I’ve been routinely removing lower nodes as my plants grow. I bury the plants deeper each time I transplant. This practice seems to speed longitudinal growth and encourage a larger root system. It seems to help production (in the long run). I may be wrong but it’s what I think I’m seeing and I like to experiment.
QUESTION: Might this practice stress a bifoliate plant into becoming a trifoliate?
The photos below are of a plant that morphed into a trifoliate after starting as a bifoliate. There are three or four removed node nubs below the soil so I’ve removed a total of eight or nine sets of nodes. The transformation began at the seventh or eighth set of nodes (the fourth set above the soil) at which point the nodes began to diverge. There is a single node above that point. All six nodes above that are triples. I only photographed five sets of nodes because the top node is too small and difficult to see.
Progression of change…
Lowest set of triple nodes…
Second set up…
Third set up…
Fourth set up…
Fifth set up…
Sixth set (top)… NOT SHOWN
She’s the third plant from the left…