Beginner Gardening: Good Growing Practices - an Overview for Beginners, 1 by tapla

tapla wrote:
Actually, I was just asked (a couple of days ago, over at Garden Web) to start a thread about the very basic concepts of pinching & pruning - about what happens when you DO pinch or prune and how to use it to your advantage, and how to use it to keep YOU in control instead of the plant. There really is no reason to have an unruly plant sprawling hither and yon, when all it takes is a rudimentary understanding of how 2 growth hormones work against one another (antagonistically) in a fight for control of how the plant will grow, and a little intervention on our part to tip the scales gently in favor of one or the other. ;-)

For now though, it's probably better to think 'pinching' from Aug-Jun, and any hard cutting back or heavy pruning from Jun-Aug. It's important to take into account the plant's energy levels and energy flow when you start do do anything drastic. Plants are VERY forgiving if you give them a chance to gather their reserves before you heap indignities on them - not so forgiving if you don't consider how strong they are (or aren't) and just go about things willy nilly.

It doesn't take much effort to gain a little understanding about how plants work; and the knowledge you claim will serve you for as long as you tend plants. I guess you could say that knowledge is a gift that keeps on giving - especially when you 'pay it forward'.

Al