Has anyone heard of root pruning from sprout/clone to veg?

If not, I stumbled across this looking for a clue as to wtf is wrong with one of my plants... Anyway, I found this extremely cool and useful, thought I'd share: (p.s. the guy gives credit to/shows originator of this technique.)

dude took defoliation to a whole new level

dannyboy602 said:

dude took defoliation to a whole new level

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LOL

Yeah, uhhm...that's post harvest

yes and "Mr. Obvious" says UR welcome!

Always air root prune in veg.

budman111 said:

Always air root prune in veg.

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Oh I use airpots for all grows but this has to do with a very specific way of super-sizing the taproot from a sprout or a clone...very cool stuff..

Very interesting. Glad you posted this. That's an obscure video, the one shown on the laptop in the posted video, under 1000 views yet it may be one of the most valuable around. So cutting the taproot to 4" is the key. What about clones though? They have no taproot. I guess trim all the roots to 4", take a knife and cut a 4" diameter circle around the stem, angled inward so you'll get the bottom ones too, like a cone shape. The technique may work best with seed plants though. That Grow Pot Cheaply guy always grows autos, so it's all seed plants. That's how he gets outrageous yields. Good thing he revealed the secret.

Well, if I caught it correctly, it works the exact same way, just that you wait till you would normally do your transplanting into a veg cycle...

Actually you should do the cutting directly into the 4" rockwool cube. You should go through the video and see that it is a VERY specific method he uses to duplicate what the hard plastic planters in the laptop video do automatically.

Careful...
I bonsai things, and this is how.

you're welcome. As I said I just thought the idea was very cool stuff...

PetFlora said:

Thanks for this. I've been pruning tap root for years in my bubble system. Also prune all roots to ~ 4" before moving to F & D system

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What you have done is pretty cool, too! Where did you hear of the technique? Come up with it yourself? When you say pruning tap root do you mean air - prune or clip - clip? just want to be very specific and clear.

PetFlora said:

I've been root pruning so long I don't recall how I heard of it, but I think I started doing it when I had 4 plants in an HPA root chamber, and they were intertwining, so I started trimming them with scissors. Somehow I figured out that snipping them allowed for more root development near the main stalk, which I theorized would provide a stronger anchor for the plant, as well as more roots to consume nutes

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Cool. Have you fully reviewed the video and grasp this guys concept?

WolfieLee said:

Cool. Have you fully reviewed the video and grasp this guys concept?

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Of course. Always looking for a treat, or a reminder of something I wasn't doing

You guys know about the copper paint that you can coat the inside of pots with to do root pruning don't you? You don't need a bunch of holes at all, or even cloth. Roots will not grow within a certain distance from copper hydroxide, like 1/2 inch or so. It doesn't leach into the medium either. Unfortunately, not a common item in stores.

BobCajun said:

You guys know about the copper paint that you can coat the inside of pots with to do root pruning don't you? You don't need a bunch of holes at all, or even cloth. Roots will not grow within a certain distance from copper hydroxide, like 1/2 inch or so. It doesn't leach into the medium either. Unfortunately, not a common item in stores.

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I don't know if I like the idea of that much copper. I'd rather stick with natural air pruning myself.

WolfieLee said:

I don't know if I like the idea of that much copper. I'd rather stick with natural air pruning myself.

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Like I said, it doesn't leach. They've done plenty of tests. Obviously it wouldn't be used for food crops if it led to toxic copper accumulation. Now I don't like the idea of having to paint the inside of containers, but just pointing out that it is an option. Would probably flake off plastic pots though.

I suppose it would serve as a substitute for fabric pot, but the 4" rockwool cube plays a major role in HOW to train the root so it develops into such a massive thing, As stated in this thread a couple of times, this method is VERY step by step SPECIFIC to duplicate a technique used by tree growers, and I doubt that you would be able to duplicate it with copper paint...

WolfieLee said:

I suppose it would serve as a substitute for fabric pot, but the 4" rockwool cube plays a major role in HOW to train the root so it develops into such a massive thing, As stated in this thread a couple of times, this method is VERY step by step SPECIFIC to duplicate a technique used by tree growers, and I doubt that you would be able to duplicate it with copper paint...

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Well alright then. Didn't know you were making a very specific type of root pruning thread. Remember though, that it's not exactly the same as a tree. For instance, the roots don't harden. Therefore, you don't really have to worry about them being permanently circular shaped like with trees. you could just straighten them out and prune them when you transplant and it would likely have similar results, just that the open cuts would be prone to attack by pathogens. With clean conditions it would probably be okay though.

I just don't want to have to deal with RW cubes myself. Can't really get rid of it without it being noticed in the garbage. What the hell are you going to do with it? Gotta dump that shit somewhere. That's why I only use perlite. It's reusable.

Well, this guys really does grow small TREES with this method the tap root is white, firm (not hard), and MASSIVE...

Yeah once it gets to a large plant. I meant like early on. I suppose the same effect could be obtained by putting perlite, or other medium, in a plastic mesh type bag or basket.