Three Reasons I Pinch at Sugar Flower Farm (And One Very Important Warning)

If you've spent any time in the flower growing world, you've probably heard the word "pinching" thrown around. Most people know it as a technique for encouraging bushier plants and more blooms. And yes, that's part of it — but at Sugar Flower Farm, pinching does three distinct jobs, and knowing all three has completely changed how I manage my field.

Before I get into those three reasons though, I need to stop and make something very clear. Because if you take one thing away from this post, I want it to be this:

Not all flowers should be pinched. In fact, pinching the wrong flower at the wrong time can end its season entirely.

Know What You're Growing Before You Pinch Anything

Pinching works beautifully on cut and come again flowers — the ones that keep producing new stems the more you cut and encourage them. But for one and done flowers, the ones that produce a single glorious flush and that's it, pinching doesn't encourage new growth. It just stops everything.

Stock is a perfect example. Bells of Ireland is another. The minute you pinch either of those, you have ended that plant's season. There are no second chances, no new stems coming up behind it. It's over.

So before you pinch anything, ask yourself: is this a cut and come again flower, or is it one and done? If you're not sure, look it up before you touch it.

At Sugar Flower Farm, the flowers I pinch are zinnias, snapdragons, dahlias, and cosmos. Everything else gets left alone.

Now, on to the three reasons.

Reason One: Encouraging Branching

This is the one most people already know, and it's the classic reason for pinching. When you remove the growing tip of a plant, you redirect its energy outward into the side shoots rather than upward into a single stem. The result is a bushier plant that produces significantly more stems over the course of the season.

For zinnias especially, this single step makes an enormous difference in total stem production. A pinched zinnia plant can produce many times more stems than an unpinched one. It feels counterintuitive to cut back a plant that's just getting started, but trust the process. It works.

Reason Two: Pest Control

This is the one I never see talked about, and honestly it might be my favourite use of pinching on the whole farm.

Here's what I know from experience: it won't take long after your dahlias start growing before the top of the stem is absolutely covered in aphids. They are drawn to that soft, tender new growth at the very tip like a magnet.

Rather than reaching immediately for a spray or panicking about the infestation, I wait. I let the aphids gather at the top of the stem — and then I come through and pinch, removing that entire aphid-covered tip in one clean motion.

I pinch down to just above the second or third set of true leaves. True leaves, to be clear, are the leaves that develop after the very first set — the cotyledon leaves that emerge when a seed first sprouts. Those initial leaves are round and simple. True leaves are the ones that follow and look like the actual leaves of the plant. You want to pinch just above that second or third set.

The result: you've removed the pest damage, you've eliminated a significant portion of the aphid population without any chemicals, and you've triggered branching all at the same time. It is one of the most satisfying moments in the field, honestly.

One important note: I am never too quick to pinch my dahlias for this reason. I wait until that pest pressure shows up and then use the pinch strategically. Patience is part of the process here.

Reason Three: Controlling Bloom Timing

This one requires a little planning, but once you understand it, it becomes one of the most powerful tools you have for managing your field.

Here at Sugar Flower Farm, I want my whole field blooming together as much as possible. The problem is that my snapdragons always want to bloom first — they are eager, early performers, and left to their own devices they'll be at their peak long before my dahlias and zinnias have caught up.

So I use pinching to hold them back.

By delaying the pinch on my snapdragons, I can time their branching and bloom cycle to line up more closely with everything else in the field. It takes some observation and a bit of trial and error to get the timing right in your specific growing conditions, but once you figure it out, it gives you a level of control over your bloom windows that is genuinely game changing.

The reverse is also true: if you want a flower to bloom as soon as possible, pinch it early. As soon as two sets of true leaves are present, go ahead and pinch. The plant will branch quickly and push toward blooming faster than if you had left it to grow as a single stem.

Pinching early means blooming sooner. Delaying the pinch means blooming later. Use that knowledge intentionally and you can choreograph your field rather than just hoping everything lines up.

A Quick Pinching Reference

Flowers to pinch: zinnias, snapdragons, dahlias, cosmos
Flowers to never pinch: stock, Bells of Ireland, and any other one and done flower
When to pinch for branching: when two sets of true leaves are present
When to pinch for pest control: when aphid pressure is visible at the stem tip, pinch just above the second or third set of true leaves
When to pinch for timing: delay the pinch to slow blooming, pinch early to speed it up

Pinching is one of those skills that sounds simple but has a lot of nuance once you're actually out in the field practicing it. Start with your zinnias if you're nervous — they are the most forgiving and the results are almost immediately obvious. Once you see what a pinched zinnia plant produces compared to an unpinched one, you'll never skip it again.

I'm Jen, the owner and grower at Sugar Flower Farm — a small flower farm in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Follow along on Instagram @sugar_flowerfarm for behind-the-scenes farm content, arrangement inspiration, and seasonal growing tips.