Plantation Crops

Types of shoots in tea

Types of shoots in tea
1) Aperiodic shoot / (Primary shoot)

From pruned sticks. Are the ones arising from the buds on the pruned frame/sticks. It produces large leaves and production of banji buds is only occasional.
When these aperiodic shoots or primaries grow above a predetermined height, they are cut or tipped. The branches of primaries are the first order laterals which when plucked give rise to the second order laterals. These again produce the third order laterals.

2) Periodic shoots / Flush shoots/Crop shoots

Arising from the axils of leaves. It constitutes the crop shoots. Periodic shoots exhibits cyclic pattern producing 7 -8 leaves ( including scale leaves- fig -24 of Wealth of India book) in a cycle before terminating in a “Banji” whose growth and expansion ceases temporarly. When the crop shoot is harvested, generally the bud on the axil of the top most leaf of the stem develops into a new crop shoot.

Janams

The axillary bud, while unfolding, generally produces in succession two scales (first 2 scale leaves (cataphylls)), a small foliar structure in the shape of a thumb called Thumb leaf (also called Janam).

Fish leaf

A slightly larger but unserrated blunt leaf is designated as fish leaf (bigger thumb leaf). Above the scale leaves or janams is the smooth ‘fish leaf’.
Mother leaf: Fish leaf is followed by a series of three or four normal foliage leaves, first of which is called the mother leaf after which bahji is exposed.