PH & Organics

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Dig up a cannabis plant that is about a month d and you will see a tap root.

You won't see it at the end of the year because the root ball hides it in a pot and in the ground you break it off.

I'll show a pic of a cannabis tap root. I'll plant some shitty seeds just to do it.
I do a FULL rootball inspection man, not just an external one.
I've never ever seen a taproot in cannabis, ever.
and I KNOW you are an experienced grower, and I consider you a good-guy, but there has NEVER been anything thicker than a pencil and NO deeper than MAYBE 3 inches past the topsoil.
that is NOT a taproot.
and again, you are describing an embryonic or main root, a taproot is a carrot, radish, or turnip, as horticulture expert-guy said.
your pictures are of the embryonic root.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Everyone says use a wider than deeper pot.

Most people do and don't get to see how cannabis grows.

It will root deep in the ground.
I agree 100%, I always say deeper is better when considering total media room, I also prefer square plastic pots to round fabrics, and these are based, again, on post harvest root inspections, that will tell you SO much about what you need to change or not, like an autopsy.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
I do a FULL rootball inspection man, not just an external one.
I've never ever seen a taproot in cannabis, ever.
and I KNOW you are an experienced grower, and I consider you a good-guy, but there has NEVER been anything thicker than a pencil and NO deeper than MAYBE 3 inches past the topsoil.
that is NOT a taproot.
and again, you are describing an embryonic or main root, a taproot is a carrot, radish, or turnip, as horticulture expert-guy said.
your pictures are of the embryonic root.
A tap root isn't just lime a carrot. A carrot is only one type of tap root.

I've seen and personally broke tap roots over a foot long transplanting mj plants.

If grown in a open area they grow a long tap root and the ball developed later.

Those tap roots I showed on those sprouts are inches long and do that in the first days. By a month they are 12 inches or better in the ground.

Throw a random couple bag seeds in a spot outside and don't water it. Don't baby it. It will have a tap root.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
I agree 100%, I always say deeper is better when considering total media room, I also prefer square plastic pots to round fabrics, and these are based, again, on post harvest root inspections, that will tell you SO much about what you need to change or not, like an autopsy.
I like you to. Just a disagreement.

I'm just saying a babied plant has not reason to grow a big tap root to hit water.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
A tap root isn't just lime a carrot. A carrot is only one type of tap root.

I've seen and personally broke tap roots over a foot long transplanting mj plants.

If grown in a open area they grow a long tap root and the ball developed later.

Those tap roots I showed on those sprouts are inches long and do that in the first days. By a month they are 12 inches or better in the ground.

Throw a random couple bag seeds in a spot outside and don't water it. Don't baby it. It will have a tap root.
well, after hundreds of seeded plants, I just have never ever seen that before, so I can only go buy the scientific definition, which is that it is, for certain, a fibrous rooting system, not a taproot.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
well, after hundreds of seeded plants, I just have never ever seen that before, so I can only go buy the scientific definition, which is that it is, for certain, a fibrous rooting system, not a taproot.
Cannabis is a dicot. Dicot are tap root plants. Monocot ants are fibrous.
Screenshot_2016-06-10-17-01-41.png

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Dicot_vs_Monocot

Technically, cannabis is a dicot and has a taproot system.

Growing in pots eventually chokes the tap root out. It also requires a person to water the plant.

Those are secondary roots that form the root ball.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Cannabis is a dicot. Dicot are tap root plants. Monocot ants are fibrous.
View attachment 3704774

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Dicot_vs_Monocot

Technically, cannabis is a dicot and has a taproot system.

Growing in pots eventually chokes the tap root out. It also requires a person to water the plant.

Those are secondary roots that form the root ball.
ok man, i don't want to argue any further, not getting anywhere, lets just agree to disagree, there are lots of exceptions to both of those rules though. Not ALL dicots have taproots, and conversely not all monocots have fibrous.

On a side note, i'm gonna go to sushi, saki and beers tonight if anyone is near santa cruz and would like to join me.
I promise to never bring up taproots, flat-earths, the flood-"myth", OR if the moon landing was fake.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
ok man, i don't want to argue any further, not getting anywhere, lets just agree to disagree, there are lots of exceptions to both of those rules though. Not ALL dicots have taproots, and conversely not all monocots have fibrous.

