interesting root developement

While pulling one of my male plants, I noticed a strange root developement and am wondering if this is good or bad. As you see in the picture the roots, seem to have run down the outside of the medium and gathered at the bottom. I'm hoping this doesn't have any negative affect on the plant getting the nutes that it needs.

If the plants root system is based mainly at the bottom (root bound) of the pot you´re prolly not watering the plant in a way that the roots can take advantage of the entire area of the pot, why does this happen???This happens because you´re watering small amounts of water every time when u should water thoroughly (good drainage is a must), by doing this u prevent the roots to concentrate at the bottom of the pot causing root bound and also save some hard work of watering every day (its a pain to water 20 or 30 plants every day).....i usually water with 1 to 1 1/2 the capacity of the pot (flood and dry method...tks GK 4 this one)..Can u take some side pics of that root structure???

No, unfortunetely I can't take any more pictures because I disposed of the plant. I can tell you that the roots made their way down the side of the bucket with very few going down the center. I'm concerned that 2 remaining females that I have developed the same scenario. What would you suggest? I can tell you t hat next time I will be trying the bubbler or some other method of hydro. Thanks Omega, you've helped me through and through.

the only thing u can and should do is to repot...unless the plants are to far into flowering....bubbler is great way to start of in hydro imo i´ve just started with a home made DWC system and i can tell u that i´m really amazed with the growth rate, quality and structure..the only downside for hydro is it´s starting cost (soil is way cheapper)..Peace and Pot

How would I go about repotting? When I tried to pull the male plant out of the bucket by the base of the stem, the whole structure wanted to come out. I just can't see repotting without disturbing the roots. A quick question about the 'bubbler'- Can you place the cutting (in rockwool) into the clay pebbles or does the cutting go directly into the clay pebbles by itself? Thanks again

I'm on day 7 of flowering

when repotting you cant help disturbing the roots a little. just grab the stem, turn it upside down, squeeze the sides of the bucket a little to loosen the dirt, then pull the whole thing out. then stick it in another pot with the same soil. make a hole with your hands in the dirt your transplanting into to, then set the root ball in this hole and pack some dirt around it. then water the shit out of it. you can put the rockwool straight into the clay pebbles.

littlepuppet2002 said:

I just can't see repotting if the majojrity of the roots have gathered at the bottom. Unless I transplant into something bigger than the 5gal bucket, because all of the soil is coming out with it. So, repotting would mean getting rid of the existing roots and starting over. Can I just pull out the whole structure and chip away all the soil and then repot? I might be overexagerating because the 2 females could possibly have a solid root base.

Sublime, is that the correct way use clay pebbles? By first starting in rockwool and then placing the rockwool into the pebbles? Thanks agiain for the responses.

Click to expand...

Yes when u repot you must repot to a bigger container.....when u repot u dont get rid of roots and start over u would kill the plant...like sublime said what u need to do is:

1st - moist the soil in the pot that holds the plant (give it some water in order to get all the soil in the pot wet) this will help to pull out the pot
2nd - have a bigger pot ready with a soil mix (moist) already in the bottom (moist)
3rd - squeeze the sides of the pot that holds the plant, this will make the pot removal easier
4th - put ur hand on top of the soil in the pot that holds the plant with the stem between ur middle and ring finge,r and flip the pot upside down (usually i only need to turn the pots in a 45º degree angle down and they come right out)
5th - place the plant into the new pot and refill with soil (sides and top)
6th - give a good watering and i do mean good (1 to 1 1/2 times the capacity of the pot, and use Superthrive if u can ti minimize transplant shock)

If u follow these steps u wont have any probs...

Now for the 2nd question,

the reason why i use the clay on top of my pots is to avoid the rockwool to get algae when in contact with light...but u can use clay pebbles for root anchoring without the need of rockwool, i only done it like this cause i germinated the seeds in rockwool if instead i used peat moss i ould have placed the plant straight into the pebbles