Stimulate growth
Trimming off unhealthy leaves encourages the plant to send more energy into the remaining foliage and fruits.
Tip pruning at the right growth stage can stimulate new growth. Weekly tip pruning can make the plant more compact, which is perfect for small spaces, whereas occasional tip pruning will result in more overall growth from your plant.
Improve airflow to prevent powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is the most common disease in zucchini and, in my experience, appropriate watering regimes and pruning are the most effective ways to control it.
Powdery mildew loves warm, moist environments, so by cutting off the lowest leaves, more air is able to flow through the plant which will help to keep powdery mildew under control.
Inspect for pests and diseases
Pruning, particularly lift pruning, makes searching and finding pests much easier. By removing some of the foliage, you can monitor your crop for signs of disease, rot, or infestations before they get out of hand.
Easier access to fruit
I find that lift pruning zucchini allows me to keep an eye on ripening fruit and also makes harvesting and weeding them easier.
Sometimes, crop production can really ramp up and it’s easy to forget zucchinis on the plant. But what you’ll soon learn is that they can almost double in size overnight. So picking them at the right size is crucial.
Prevent blossom end rot
Blossom end rot can be either caused by a calcium deficiency or a lack of pollination. The calcium deficiency can be fixed by digging in some lime or baked egg shells before planting your crop, or adding them later around the base of each plant.
The lack of pollination can be fixed by manual pollination within the first day of the female flower opening, but if you have missed this INCREDIBLY short window to pollinate it, then pinching these rotting flowers off will concentrate the plant’s energy into the pollinated flowers instead.
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