Plants in The Middle East

I always read that in order for your small indoor plants to become bushier, rather than taller, is to cut the top leaves when the plant reaches the desirable height.  Here is a picture showing what happens if you do:

If you enlarge the picture above (the prominent fully green coleus), you will notice the lower branches all consisted of a single leaf.  Now that I snipped the top leaves before they fully grew I have two new branches consisting of two leaves each.  Interesting.