How to Prune Plants to Promote Growth

Just like people, garden plants benefit from an occasional haircut. Pruning  – the process of strategically cutting or pinching back parts of a plant’s foliage – helps promote growth and productivity in the long run. Learn how to prune a few of the most common plants in summer gardens below.

Why Prune Your Plants?

Pruning is a great way to get bushier plants that produce larger fruit – and more of it. If you let plants like cucumbers or tomatoes grow out of control, they are likely to continue producing more stems and leaves instead of flowers. However, a regularly pruned plant is free to focus its energy on producing the good stuff: food for your kitchen.

Pruning is also a great way to gently dictate the direction your plant grows in. For instance, you can convince it to move toward an area that has more sunlight or space. Plus, pruning near the base of your plant can be used to improve air circulation, which helps limit pests and diseases. And that’s not all. You can also use a pruning method called “topping” as cold weather approaches to help speed up ripening in late-season plants like tomatoes and peppers.

Depending on the plant and your preference, you can use pruning shears, clippers or your hands to cut back growth.

Ready to give your plants a trim? Here is a quick guide on when and how to prune some popular fruits and vegetables.

How to Prune Tomatoes

Tomatoes should be pruned throughout the season. This starts with planting. If you’re transplanting seedlings or small plants and they already have flowers, you should remove them at this time so that early energy growth goes toward producing leaves. You’ll want to continue pinching off flowers with your fingers until the plant is about 12 to 18 inches tall.

Throughout the early- to mid-season, pinch off any leafy suckers beneath the first fruit cluster, as they could slow the development of your first tomatoes. You should try to remove suckers when they’re small enough to pinch off with your fingers, but you can remove larger ones with a sharp knife or pruner blade.

As the growing season wraps up, you can speed up ripening by removing the growing tip from each main stem about four weeks prior to the first expected frost. This technique, called “topping,” will direct the plant to stop growing, and it will begin directing its energy to the remaining fruit.

Note that you should only prune indeterminate tomato varieties, which produce new leaves and flowers continuously throughout the season. Pruning determinate varieties could reduce your harvest.

See more: 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Growing Tomatoes

How to Prune Basil

Pruning basil can lead to a bushier plant and more bountiful harvest. You’ll want to begin pruning when your plant is about 6 to 8 inches tall and has three or four sets of opposite leaves.

Simply snip or pinch back the central stem to 1/4 inch above the first set of leaves. This will create two new branches and your plant will begin to bush out. Once this happens, you can prune up to half of each stem. Pinch or cut just above a set of leaves. You can harvest any leaves that you removed during this process, incorporating them into your cooking.

Continue to prune your basil throughout the growing season, pinching back any flower buds that pop up as well. If you miss a few days and your basil does produce flowers, simply remove them (they’re edible!) and continue with your pruning regimen.

How to Prune Lettuce

Pruning lettuce is basically just harvesting it. One of the best ways to do this is by snipping a few of the lower, outer leaves near their base. Make sure the plant has around six or so leaves before you harvest and use a pair of clean scissors to cut. By taking these leaves, you encourage the plant to produce even more (plus, you can fix a nice salad).

You can also harvest lettuce by grabbing a handful of leaves and chopping with a clean pair of scissors or snips. You’ll cut higher up compared to the previous method, leaving about 3 to 4 inches at the base of each leaf. It will take a few weeks for the whole plant to recover and start growing new leaves.

How to Prune Peppers

Pruning pepper plants can increase branching, support root health and expedite the ripening of late-season fruits. Early-season pruning starts with transplanting and lasts for a few weeks as the plant becomes established in the garden. Cut or pinch the stem of smaller varieties like jalapeños and Thai peppers back to the second or third set of leaves when they are about a foot tall. This is called “topping” and will cause the plants to create more branches, resulting in a fuller and stronger plant. Topping is less important for larger varieties such as bell or poblanos. With these, simply prune away smaller branches or suckers.

You can also help support root establishment by removing the first flush of flowers that appears on your plant. While this may be painful for you, in the end, healthy roots will lead to higher yields throughout the season.

When plants reach about 2 feet, prune foliage from the bottom foot of larger pepper varieties or the lower 6 to 8 inches of smaller varieties. This helps to promote air circulation and prevent diseases.

Overall, peppers require very little pruning throughout the season, but you can speed up ripening as fall approaches by cutting all shoots and side branches by about 6 inches at this time. You can also remove branches that don’t have fruits or flowers and any small fruits that won’t have enough time to ripen before the first frost. You can continue ripening these misfits in your home inside a paper sack.

See more: How to Grow Bell Peppers in Your Summer Garden

How to Prune Cucumbers

While bush and sprawling cucumber varieties generally don’t need much pruning, you’ll want to give your vine cucumbers trims throughout the season. Start pruning when your plant is about 1 to 2 feet tall, removing suckers with clippers to encourage upward growth and circulation. You can do this every week or two. You should also remove any damaged vines, flowers or leaves when you see them. If your plant is sprawling, you can also encourage lateral growth by pruning some of your lateral vines.