique, gardeners use for control of a plant’s height as well as bushiness. When the center of a plant gets pinched, it forces that stem to double, giving it new stems and leaves. This not only controls height and/or leggy stems but, encourages “bushiness”, giving the overall plant a fullness appearance.

“Pinching” is a form of pruning that encourages branching on the plant it produces fullness. This means that when you pinch a plant, you are removing the tip of the main stem, forcing the plant to grow two new stems from the leaf nodes below the pinch or cut. The biggest reason for pinching plants is to force the plant into a fuller form. By pinching back, you force the plant to grow twice as many stems, which results in a fuller plant.

When you pinch back, you use your finger and thumb

to remove a length of stem so that the plant grows bushier. The leaves will grow out the sides of the stem rather than just the top, leaving a fuller plant. You will also get additional stems growing off the shorter stem, adding to its fullness. At some point you might also need to pinch these new stems back. Perform pinching when the plant leaf becomes infested or diseased to stop the spread of whatever is attacking the plant. Pinching out or snipping effected stems and leaves’ may even save the plant from certain death, if infestation gets out-of-control.

Propagation by Pinching

Use the plant pinching process as a means of propagation to start growing new plants. (see “Propagation Methods”)

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Propagation Methods PDF File

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PLANT PINCHING

METHODS OF PROPAGATION

Using Plant Parts to Grow Other Plants

Pinching Back Coleus

1. Pinch through the coleus stem just above a node where two leaves meet the stem that has at least one axillary bud, using your thumb and the fingernail on your index finger. Pinching the growing tips of the coleus back regularly when it is young encourages branching and a bushy habit.
2. Water the coleus as needed to maintain evenly moist but not excessively wet soil around the coleus to encourage fast recovery following the pinching.
3. Pinch off the growing tips of the coleus selectively in areas of the plant where growth appears spindly or could become leggy. Pinch the stem back to a leaf node where at least one axillary bud is present, as these buds will ideally grow out to form new shoout

4. Cut or pinch flower spikes back to a leaf node as they appear. Coleus flowers are light purple or blue and develop at the ends of shoots. Pinching off flowers before they bloom and go to seed saves the plant energy and encourages vegetative growth.
5. Pinch off any leaves that develop disease or show symptoms of pest activity. As a member of the mint family, pests rarely bother coleus, although mealybugs, aphids, scales, and white flies may present occasionally problems

Control and keep your plant in form using pinching for removal of plant sprouts, blossoms, shoots, outgrowths, and flowers, this will keep the plant’s form and, on some plants, discourage branching, especially unwanted outgrowths.