Tridents- Buds Between Nodes

[jimlau]

Are trident maples able to push out new buds between nodes, or are they like Japanese maples which do not?

Thanks.

 

[Shibui]

Tridents cannot make buds between nodes.
In fact, very few species can make buds between nodes. A few have the ability to make buds from cambium anywhere (eg elms) but all others I'm familiar with can only activate buds where there once was a leaf node. Even conifers only develop buds from the base of needles or where there were needles.

Important info to understand. It means we should not retain shoots with very long internodes when developing branches and trunks. Those wide spaced nodes will limit where we can grow branching when we need it.

 

[jimlau]

Tridents cannot make buds between nodes.
In fact, very few species can make buds between nodes. A few have the ability to make buds from cambium anywhere (eg elms) but all others I'm familiar with can only activate buds where there once was a leaf node. Even conifers only develop buds from the base of needles or where there were needles.

Important info to understand. It means we should not retain shoots with very long internodes when developing branches and trunks. Those wide spaced nodes will limit where we can grow branching when we need it.

Thanks.

How many buds are there per node? I want to do a thread graft, but secondary buds at each node start to grow very quickly, and I don't know if 2 or 4 secondary buds will pop up.. So being too late I missed an opportunity to thread graft because of that.

Someone here said there can be a whole bunch of buds per node.

Thanks.

 

[Soup Dragon]

Note that you can graft a branch between nodes, if you find yourself with a long straight branch with nodes that are far apart.

 

[Shibui]

Theoretically there's an infinite number of buds at each node but usually only a few grow at any one time. If those shoots fail there are more dormant buds at the base of each so more can grow, etc, etc.

I want to do a thread graft, but secondary buds at each node start to grow very quickly, and I don't know if 2 or 4 secondary buds will pop up.. So being too late I missed an opportunity to thread graft because of that.

The gist of this is unclear. Are the buds you refer to on the grafted branch or on the trunk you are threading through? Why do you need to know how many buds there may be just because you missed timing for thread grafting. I'm assuming the branch you would have threaded this year will be too thick and stiff to work with next spring so it is immaterial how many buds there is at each node. It's likely you'll need to work with a new shoot next year or another section of the shoot you did not use this time? Again, number of buds per node would not be relevant?

 

[jimlau]

Secondary buds on many feeder branches have already opened. So there are 2 bud pairs opened and growing in total, at each node. I was wondering if I remove both those leaf pairs so I can fit the branch in the drilled hole, can a third pair sprout from those nodes on those feeder branches on the out-bound side of the drilled hole.

Thanks.

 

[Dav4]

Secondary buds on many feeder branches have already opened. So there are 2 bud pairs opened and growing in total, at each node. I was wondering if I remove both those leaf pairs so I can fit the branch in the drilled hole, can a third pair sprout from those nodes on those feeder branches on the out-bound side of the drilled hole.

Thanks.

If you're dead set on grafting this season, I'd be looking at approach grafting using newly lignified branches as opposed to thread grafting. Save the thread grafting for next winter.

 

[Shibui]

Secondary buds on many feeder branches have already opened. So there are 2 bud pairs opened and growing in total, at each node. I was wondering if I remove both those leaf pairs so I can fit the branch in the drilled hole, can a third pair sprout from those nodes on those feeder branches on the out-bound side of the drilled hole.

Agree with @Dav4 I'd probably wait until next year.
If it's only leaves growing there's no problem defoliating (cut the leaves off). More will grow but I suspect the node will be quite big if it already has 2 pairs of leaves. That means a quite large hole to thread through which will take longer to close and begin the graft process. In winter the nodes are much smaller so you don't need a big hole. Trying to force a large node through a small hole invariably damages the buds.
You seem to be using bud and leaf interchangeably in this post so hard to be definitive.
Photos of the branch in question would probably help us to be more specific.