On Mon, 03 Aug 2015 18:16:13 -0600, Janet B >
wrote:

>On Mon, 3 Aug 2015 17:26:22 -0400, Dave Smith <
>snip
>>
>>
>>I am thinking of times past when friends grew their own and plucked off
>>the buds so that energy would not be wasted on flowers and the plants
>>would grow more leaves.
>
>that's what they thought they were doing. The purpose behind pinching
>off extra buds is to make sure that the one remaining bud grows huge.
>All the plant energy is directed to that piece of fruit. You do not
>want to encourage extra leaves. Many leaves means that plant energy
>is expended to leaf growing to the detriment of fruit production.
>Anyway, To encourage extra leaves, you use a fertilizer with a high
>nitrogen content. That's why lawn fertilizers have a high first
>number (N) in relationship to the other 2 numbers. Fertilizers for
>fruits and vegetables generally have 3 equal numbers like 10-10-10.
>Janet US

Orchardmen pinch off every other fruit while tiny. I planted some
pumpkin seeds this year, I only allow one pumpkin to form on each
plant. With summer squash and cukes I pick often while small, the
plants produce more and the smaller fruit are practically seedless.