pinching fruits and blossoms

[Katrina]

what is the general consensus on pinching fruits and blossoms?

I have lots of small plants with both, but I would like to do what will benefit me the most in long term.

Thanks all!

Kat

 

[Josh]

Hey Kat,
There are a lot of people who pinch the buds off of smaller plants. The goal here is to postpone fruit set and allow more vegetative growth to take place. These larger stronger plants will hopefully produce a larger crop in the long run. There are several people who do not pinch including myself. I don't pinch mainly because I have more plants than I know what to do with this season and am not trying to maximize production. Based on what you wrote above I would say pinch away. Hopefully those that do pinch can chime in. The tough part is deciding when to stop. There doesn't seem to be a consensus. The decision is more subjective based on the overall health of the plant. Good luck. We await pics.

 

[Blister]

Hey Kat,
There are a lot of people who pinch the buds off of smaller plants. The goal here is to postpone fruit set and allow more vegetative growth to take place. These larger stronger plants will hopefully produce a larger crop in the long run. There are several people who do not pinch including myself. I don't pinch mainly because I have more plants than I know what to do with this season and am not trying to maximize production. Based on what you wrote above I would say pinch away. Hopefully those that do pinch can chime in. The tough part is deciding when to stop. There doesn't seem to be a consensus. The decision is more subjective based on the overall health of the plant. Good luck. We await pics.

That pretty much sums it up. I've got nothing to add.

 

[POTAWIE]

By pinching buds, the plants' energy goes towards greater production either in the form of more vegetation, or more concentration of flowers/pods. I am a big fan of pinching, especially on larger C. annuum types and early C. chinenese flowers. Some plants I've been pinching flowers off for several months and they are now going into super-production.

 

[abulldog]

I had the same question in my other post. Where, when and how to "pinch"? The plants I grew last year were small and sickly looking in the garden and really did not look like any plants you guys post. Which are all monsters. I really want monsters of my own.