PINCHING

 PINCHING

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

12/II/2024

 

Do not let the title mislead you. It is very much part of the hobby called Gardening. Maintaining a garden is a continuous process. You learn, unlearn, re-learn, try to learn, try out what you learnt, avoid trying and sometimes take a chance. Mostly, you learn without actually realising it. While some lucky people have ‘green fingers’.

Gardening runs in our family. ‘Plant exchanges’ between relatives were so common, rather a ‘right’. Those days they used razor blades, knives, or even pinched shoots to take a cutting.

I remember Dad used to explain to us the method for getting better quality and bigger flowers. For that I implicitly recall, he would keep one bud per stem, especially of Chrysanthemums and Dahlias. The results used to yield giant sized blooms. We never paid heed then.

What I remembered was how we used to pinch bottoms of our classmates in kindergarten. Girls had an advantage with sharp nails, unlike the boys. One pinch and your bottom smarted for days, even left marks. I never realised that the technique of pinching could be used in gardening.

Those childhood learnings got stored in your ‘brain disk’ somewhere. Some got corrupted & some got lost but it was there, till you retrieved it.

I remember our horticulturist once gave me a demo using his long ‘thumb nail’ and nail of the fore finger. He called it ‘Cheenti Katna’. Moment the seasonal flowers would show signs of buds erupting, he would order their pinching. A pincer like snip with nails and the task was done. He was an expert in his field. For me, it was recalling the good old days.

I, as a flower enthusiast, didn't like pinching or plucking of buds prematurely. I felt bad losing a flower. The results of course spoke differently. Now, one could relate what Dad used to do. Not only his technique resulted in bigger flowers, but that plant would flower for a longer time too.

This year we picked a few hybrid varieties of Petunia and Larkspur saplings from a nursery. Within days they were in full bloom. People would admire them, stopping to take a dekho and take a selfie. We would stand there smiling. The results after pinching are seen in the photos attached.

Soon the natural cycle of flowering came into action. After a few days, blooms started wilting and thereafter fell off. New buds emerged but their quality and quantity were not like the initial ones.

What got recalled from my ‘data’ was that before this flower pod starts producing seeds, it should be pinched. Even if some fresh pods get plucked off, it didn’t matter. This my horticulturist had also told me. One pinch produced multiple shoots, which further produced multiple buds. The ratio is almost one is to three or even more. The gamble had to be taken.

My inner voice kept pestering me to let them turn to seeds. Seeds could be sown next season and save money on new saplings. We would have so many flowers for free. Then a voice reminded me that our experiment with seeds had not brought good results so far.

The question of whether to pinch or not to pinch kept churning in my mind. It took some courage to take that decision, that Noel you must pinch them for better results and Noel did with fingers crossed.

For about ten days the plants went bald, sans the flowers. The look was not pleasing to the eyes. To compensate for the gloomy look, we picked up fresh flowers from the nursery so that there is a cycle. One set is blooming and the other pinched, till they bloomed again.

I was sceptical if I had done the right thing. Patience paid. Fresh buds erupted with a vengeance in the pinched stems. Where there was one flower now there were multiple flowers. A bonus of sorts. The garden transformed into a riot of colours once again.

Soon winters will roll over to spring. Then there won’t be a need for further pinching. With the change of season, seasonal flowers are bound to die. The seeds thus produced will be kept for the next season.

Pinching has been a boon. Flowers have bloomed beyond expectation. What do you think helped me, my experience of pinching bottoms of my peers or my dad’s and horticulturist’s advice? I wonder!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© ® NOEL ELLIS