El esqueje tenía un brote en el tallo.

Esqueje means a cutting in the gardening/botanical sense: a piece cut from a plant so it can grow into a new one.

It is a fairly specific vocabulary word rather than an everyday beginner word, so many learners will not see it early on. In gardening contexts, though, it is completely normal.

You may also come across related plant words such as:

• la planta = plant
• el tallo = stem
• la raíz = root
• la hoja = leaf
• el brote = shoot / sprout / bud, depending on context

Because esqueje is a masculine noun in Spanish, so it takes el in the singular:

• el esqueje
• los esquejes

There is no obvious English-style rule you can always rely on for noun gender, so this is something you usually have to learn together with the word itself.

A good habit is to memorize new nouns with their article:

• el esqueje
• el brote
• el tallo

Tenía is the imperfect form of tener. It is used here to describe a state or condition in the past:

• El esqueje tenía un brote... = The cutting had a shoot...

This sounds like description/background information, not a completed event.

Compare:

• tenía = it had / it used to have / it was having
• tuvo = it had (at a specific, completed moment)

So:

• El esqueje tenía un brote en el tallo describes what the cutting was like.
• El esqueje tuvo un brote would sound more like a completed event and is less natural in this descriptive context.

Yes. The verb agrees with the subject, which is el esqueje.

• el esqueje tenía = the cutting had
• los esquejes tenían = the cuttings had

So tenía is the third person singular imperfect form.

Here is the relevant part of tener in the imperfect:

• yo tenía
• tú tenías
• él / ella / usted tenía
• nosotros teníamos
• vosotros teníais
• ellos / ellas / ustedes tenían

Brote is a plant word that can be translated in several ways depending on context, including shoot, sprout, new growth, or sometimes bud.

In this sentence, shoot or sprout is probably the most natural translation, because it refers to a new growth coming from the stem.

That is common in Spanish: one word may cover a range that English splits into several words. The exact translation depends on the image or context.

Spanish often uses the indefinite article when English would also use a/an:

• un brote = a shoot / a sprout

Without the article, brote would usually sound incomplete here. The sentence is talking about one shoot on the stem, so un is natural.

Compare:

• tenía un brote = it had a shoot
• tenía brotes = it had shoots
• no tenía brotes = it had no shoots

Because en means on / in / at, and here it indicates the location of the shoot:

• en el tallo = on the stem

So the idea is that the shoot was on the stem.

If you said del tallo, that would usually mean of the stem or from the stem, which expresses a different relationship.

Compare:

• un brote en el tallo = a shoot on the stem
• un brote del tallo = a shoot of/from the stem

The second version is not impossible in some contexts, but en el tallo is the clearer, more natural way to mark location here.

In Spanish, articles are used more often than in English. When talking about a specific body part, plant part, or object already understood from the context, Spanish usually keeps the article:

• en el tallo = on the stem

English might sometimes say on its stem, but Spanish often prefers en el tallo when it is clear whose stem is meant.

This is similar to other common patterns:

• Me duele la cabeza = My head hurts
• Tiene una herida en la mano = He/She has a wound on the hand / on his/her hand

Spanish often uses the where English uses my / his / her.

Usually en el tallo is the most natural choice here.

• en is very common for saying something is on or in a part of something
• sobre often means on top of, over, or about

For a botanical description like this, en el tallo sounds more idiomatic.

So a learner should probably treat un brote en el tallo as the normal phrasing.

The normal, neutral word order is:

• El esqueje tenía un brote en el tallo.

This is the most straightforward way to say it.

You could change the order for emphasis, but it would sound less neutral:

• En el tallo, el esqueje tenía un brote.
• Un brote tenía el esqueje en el tallo. (much less natural in ordinary speech)

For learners, the original order is the one to use.

In Spain Spanish, esqueje is pronounced approximately:

• es-KE-he

A few useful points:

• qu before e gives a hard k sound: que = ke
• j in Spanish is a strong throat sound, not the English j
• the stress falls on que: es-QUE-je

Very rough English-style approximation:

• ess-KEH-heh

But the j sound is not an English h exactly; in Spain it is usually stronger and more raspy.

Yes. Brote can also mean an outbreak or sudden flare-up, depending on context.

For example:

• un brote de gripe = a flu outbreak
• un brote psicótico = a psychotic episode

So it is a useful word with more than one meaning. In your sentence, though, because of esqueje and tallo, the plant meaning is clearly intended.

The full plural would be:

• Los esquejes tenían brotes en los tallos.

Changes:

• El → Los
• esqueje → esquejes
• tenía → tenían
• un brote → brotes
• el tallo → los tallos

You could also make only some parts plural, depending on the meaning:

• El esqueje tenía brotes en el tallo. = The cutting had shoots on the stem.
• Los esquejes tenían un brote en el tallo. = The cuttings had a shoot on the stem.