On a side note, i'm gonna go to sushi, saki and beers tonight if anyone is near santa cruz and would like to join me.
I promise to never bring up taproots, flat-earths, the flood-"myth", OR if the moon landing was fake.
Its OK to debate.

I think you just have secondary roots confused for fibrous.

All of the secondary roots come off the tap root on a dicot.
The fibrous roots come from the stem of the plant.

If cannabis were a fibrous plant it wouldn't root deeper than a few inches.

This study showed hemp roots 130 cm deep. 51 inches. That's over four feet deep. Fibrous roots don't do that.

http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201301562680

Ed Rosenthal states in his book that the vertical roots can go 4 feet deep.
http://mjgrowers.com/book_setting_environments.htm

Reference and pics of cannabis sativa tap roots.


http://www.hemptrade.ca/eguide/background/the-hemp-plant
roots-varying-soil-moisture.jpg
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
In compacted or wet soils it grows more fibrous roots.

Growing in pots and keeping it moist grow fibrous roots.

Grown in the ground with natural rain fall causes tap roots.


My original point being that a seed plant does in fact have a tap root and handles guerilla or hot climate growing better than a clone.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Its OK to debate.

I think you just have secondary roots confused for fibrous.

All of the secondary roots come off the tap root on a dicot.
The fibrous roots come from the stem of the plant.

If cannabis were a fibrous plant it wouldn't root deeper than a few inches.

This study showed hemp roots 130 cm deep. 51 inches. That's over four feet deep. Fibrous roots don't do that.

http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201301562680

Ed Rosenthal states in his book that the vertical roots can go 4 feet deep.
http://mjgrowers.com/book_setting_environments.htm

Reference and pics of cannabis sativa tap roots.


http://www.hemptrade.ca/eguide/background/the-hemp-plant
View attachment 3704819
ok, cool, theres a good pic, do you see how short, and small that is?
I mean I've grown carrots and THOSE are a taproot, dandelion, etc.
those grow almost as deep or DEEPER than the plant is tall.
cannabis simply doesn't do that.
But again, lets just disagree man, I think its a moot point at this juncture.
Hell a 10 inch carrot plant will have a taproot 20x the size of a mature cannabis plant.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Its OK to debate.

I think you just have secondary roots confused for fibrous.

All of the secondary roots come off the tap root on a dicot.
The fibrous roots come from the stem of the plant.

If cannabis were a fibrous plant it wouldn't root deeper than a few inches.

This study showed hemp roots 130 cm deep. 51 inches. That's over four feet deep. Fibrous roots don't do that.

http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201301562680

Ed Rosenthal states in his book that the vertical roots can go 4 feet deep.
http://mjgrowers.com/book_setting_environments.htm

Reference and pics of cannabis sativa tap roots.


http://www.hemptrade.ca/eguide/background/the-hemp-plant
View attachment 3704819
tell ya what my man.
If that's what you consider taproots? Then I am WRONG, and I concede.
I just think our definitions differ on that.
But again, that's all good, we can have a respectful/non-condescending argument.
and I TOTALLY believe the depth, I've seen cannabis roots far deeper than 4 feet by the way, I did an outdoor grow one time, dug out a hole taller than me (i'm 6'4")
and that plant FILLED that hole like crazy, we had to dig it out like mad the next season (back in the late 90s when I didn't understand living soil)
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
ok, cool, theres a good pic, do you see how short, and small that is?
I mean I've grown carrots and THOSE are a taproot, dandelion, etc.
those grow almost as deep or DEEPER than the plant is tall.
cannabis simply doesn't do that.
But again, lets just disagree man, I think its a moot point at this juncture.
Hell a 10 inch carrot plant will have a taproot 20x the size of a mature cannabis plant.
It's cool. All the books I've read call it a tap root. A tap root is not like a carrot. That is just one type.

What defines it as a tap root is that all the other roots come from that main root.

A fibrous plant has roots that come from the stalk of the plant.

Both would be right depending on how it was grown.

Yes I consider it a tap root. It is a dicot plant and secondary roots come from the main root.

Look at you fibrous pic compared to that tap root pic I just posted. There is a difference.
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
It's cool. All the books I've read call it a tap root. A tap root is not like a carrot. That is just one type.

What defines it as a tap root is that all the other roots come from that main root.

