How to Properly Pruning Eggplants: Tips and Recommendations

What is pinching?

Pinching out side shoots in eggplants is an important part of plant care. This procedure involves removing excess shoots and is essential when the plant is growing in the high humidity of hot summers. Some believe that pinching out side shoots is unnecessary, believing that the plant develops perfectly well without it. However, this is only half true.

The culture requires the removal of lateral shoots when:

• It's grown in unprotected soil. This way, the extra green mass prevents the soil and stem from drying out, even during drought. Furthermore, if the bare bush is left exposed to the sun, it will grow very slowly.
• This vegetable variety is low-growing. In this case, the plantlets are able to develop without any intervention.

In other cases, the plant must be pinched. This can be explained by the fact that almost all varieties of this plant grow as large bushes, densely covered with leaves.

Pinching out side shoots involves removing parts of the plant's organs, such as leaves and lateral shoots. This procedure promotes proper formation and development of the plant. Moreover, it can help produce vigorous fruits and significantly strengthen them. This procedure is essential because, under favorable conditions (warmth and moisture), plants develop dense foliage with numerous shoots. As a result, the plant redirects all its energy to leaf formation. Consequently, the plant lacks the energy needed for fruit development. As a result, the vegetables become small and lose their shape. Their flavor is also affected. In some cases, the ovaries do not have time to ripen and fall from the bush.

Video: "Pruning Eggplants"

This video will show you how to pinch out eggplant shoots.

When to pinch off stepsons

As mentioned earlier, in some cases, pinching out side shoots is entirely possible. In particular, when growing low-growing varieties, you don't have to worry about the plant becoming overcrowded, as the bush will only produce the desired foliage. This procedure can also be avoided when growing blue varieties in unprotected soil. In this case, the green part of the plant serves an additional function: it prevents the soil from drying out. Furthermore, the foliage on these varieties grows less vigorously, so the eggplants don't waste energy on it.

This procedure is especially important for vegetables grown in greenhouses. It's often very difficult to control the air temperature indoors, so protected soil often experiences high humidity and heat levels. This causes the plants to develop a dense mass of leaves and lateral stem shoots. To slow down leaf growth and promote proper formation of each individual plant, it's necessary not only to remove excess parts but also to prune the apical growth point of the plants.

In order to carry out the procedure with the most positive result, it should be carried out before the buds form.

How to properly pinch off stepsons

You can only hope for a positive result from removing lateral shoots from eggplants if:

• choose the right time for the first procedure;
• Select a bush formation scheme individually for each plant.

Often, the first removal of excess blueberries can begin three weeks after transplanting them to their permanent location. By this time, the plants have had time to take root and adjust to their new environment. However, they haven't yet begun to grow actively. Avoid removing side shoots on a rainy or dry day, as this can trigger the development of an infectious disease at the wound site. The optimal time to remove side shoots is morning. Wounds sustained at this time will heal successfully by evening.

How do you properly prune eggplants? There are two main methods. Typically, the plants are trained into either a single stem or multiple stems.

It's best to train weakened plants to form a single-stemmed bush. In this case, after pruning the growing point, only one top shoot is left. All other shoots should be removed. It's also worth thinning out the formed ovaries, leaving only the largest ones.

The following scheme (multiple stems) is suitable for healthy plants that are well-rooted and actively growing. After pinching the top of the plant, it's best to leave several shoots for development, but no more than five. However, you can leave more ovaries on the bush.

Tips and recommendations

Although the procedure for removing excess eggplant parts is quite simple, mistakes are often made, especially by inexperienced gardeners. Therefore, before starting to remove everything indiscriminately, it's worth studying the recommendations and advice of experienced gardeners. This is the only way to avoid common mistakes and achieve the best possible results.

For example, removing shoots should only be done by hand. It's best not to use pruning shears or, especially, scissors for this purpose. If you avoid using gardening tools, they should be thoroughly disinfected before use. Otherwise, the resulting wound could introduce an infection.

After performing the procedure on each bush, it's a good idea to treat your hands and tools with special disinfectants. This prevents the disease from spreading from one plant to the others.

If the greenhouse where your eggplants are growing is excessively dry, leave the lower leaves on the plant. These will retain water near the stem, preventing the soil from drying out. Remove any dry or misshapen leaves or ovaries, as these can be signs of disease.

When growing vegetables in a greenhouse, avoid adding organic matter to the soil too frequently. Even with small amounts of organic matter, blueberries begin to actively develop green mass, which negatively impacts fruit development.

Pinching out side-sons is a necessary part of vegetable care. This procedure allows you to harvest large, healthy fruits. When done correctly and at the right time, it positively impacts the plant's development and yield. Without this procedure, eggplant plants grow excessively, creating shade for each other. As a result, the fruits will not ripen properly, and the plants themselves may be susceptible to various diseases.

Each gardener makes their own decision about whether to remove side shoots, taking into account growing conditions and the vegetable variety. In any case, ignoring the procedure will not result in a bountiful harvest.

Video: Growing Eggplants

This video will show you how to properly grow eggplants.