Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Monika's book regarding soil, 1 by SherryLike

SherryLike wrote:
Jeanette, I was advised by many gardeners that pinching the tops out of brugs caused them to take longer to make a Y. I have never deliberately pinched them back, mine had the tops blown out of them by chemicals, twice, and then a limb broke the top off one seedling, and I thought my seedlings were pretty much dead ducks, because I thought it was not possible for the to Y with the top broken up - sorta like a pine tree that is snapped, it generally dies or what does grow out is deformed. But, my seedling Yed, right out of the broken off part - it looked so funny at first, a woody trunk, obviously broken off, with a gree Y growing out of it. And, it is full of buds and should bloom soon. I would not deliberately top or pinch the top out of a brug, a named one anyway, but if you are interested in seeing what might happen, I would try it on an unknown, assuming it is not one of your favs. Attached is a photo of the first chemically burned/broken seedling I found Yed, and with buds. This photo shows the first Y and you can clearly see where the green comes out of the woody, broken off stalk, this brug is about 3 feet tall, and growing rapidly, is covered in buds, the longest about 2 inches. I believe, had this brug not been burned/broken that it might have Yed and had buds much earlier.