Does the technical term "internode" regularly get in your way in pruning instructions for ornamental and fruit trees? Don't puzzle any longer about its deeper meaning. Here you can read all the background information with tips for practical use in the context of hair care.

The bare space between two nodes is called the internode

Table of Contents

Show all
  1. What does internode mean? - understandable explanation
  2. Interpret internodes correctly - this is how it works

    3. What does internode mean? - understandable explanation

    In the German translation of Internode it is a combination of Inter = between and Node = node. Botanists and gardeners refer to the individual buds on the one-year shoot as knots. Specifically, internode means:

    • The distance between two buds or eyes on a shoot axis
    • Special feature of an internode: glabrous, without leaves

    As a rule, the technical term is used in the plural: internodes. By definition, there is nothing wrong with using the terminus internode if the shoot sections in question are hairy between the buds.

    Interpret internodes correctly - this is how it works

    The length of internodes allows exciting conclusions about the importance of a shoot for flowering and fruit yield. The most valuable blossom wood on ornamental trees is usually the side shoots with the shortest internodes. A shining example is the early flowering forsythia. If you cut the ornamental shrub, the two-year-old long shoots and the one-year-old short shoots are spared from the scissors, because this is where the most magnificent spectacle of flowers unfolds.

    The same applies to the pruning of fruit trees. Whether it's apples, pears, plums or cherries - pome and stone fruit give you the greatest harvest yield with spurs on which the buds gather side by side. Act according to the rule of thumb that pruning is taboo on short shoots with short internodes.

    If you're ever in doubt about whether or not to prune a branch when pruning flowering shrubs or fruit trees in the future, keep an eye out for the internodes. Shoots with short distances between the buds are not cut off in the majority of cases.

    When the internodes on short shoots measure a few millimeters or centimeters, the maximum fruit yield can be expected.

    tips

    Internodes make the difference between rhizomes and roots. A subterranean shoot axis is referred to as a rhizome, which has short, thickened internodes. Typical examples are ginger, lily of the valley and wood anemone. The actual roots grow vertically downwards from a rhizome in order to transport water and nutrients. There are no buds on the roots themselves, and consequently no internodes.

Category:

Care tips