On Fri, 9 Jul 2010 00:07:46 +1000, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

George wrote:
..
Some of the flowers seem quite close together. I'm wondering if it
would make sense to pinch some of these off now (zone 5+). My
'reasoning' is that this would (a) avoid crowding, and (b) 'direct
more energy' (as they say) to the remaining fruits.


Neither of which are in themselves very useful.

...

Thinning may give fewer larger fruit but will not improve the overall yield
or alter flavour. It is usually done to avoid overloading the branches (on
fruit trees) or to produce specimen produce (eg giant pumpkins), such as are
entered into shows. Are you just experimenting for fun or looking for a
particular outcome?

I'd say 'experimenting', but that implies keeping track of what I've
done, to which plant. Despite good intentions, that always seems to
come up short. Alas.

Thanks,

G