Gardening glossary
Pinching
Pinching out — sometimes called "stopping" or "tip pruning" — is a tiny cut with a big payoff. Most plants concentrate growth hormones (auxins) at the topmost growing tip, which suppresses the side buds below. Remove that dominant tip and the suppressed buds wake up, the plant branches out, and you end up with two or more stems where there was one.
Plants that respond well to pinching:
- **Basil** — pinch every set of true leaves above a lower node. A single basil plant can carry 6–8 main stems by mid-summer if pinched from the start. - **Tomatoes (indeterminate)** — pinch *side shoots* (suckers in the leaf axils) to keep growth focused on one or two main stems; do not pinch the main growing tip until you have enough trusses. - **Cosmos, zinnias, snapdragons, dahlias** — pinch once when the plant is 20–30 cm tall to triple stem count. - **Coleus, fuchsia, sweet pea** — pinch repeatedly through spring to build a dense, full shape. - **Chrysanthemums** — pinch in late spring and again in early summer for a wall of autumn bloom.
How to pinch correctly:
1. Find a stem with a soft, unhardened growing tip. 2. Just above a healthy pair of leaves, pinch out the top 1–2 cm with your nails or use sharp snips. 3. Within a week or two, two new shoots should emerge from the leaf axils below the cut.
Pinching is different from deadheading (which removes spent flowers) and different from hard pruning (which cuts back woody growth). It is gentle, frequent, and most useful while the plant is young.
Avoid pinching plants that flower on a single terminal stem — sunflowers, foxgloves, and most lilies. Pinching them sacrifices the bloom you were waiting for.