General question on pinching flowers

[RuHappy69]

Is this something that should generally be done on all veggies early in the season to get a bigger crop later? Just curious because my tomatoes, Peppers and even Eggplants and squash are starting to flower.

[hendi_alex]

I never pinch any flowers from veggie. If you want larger tomatoes, you may want to thin each cluster to 2-3 after the fruit has set. Of course I'm almost never interested in fruit size or bumper crops as am most interested in having a steady stream of veggies throughout a long season.

[jal_ut]

I am with Alex. I don't pinch flowers. I reckon the plant knows when it has enough resources to produce fruit.

One exception: If you are going for a very large pumpkin, As soon as the plant has a good looking fruit set on, pick all other small fruits and blossoms off. This allows the plant to put all its energy into the one remaining fruit and it will usually get quite large.

[rainbowgardener]

Agree. And squash has separate male and female flowers. You need both kinds to get pollinated flowers that will set fruit. Pinching any reduces the odds of that happening.

[cwayland]

Another non-pincher here! I always end up with more than my family can eat or that I feel like putting up!