El esqueje empezó a enraizar.

Esqueje is a gardening word meaning a cutting: a piece cut from a plant so it can grow roots and become a new plant.

In everyday Spanish, it is much more specific than a general word like trozo or rama. If you are talking about propagation in gardening, esqueje is the natural term.

For example:

• plantar un esqueje = to plant a cutting
• hacer esquejes = to take/make cuttings

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

• el esqueje
• los esquejes

There is no special rule here that would let you predict it easily from the ending, so it is best to learn the noun together with its article:

• el esqueje = the cutting

Empezó is the third person singular preterite of empezar.

So it means:

• he/she/it began
• or, in this sentence, the cutting began

Breakdown:

• empezar = to begin / to start
• empezó = began / started

Because the subject is el esqueje, the verb is in the he/she/it form.

The accent mark in empezó shows the stress and is part of the correct spelling of this verb form.

Compare:

• empiezo = I begin
• empezó = he/she/it began

In the preterite, many -ar verbs have an accent in the él/ella/usted form:

• habló
• miró
• empezó

So this is a normal pattern, not something unique to this verb.

Because empezar is normally followed by a + infinitive when you say someone or something began to do something.

So:

• empezó a enraizar = began to root / began to take root

This is a very common structure:

• empezó a llover = it started to rain
• empecé a estudiar = I started studying / I started to study
• vamos a empezar a comer = we are going to start eating

You normally cannot say empezó enraizar. The a is required here.

Enraizar literally means to root or to take root.

With a plant cutting, it means it starts producing roots.

So in this sentence:

• El esqueje empezó a enraizar = the cutting began to root / began to take root

It comes from raíz meaning root.

You may also see related forms like:

• raíces = roots
• echar raíces = to put down roots / take root

Here it is being used intransitively.

That means the cutting itself is doing the action:

• El esqueje empezó a enraizar = the cutting began to root

But enraizar can also be used in a more transitive sense in some contexts, especially when talking about causing something to become rooted, though the intransitive plant meaning is very common.

For learners, the important thing in this sentence is:

• the cutting is starting to produce roots

Yes, empezó a echar raíces is also possible and very natural.

Comparison:

• empezó a enraizar = a bit more technical or botanical
• empezó a echar raíces = very natural, slightly more descriptive

Both can work for plants.
Also, echar raíces is often used figuratively:

• Se mudó a Madrid y echó raíces allí = He moved to Madrid and put down roots there

So in a gardening context, enraizar feels a little more precise.

The preterite is used because the sentence presents the beginning as a completed event: at some point, the cutting started rooting.

• empezó = it began

If you used the imperfect, empezaba, that would usually sound more like background description or an ongoing situation:

• El esqueje empezaba a enraizar cuando... = The cutting was beginning to root when...

So empezó is the natural choice if you simply want to report that the rooting process started.

Yes. Comenzó a enraizar is correct and means the same thing.

• empezar = to begin / start
• comenzar = to begin / start

In many contexts they are interchangeable.
Empezar is often a little more common in everyday speech, while comenzar can sound slightly more formal depending on context, but both are perfectly normal.

In standard peninsular Spanish, enraizar is pronounced roughly like:

• en-rai-thar

Key points for Spain:

• z is pronounced like the th in thin
• ai forms a diphthong, like eye
• the stress falls on the final syllable: en-rai-ZAR

So:

• esqueje ≈ es-KE-he
• empezó ≈ em-pe-THO
• enraizar ≈ en-rai-THAR

Yes, if the subject is already clear from context, Spanish can omit it:

• Empezó a enraizar. = It began to root.

Spanish often drops subjects when they are understood.
However, in this sentence, keeping El esqueje is useful because it makes clear what started rooting.

Yes, it is natural and correct, especially in a gardening or plant-care context.

It sounds like something you might say when observing that a cutting has started forming roots.

Other natural alternatives include:

• El esqueje ya está enraizando. = The cutting is already rooting.
• El esqueje ha empezado a enraizar. = The cutting has started to root.
• El esqueje ha echado raíces. = The cutting has put out roots / has taken root.

The original sentence is a good, natural way to describe the start of the process.