Pinching back is a form of manual pruning. What it means is that you use your hands -- instead of pruners -- to remove the tips of a branch or stem. It's intended to improve plant growth and structure.
Pinch-back is when you pinch off stem tips so the stems split and grow in two different directions. It slows the growth of the plant and makes it temporarily smaller, but it also grows out thicker longterm.
Pinching will not make plants healthier or more flavorful. It will encourage a fuller, bushier plant with more flowers and leaves. read more
some plants have crisp stems and are more easily pinched than trying to use pruners which actually cause the stems to split and shatter. This in turn can cause the plants to partially die which is not what we want to happen. Pinching tends to lose the wound without causing the stem to shatter or crack.
People pinch to make the plants which are loved for there foliage to become fuller. ie daylillies and salvia.
Another reason is to get rid of old flowerheads which makes the plant produce more flowers.
The last reason to pinch flowerbuds off is to get the plant to flower later in the season when other plants are dying out instead of in the midst of summer. ie mums and asters.
Pinch-back is a technique used to control growth or shape of a plant. In other words you can use this technique to advantage, in your work with plants.
There is information on the internet in many locations that will help one to learn to use the technique of "pinch-back" effectively.
Good luck in your gardening future.
Dr. Haddox
Pinch back refers to plant grooming, routinely there are deadhead plants to remove, unsightly dead flowers and encourage new blooms. Similarly, to pinch back or tip-prune plants regularly to keep plant growth in check, stimulate fresh growth, encourage branching, and keep the plant compact or bushy. You can periodically remove containers from public view and move them to a protected location for replanting or to allow plants to recover.
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