How to prune stock (Matthiola incana)? Teaching you the correct pruning method

Stock is a herbaceous plant of the Brassicaceae family, genus Matthiola. It is a very beautiful flowering plant, widely cultivated in southern China and often grown in courtyards or greenhouses for ornamental purposes. Many friends manage it well when growing it, letting it grow lush and flourishing, but for stock, dense growth is not a good thing, as it affects its flowering. At this point, pruning is needed, so how should you prune it? Let's take a look.

1. Pruning at the seedling stage

When the stock seedlings have grown to a certain extent, transplant them into their final position, and 20 days after transplanting, stock enters a period of rapid growth. Pruning at this time can speed up its growth: you need to pinch out the growing tip, removing 3-4 leaves and keeping only 5-6 true leaves, and pinch off the top, which promotes branching and makes the plant grow faster.

2. Pruning during the growing period

During the growing period, stock grows extremely fast and soon becomes lush and leafy. When the soil is fertile and water is sufficient, the plant may also become leggy or grow crooked, and at this point pruning is needed. Cut away some leggy branches, dense branches and overlapping branches; you can also cut off some side branches, which both benefits the plant's growth and keeps the plant shape attractive.

3. Pruning after flowering

Because stock is a perennial herbaceous plant, after it flowers we should also prune it, to avoid nutrient consumption and to store up enough nutrients for the next flowering. Remove the faded flowers and cut off their flowering stems; in addition, you can also cut off some side branches, dense growth and diseased or damaged branches. After pruning, apply an appropriate amount of fertilizer so the plant recovers quickly.

4. Pruning precautions

Although pruning is simple, there are some things to keep in mind. When pruning, be sure to keep some of the more vigorously growing new branches, as they are the plant's growth points and must not be cut off, otherwise the plant may become weak or stop growing. In addition, after pruning, protect the wounds so that pathogens do not enter through them and harm the plant's growth. After each pruning, apply an appropriate amount of fertilizer so the plant recovers as quickly as possible and grows faster.

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