Pruning
Pinching out and side-shooting
This job is done bare-handed on foliage that can be poisonous, so wash your hands well afterwards and keep the removed shoots and leaves away from children and pets. Tomato, potato and rhubarb leaves are all poisonous if eaten (rhubarb stalks are fine, the leaves are not). When tidying houseplants such as figs (Ficus), euphorbias and poinsettia, the milky sap can irritate skin and eyes, so wear gloves and avoid rubbing your face.
- Where to get help
- NHS 111, or seek medical advice
Removing side shoots keeps a cordon plant to a single main stem, so its energy goes into fewer, larger fruits rather than a mass of leafy, scrambling growth that is hard to support and crops poorly. Pinching out a growing tip does the opposite job on bushy plants: it removes the lead shoot so the plant pushes out side branches lower down, giving a fuller, sturdier plant with more flowering or cropping points. Stopping a cordon by pinching the main tip late in the season stops it climbing and pushes the last of the season into ripening the fruit already set.
When
Do this little and often through the growing season, from late spring once plants are growing strongly, right through summer. On cordon tomatoes, aubergines and other cordon crops, check for side shoots every few days, ideally each time you water, and rub them out while they are small. Pinch out growing tips of bushy plants such as basil, sweet pea, fuchsia and many bedding plants when they are young and a few sets of leaves tall, to make them branch. Stop cordon tomatoes by pinching out the main tip once they reach the top of their support or have set about four trusses outdoors or seven under cover.
How
For side shoots on tomatoes and other cordon crops, find the small shoots that grow out of the joint between the main stem and a leaf, and pinch or snap them off with finger and thumb while they are young and soft. Larger shoots can be cut off cleanly with clean secateurs. To pinch out a growing tip, nip out the very top of the main stem or a branch just above a pair of leaves, again with finger and thumb. Work in dry weather so small wounds heal quickly, and drop the removed material into a bucket rather than leaving it on the soil. Wash your hands afterwards, especially after handling tomato and potato foliage.
Notes
Match the action to the plant. Cordon (single-stem) tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers want side shoots removed; bush and tumbling tomatoes do not need side-shooting and should be left alone. On basil, sweet pea, fuchsia, coleus and many bedding plants you pinch the tip to make them bushier, not to remove side shoots. Tips and soft shoots can be very short and easy to miss, so a regular quick check is better than an occasional big session. Basil tips pinched out are usable in the kitchen; tomato and potato side shoots are not edible.