Encroachment onto other plants
Encroachment and competition for light with the rest of your veggie patch is another reason to prune your zucchini, especially when growing in a confined space. Your zucchinis will be stimulated and the surrounding plants will thank you with an increase in their production as well.
Check for surrounding vegetables and see if any zucchini leaves are shading them or covering them altogether and mercilessly remove those leaves.
How to prune zucchini plants – step by step
Now that you know why keeping your plants in check is so important, here is your step-by-step guide on how to prune zucchini plants.
Tools for pruning zucchini
Pruning shears
70% alcohol or disinfectant
Bucket for green waste
If you’re interested in purchasing pruning tools, I find these delicate Teflon trimming scissors do a great job.
When to trim the zucchini leaves
In the first stages of growth, keep an eye on the lower leaves. When a lower leaf touches the ground, that’s when I cut it off.
Once the plant has about half a dozen flowers or even a couple of fruit developing, you can get a bit more methodical about the way you prune your zucchini plant. Remove ALL of the leaves that are below the lowest flower or fruit.
The fruits are primarily fed by the leaves ABOVE them, so the lower leaves are expendable. Of course, if you see any diseased or eaten leaves, these should be removed as well.
Which leaves to prune
Lift pruning removes the unwanted lower leaves as well as their stems from the main stalk. Removing the entire leaf and stem reduces the likelihood of fungi or diseases developing in the left-over hollow stem segments.
Be sure not to damage the main stalk, fruit, flowers, or any of the nodes above the first fruit or flower.
How to tip prune zucchini
This should only be done on the bright green, fresh, new growth from the very tips of the plant. As long as the tip is actively growing, then you can tip prune it.
If find the easiest way to tip prune zucchini tips is with my thumb nail. You only want to pinch out the growth above the last two leaves, at the very tip of the actively growing plant. Take care not to damage the nodes along the stalk where two new leaves will eventually grow.
Percentage of leaves you can remove
As with pruning most plants, you shouldn’t remove more than 30% of the foliage. So, by the time you remove all of the leaves below the lowest fruit as well as any sick-looking ones, this will equate to about 20 – 30 % anyway. The zucchini fruit themselves benefit from some shade in hot, sunny climates, so avoid removing the leaves that shade the fruit.
