root pic i have 4 plants in a 5 gallon tote made by sh it is dwc. one plant is not keeping up with the others and i want it out just dont know how (well dont want to fuck it up)
This girl I've been talking to is growing in a troff in dirt. She cut one down because of spider mites and so far everything's fine (all are root tied).
I wouldn't take the chance if I were you though. If you cut it down and the roots rot, then the rest might catch root rot. No matter how small it is, it's gonna still produce some buds.
If you insist on cutting it down, I'd suggest using Mycorrhiza to try to protect the other roots. It might be a little difficult to find something with Mycorrhiza in it without stuff you don't want in hydro like perlite or moss. But if you look you might be able to find something.
Then again, you can use the Mycorrhiza to build the roots in all your plants and maybe the runt will start to catch up.
Hope that helped some, sorry I can't give you the answer you want.