· The lateral growth produced by pinching makes an herb plant more productive, giving you a bigger harvest. Pinching also delays flower formation, which gives you a longer season for harvesting the tastiest leaves as the plant puts energy there instead of in blooms and seeds. · Pinching isn’t just about keeping plants tidy – it’s how you encourage them to grow stronger, bushier, and more productive. Some herbs respond so positively that the more you harvest, the more they reward you. To understand why pinching is so effective, it helps to know a bit about how herbsgrow. · Join seasoned grower Jerad Bryant in pinching these 11 herbs for optimal growth. Pinching is a method of herb pruning that requires no tools or specialized equipment. You use your fingertips to trim off the growing tips. This process promotes more stems, blooms, and even branching. · These 6 herbs respond well to regular pinching not only when they begin growing but even after that by getting bushier, tastier, and thriving longer than their usual season! The gentle technique of pinching involves removing the top growing tips of herb plants, which stimulates their natural branching tendency. Healthy herbs respond wonderfully to this simple cultivation method, creating fuller and more compact plants with increased foliage and potential harvest. · With rosemary and other slow-growing semi-woody herbs, pinch out stems here and there to sculpt plants. If you plan to dry herbs, save your pinching and do it in waves, so you harvest handfuls of thyme, marjoram, oregano, or whatever in one fell swoop. · Pinching involves removing the growing tips to encourage bushier growth, while harvesting is the process of cutting larger quantities of herbs for use in cooking.
