Randomly selecting no fewer than 20 plants from throughout the field is generally recommended. Take care to avoid sampling plants adjacent to large skips or plants with damaged terminals. Pull or cut plants below the cotyledons and take them from the field for mapping. Nodes without Branches Nodes without branches refers to the number of nodes that fail to give rise to a branch, either vegetative or fruiting. Begin counting with the first node above the cotyledons and continue to the first fruiting branch, omitting nodes where vegetative branches may occur.
Vegetative branches grow from lower nodes, typically below the fruiting branches.
Their growth pattern is similar to the main stem and they tend to grow out and up. Record the number of nodes on each plant producing a vegetative branch. Nodes with Fruiting Branches Fruiting branches are branches that grow out of the mid to upper nodes. These branches support squares and bolls and bend at each fruit attachment, resulting in a zig-zag pattern. Count all the nodes producing a fruiting branch, including terminal nodes that have a main stem leaf at least 1 inch in diameter.