Sacrifice the Many for the Few

It's hard to disfigure a plant. That's how I feel some times when I have to cut off a flower or fruit from a stem or vine that I've spent the season cultivating. After all, the plant worked long and hard to produce it and then I come along and pluck it off. Don't you wonder if the plant is screaming inside, or at least moaning a little? This time of year, as painful as it is to plants and gardeners alike, careful pruning of the garden is necessary if you want the most from your harvest.

A plant has a finite amount of energy to give in flower development, fruit growth, and seed production. My tomato plants are very healthy and are still doing a great job pumping out new flowers; the bees are also doing a great job fertilizing them. As the nights get colder and the days get shorter, those new flowers have no chance to develop into ripe, red tomatoes. If I let all of those flowers and infant tomatoes remain on the vines, the larger fruit that actually has a chance of ripening will suffer.

The tomato plant is devoting a lot of its energy to get those new fruits to a ripe stage. If those flowers and little tomatoes are removed, the plant will re-direct energy to the larger fruit and hasten its ripening. Now is the time to pluck off as many flowers as you can find. It's even time to cut off small tomatoes that won't be able to grow big enough to turn color in the few weeks we have until the first frost. Select the fruit you want to prosper and focus your attention and the plant's attention there. If you have one large tomato, a couple small tomatoes, and some flowers on the same cluster, you can put all of the plant's energy in that part of the vine into the big one by removing all of the flowers and the little fruit.

This process is important throughout the garden. If you want one large pumpkin, remove the blossoms and any other small fruit along the vine. The plant devotes all of its energy to that single pumpkin and it will grow bigger and ripen sooner.

Just about any plant with clusters of flowers and fruit will benefit from strategic pruning. Cucumbers, squash, and peppers react the same way. Rather than be left with five or six small bell peppers when the freeze comes, cut the smallest ones off now and harvest one or two big ripe ones sooner.

You can grow watermelon and cantaloupe by focusing the plant's energy on one or two fruit per vine. It would be great to have each of the flowers produce a nice big melon, but if your season is short or the frost is looming near you have to sacrifice some of the smaller fruit so that the larger ones survive.

Many herbs will produce better when using a similar process. Pinch off the tips of oregano or basil and you'll produce a bushier plant. Definitely pinch off the flowers of herb plants before they go to seed to keep producing delicious leaves.


You don't have to prune all of your garden plants. Peas and beans grow fast enough and handle the cold well enough that you can let all of the flowers develop into nice pods. You may lose some of the harvest when it gets too cold, but probably not enough to worry about. Individual plants like garlic and onions don't produce multiple fruits and don't benefit from strategic pruning, unless they're growing too close together and you need to give a plant more room to grow.

Wishful thinking can be good at the beginning of the season when you first plant your vegetable garden, but at the end of the season you must face reality. That time is now. So start plucking and cutting and cater to the survivors. That way they'll be big, juicy, ripe, and ready... when you eat them.

It's hard to disfigure a plant. That's how I feel some times when I have to cut off a flower or fruit from a stem or vine that I've spent the season cultivating. After all, the plant worked long and hard to produce it and then I come along and pluck it off. Don't you wonder if the plant is screaming inside, or at least moaning a little? This time of year, as painful as it is to plants and gardeners alike, careful pruning of the garden is necessary if you want the most from your harvest.

A plant has a finite amount of energy to give in flower development, fruit growth, and seed production. My tomato plants are very healthy and are still doing a great job pumping out new flowers; the bees are also doing a great job fertilizing them. As the nights get colder and the days get shorter, those new flowers have no chance to develop into ripe, red tomatoes. If I let all of those flowers and infant tomatoes remain on the vines, the larger fruit that actually has a chance of ripening will suffer.

The tomato plant is devoting a lot of its energy to get those new fruits to a ripe stage. If those flowers and little tomatoes are removed, the plant will re-direct energy to the larger fruit and hasten its ripening. Now is the time to pluck off as many flowers as you can find. It's even time to cut off small tomatoes that won't be able to grow big enough to turn color in the few weeks we have until the first frost. Select the fruit you want to prosper and focus your attention and the plant's attention there. If you have one large tomato, a couple small tomatoes, and some flowers on the same cluster, you can put all of the plant's energy in that part of the vine into the big one by removing all of the flowers and the little fruit.

This process is important throughout the garden. If you want one large pumpkin, remove the blossoms and any other small fruit along the vine. The plant devotes all of its energy to that single pumpkin and it will grow bigger and ripen sooner.

Just about any plant with clusters of flowers and fruit will benefit from strategic pruning. Cucumbers, squash, and peppers react the same way. Rather than be left with five or six small bell peppers when the freeze comes, cut the smallest ones off now and harvest one or two big ripe ones sooner.

You can grow watermelon and cantaloupe by focusing the plant's energy on one or two fruit per vine. It would be great to have each of the flowers produce a nice big melon, but if your season is short or the frost is looming near you have to sacrifice some of the smaller fruit so that the larger ones survive.

Many herbs will produce better when using a similar process. Pinch off the tips of oregano or basil and you'll produce a bushier plant. Definitely pinch off the flowers of herb plants before they go to seed to keep producing delicious leaves.


You don't have to prune all of your garden plants. Peas and beans grow fast enough and handle the cold well enough that you can let all of the flowers develop into nice pods. You may lose some of the harvest when it gets too cold, but probably not enough to worry about. Individual plants like garlic and onions don't produce multiple fruits and don't benefit from strategic pruning, unless they're growing too close together and you need to give a plant more room to grow.

Wishful thinking can be good at the beginning of the season when you first plant your vegetable garden, but at the end of the season you must face reality. That time is now. So start plucking and cutting and cater to the survivors. That way they'll be big, juicy, ripe, and ready... when you eat them.