Pinch
To pinch is to remove the soft growing tip of a shoot, usually with fingers or a small clean tool. On a young mango, this can reduce apical dominance and encourage side branches, helping form a manageable framework. Timing matters: repeated tip removal delays shoot maturity and can remove future flowering sites. Pinching is a small training cut, not a substitute for structural pruning, and should be avoided when a weak or newly stressed tree needs foliage to recover.