Sweet pea Pinching ?

For years , about this time , I have religiously
pinched out my SP's above the 4th set of leaves . Not the 3rd and the 5th is a no-no ! Now the question is why the 4th what mystical purpose does this have

TIA

 

I've pinched off the second

 

Hi Loofah,

I agree and disagree with you.....

It is a good height as it will give you up to 6/8 side shoots.

Therefore you get more branches to the plant and therefore more flowers.

It doesn't actually make any difference to the length of the stems. If it's a long stemmed variety specially bred for cutting you'll still get long stemmed flowers. If it's a shorter stemmed variety you'll still get short stemmed flowers.

 

Hi "M ",

You may find that you have to pinch again. Sometimes if you pinch at the second set of leaves the plant hasn't got the energy levels to send up four new shoots and will just re-grow a second leader shoot. If this happens just pinch out when this one has reached four sets of leaves.

 

@"M" , the Sweet pea police will be knocking on your door for improper pinching !

 

He's got to catch me first