This will help to thwart powdery mildew and other fungal diseases and promote ripening.

Increase air circulation and light into the center of the plant.

Removing damaged or “iffy” fruits allows the good ones to grow better. By removing excess leaves and non-fruiting branches, the plant will put more effort into making more fruit on the remaining branches rather than more leaves.

If you are trying to grow a giant pumpkin, you stand a better chance of getting a record breaker if you clip off all but one fruit per plant. This type of thinning is often done on fruit trees, but works with tomatoes or other very productive crops as well. If you remove some of the developing fruits, the plant will direct more of its energy into the ones that are left, making them larger. On the other hand, thinning excess side growth is helpful when training a plant to grow up a trellis. Basically, when you cut off a stem, the plant responds by producing two new stems, one on each side of the cut. Do you want the plant to be bushier or thinner? Pinching out the growing tip of a plant will make it fuller and keep it from growing taller. On this basil plant, you can see the two new stems that grew on each side of the “pinch point.” Those new stems are ready to be pinched back now. Pinching is really the simplest type of pruning you can do, though what you decide to remove depends on what you hope to achieve.

Pruning employs scissors, snippers, or pruners to cut off plant parts that have tougher stems or are hard to access with your fingers.

Pinching is typically done with one’s fingers when the growth is tender and easy to remove.

The main difference between them is the method that is used to remove the growth. What do we mean by “pinching” and how is it different from clipping or pruning? Essentially, they are three different words for the same basic thing: removing the excess growth of a plant. When plants start to grow during the summer, we’re often asked it’s beneficial to pinch or prune.

Learn how to pinch tomatoes, basil, peppers, and plants that can benefit from a mid-season pruning. Pinching your plants helps them put energy into ripening fruit, coaxes new growth, and increases yield.

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