Is it okay to remove pollinated flowers?
Is it okay to remove basically the main top flowering stem?
Background:
This is my first attempt to grow. The garden is outdoors. I had to go out of town at end of July. I ended up being away for four weeks. When I got home I was happy to see the drip irrigation was working and all plants were growing well. I was unhappy to see two male plants with multiple tall stems covered with pollen sacks. All the female plants have flowers developing, and all have some flowers that have seeds developing.
I moved the two male plants to the fire pit.
[photo before pruning/trimming]
My wife said, “The harvest will probably still be better than any bag you bought in 70’s”. Nevertheless, I decided to top and prune the plants removing any flowers with seeds. I’m hoping the plants continue to grow with new flowering.