Experiment in root pruning

NOgutsgrower got me thinking about what my mom always does when she transplants witch is breakup the root ball and trim off any dead growth. she say the plants bounce back better than ever. i decided to take it one step furthur....
i have three sweetooth #3 that are exactly the same ;
1. will get roots pruned
2 will get rootball broken up and spread
3 control transplanted gently.
all will get b vit. and roots exl. by h&G i will update as conditions permit
feel free to call me stupid or to tell me to post this elsewhere...

interesting theory..im sure its a good idea it seems pretty root bound

Just seeing if there is any relation between plant vigor and root ball size as it relates to transplant shock. I started my own thread because nogutsgrower was pruning roots and then placing in the same container. If there are vast diffrences I will pursue this line further .

i look forward to the results in soil i always shook roots free of old dirt and cut bottoms if root bound my mom taught me that too lol

No dude, love the fact you are posting an actual controlled test rather than just repeating what you heard. I grow hydro but I love to learn. I'd expect you get a bigger root ball in the long run from the trimmed roots for the same reason air pruning causes roots to branch out...... just like when you top or fim a plant.

subbed looking forward to see root pruning in action ive seen many posts about this very technique but never anyone actually demonstrating it

ok first update they are metbolizing b vit. and h&g roots excel. at .5ml gallon... things are not going like i thought the root pruned one has seemed to suffer no shock and is side branching and getting taller as quickly as the rest.
now hard data i forgot to record the heights in the last post so here is the starting heights for comparison.there is a short 6inch stake in each pot to measure off of..
regular-54 cm
spread roots-59cm
pruned roots-58cm
now pics of the growth the next update i will use a black background for better pics

now i know you cant tell much from the pics I WILL TAKE THEM WITH RULER NEXt time.
regular- 58cm
spread n trimmed roots-64cm
pruned roots-64cm!!!!!!!
wow and more branching!!! both the spread roots and the pruned root cap had almost 2+ inches in two days the regular a sad 4cm not even 1 1/2 inches ...
OK so this is the start lets see where the next week takes this thread and these ladies of breeder steves....

Joedank said:

NOgutsgrower got me thinking about what my mom always does when she transplants witch is breakup the root ball and trim off any dead growth. she say the plants bounce back better than ever. i decided to take it one step furthur....
i have three sweetooth #3 that are exactly the same ;
1. will get roots pruned
2 will get rootball broken up and spread
3 control transplanted gently.
all will get b vit. and roots exl. by h&G i will update as conditions permit
feel free to call me stupid or to tell me to post this elsewhere... View attachment 1713875View attachment 1713880View attachment 1713869View attachment 1713872View attachment 1713870View attachment 1713871View attachment 1713873View attachment 1713874View attachment 1713879View attachment 1713878View attachment 1713877View attachment 1713876

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*experiment away bro

--cheers

I feel like I'm watching myth busters for ganj....gonna bust the myth that you don't mess with the roots. Go pruned!

Nice. I do this I just keep it a secret. No really, anything with a fibrous root system is pretty ez to root prune before you transplant. In perennial greenhouses this tech is done all the time. This thread is a perfect example of how one needs to treat the plant like the hardy annual it is and not like some special species with special needs. I just did the same thing with seedlings.
One thing to remember when root pruning is it's better to operate when the soil is moist but not wet.

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/447977-transplanting-seedlings-small-transplants.html

dannyboy602 said:

Nice. I do this I just keep it a secret. No really, anything with a fibrous root system is pretty ez to root prune before you transplant. In perennial greenhouses this tech is done all the time. This thread is a perfect example of how one needs to treat the plant like the hardy annual it is and not like some special species with special needs. I just did the same thing with seedlings.
One thing to remember when root pruning is it's better to operate when the soil is moist but not wet.

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/447977-transplanting-seedlings-small-transplants.html

Click to expand...

lol ya i see what your saying people baby their plants. i man handle those bitches lol

im sub'd for this. cant wait for the results! looks like spreading/pruning the roots is already gaining momentum

cant wait to see what happens

are you using clones of the same plant? cause if your not, its not a very good test since genetics is a huge portion of how plants grow, at what rates, etc

samchesser said:

I feel like I'm watching myth busters for ganj....gonna bust the myth that you don't mess with the roots. Go pruned!

Click to expand...

You don't mess with the roothairs.

Also, a distinction needs to be made as to whether the plant is potbound or not. I don't see any heavy root spin-out or "rootboundness" in any of those rootballs. Close, but not there yet. Get rough, bust up the rootball and you will set the plant back, shock it if you will by destroying roothairs.

I induce branching or a fibrous root system by scoring a rootball with a razor blade vertically top to bottom, 4 times around the ball.

Good experiment though!

UB

theinhibitor said:

are you using clones of the same plant? cause if your not, its not a very good test since genetics is a huge portion of how plants grow, at what rates, etc

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None of these "experiments" is at all scientific, haven't see one yet in my 12+ years of posting but it's fun anyway.

UB

jdmcwestevo said:

lol ya i see what your saying people baby their plants. i man handle those bitches lol

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View attachment 1766249

*MJ likes it rough, thats why she likes men,, not boys

im subbed..nice thread sumat i have ideas for...

i am going to do a full update in a day or two with pics up to day 20 of flower then we can follow till harvest sorry i forgot to sub this thread

Joedank said:

i am going to do a full update in a day or two with pics up to day 20 of flower then we can follow till harvest sorry i forgot to sub this thread

Click to expand...

*about time!! hehe.. we <3 updates