.
I see your point, and that's a good way to describe it.
I guess I've been growing too many plants from clone.
this run I have 9 plants from seed, so i'll check them out (like I always do) and i'll specifically look for a taproot at harvest time.
EDIT- I feel the need to admit, that under your definition I am WRONG.
that's just not the definition I've read, but it's a good one.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
I see your point, and that's a good way to describe it.
I guess I've been growing too many plants from clone.
this run I have 9 plants from seed, so i'll check them out (like I always do) and i'll specifically look for a taproot at harvest time.
EDIT- I feel the need to admit, that under your definition I am WRONG.
that's just not the definition I've read, but it's a good one.
I would wager that plants that have been pampered won't have a large tap root. They don't need it then.

Most articles state a tap root is not needed. It is why you can clone them. They just won't be drought resistant.
 

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
I see your point, and that's a good way to describe it.
I guess I've been growing too many plants from clone.
this run I have 9 plants from seed, so i'll check them out (like I always do) and i'll specifically look for a taproot at harvest time.
EDIT- I feel the need to admit, that under your definition I am WRONG.
that's just not the definition I've read, but it's a good one.
If you end up with a tight root ball, like when the bottom is covered to. Look specifically towards the bottom and see if it choked it out.

I'm fixing to pull some three foot autos from some 15 inch pots. They went about 90-100 days. I don't think they got root bound. The smaller one didn't I know for sure. I'll see what the roots look like.

I had a dry one I was going to make a walking stick from. It was an untopped plant that I kept sic foot of. From the roots to up to around sic foot. It was going to be about 48-50 inches when done. I was going to hollow it and back fill it with some fiberglass resin and a slim fiberglass rod.

It came up missing. Have no idea. Had it hanging in a shed with a rock tied to it to let it dry straight. I do the same with river cane when I dry them for poles.

Anyways it had a good size root. It was fat and the bigger part of it was the size of a big carrot. I was going to try to carve a ball about the size of a golf ball. Thought it would look cool.

I make some nice walking sticks. I've made a few canes to.

I may put some pics up in my thread one day.
 

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
Played around in my super soil today... transplanted my two one gallon pots upstairs into five gallon pots of super soil. Gee, the stuff stinks. Is it possible for it to go anaerobic? I fear I may have kept it too wet. However, I guess my amendments were mostly animal products (bone meal, blood meal, guano) so that might be it, too.

We will see how it goes with these two girls. They'll be going out back, so now I need to learn a thing or two about outdoor grows... lol it is a never ending experience, this hobby of ours!
Yeah it can. If it smells like ammonia, like greasemonkey said, that's the nitrogen turning into a gas. Neem cake is a nitrification inhibitor and stops nitrogen from turning into a gas like that so it stays in the soil longer. Ive only top dressed it though, I wonder if it would stop a super soil mix from doing that. Although neem cake has its own unique smell it brings to the table. Your plants seem like they're taking to it OK though?
 

cannakis

Well-Known Member
Cannabis is a dicot. Dicot are tap root plants. Monocot ants are fibrous.
View attachment 3704774

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Dicot_vs_Monocot

Technically, cannabis is a dicot and has a taproot system.

Growing in pots eventually chokes the tap root out. It also requires a person to water the plant.

Those are secondary roots that form the root ball.
This is the reason why people say not to transplant tomatoes because the pots rid the taproot.
I see your point, and that's a good way to describe it.
I guess I've been growing too many plants from clone.
this run I have 9 plants from seed, so i'll check them out (like I always do) and i'll specifically look for a taproot at harvest time.
EDIT- I feel the need to admit, that under your definition I am WRONG.
that's just not the definition I've read, but it's a good one.
holy shit! You admitted your wrong!?!!
I would wager that plants that have been pampered won't have a large tap root. They don't need it then.

Most articles state a tap root is not needed. It is why you can clone them. They just won't be drought resistant.
Boom exactly!
 

gogogogogogo

Well-Known Member
Yeah it can. If it smells like ammonia, like greasemonkey said, that's the nitrogen turning into a gas. Neem cake is a nitrification inhibitor and stops nitrogen from turning into a gas like that so it stays in the soil longer. Ive only top dressed it though, I wonder if it would stop a super soil mix from doing that. Although neem cake has its own unique smell it brings to the table. Your plants seem like they're taking to it OK though?
They just got placed in the super soil so we will see. I might consider adding some neem cake, as I am worried about fungus gnats given that the soil has been outside.
 
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