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On this page find how to control and direct the growth of vegetable plants in a home vegetable garden so they grow strong, healthy, and produce large, delicious fruit, including:
- Why controlling growth of vegetable plants is desirable and necessary.
- Methods used to control growth of vegetable plants and improve production.
- How to remove diseased or infested foliage from vegetable plants to restore them to health.
- A step-by-step demonstration of how to direct vegetable plant growth and increase yield through pinching, pruning, and culling fruit.
- A step-by-step demonstration of how to prune vegetable plants to redirect their growth or remove diseased foliage.
Benefits of Pruning Vegetables
Controlling the early growth of your vegetables enhances both the size and quality of the fruit they produce. It also improves their appearance as the plants mature. Pruning is sometimes necessary to remove diseased foliage.
There are two primary methods, pinching and pruning. Pinching is used frequently as plants grow to remove growth buds, flowers, or immature fruit. Pruning is a corrective action. It’s necessary to remove entire branches, stop plants from crowding other plants, or to remove dead or diseased areas.
Step-By-Step Instructions
The step-by-step pruning demonstrations that follow show methods of increasing yield of your vegetable plants and ways to control and redirect their growth or remove diseased foliage from sick plants.
Most fruit-bearing vegetables require these care and correction steps during the gardening season to remain healthy, produce large yields, and improve the quality of the fruit they bear.
How To Direct Plant Growth
Choose either option for controlling growth of your vegetable plants and fruit, gather the tools shown, and follow these steps:
How to Pinch-Prune Vegetables to Increase Yield
- Pinch Buds
- Pinch Flowers
- Cull Fruit
Pinch Buds
Pinch some foliage growth buds between your fingernail and thumb to reduce foliage development and make plants more compact.
Pinching prompts latent buds remaining on the stem to grow.
The result is a denser, fuller plant with more fruit.
Pinch Flowers
For fruit-bearing vegetables, pinch off a third to one-half of the flowers as they appear.
The remaining fruit will be larger and will mature more quickly.
Cull Fruit
After fruit has set, pinch away any fruit that crowds its neighbors, is deformed or diseased, or receives limited light and air circulation.
Pinch away all foliage in contact with or surrounding the fruit.
How to Prune Vegetables to Redirect Growth
- Removal Cuts
- Reduction Cuts
- Disease Cuts
Removal Cuts
For plants with excess foliage and little fruit, use sharp bypass pruners to remove any branches that cross the centerline of the plant.
This care opens the plant to light and air circulation, prompting fuller growth and improving health.
Reduction Cuts
For plants that have become leggy, cut growing stems back to the first or second branch to promote dense, compact growth and flower production.
They will grow new branches and fill in, and will produce more flowers and fruit.
Disease Cuts
For plants with infection or infestation, prune away the affected foliage and discard it with household garbage or burn it.
Always sterilize your pruning shears between each cut of diseased foliage by dipping them in isopropyl alcohol and washing them thoroughly after pruning.
This safety measure avoids spreading the infection to healthy foliage or to other plants.
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