Root pruning... Trying it on a small scale, have a question or two...

Hello everyone! So I was inspired by the party cup grow off thread so I started one. I was hoping that it would bring about a new challenge or two, and it did!
I started off with a clone that had just barely rooted that was already 12'' with out the cup, put it straight into flower. On the bottom of the soil you can see new white roots starting to show through and the ones on the side starting to turn brown. I've trimmed them once already and for the second trimming I want remove the bottom 1/4 or even 1/2 of the dirt/roots and add new dirt. I've never tried this but figured it cant hurt and the first root trimming didn't slow the plant down at all so I figured trimming the bottom 1/4 off and adding new dirt couldn't hurt either! It is just over 2 feet now with the cup. Any ideas on how much I can safely remove, if it will even be worth it and any other techniques that would be worth trying (I already use B1 when I transplant). Thanks for the help!
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As above so below .. I cut roots that overstep bounds. But no experience chopping and adding new soil let me know how it goes

found my answer!

Well??? How much ganja will it cost to get the answer out of u

Goddamn thats a big party cup plant. how come you chose not to transplant it? Is it a space issue? I take roots hanging on the outside as a sign to transplant them and let them sprawl at their liesure in some new soil. Ive brought back bad looking plants by unfurrling their root zone and transplanting them.

Joedank said:

Well??? How much ganja will it cost to get the answer out of u

Click to expand...

wont cost you anything! I've always transplanted before my roots start growing down the sides like this, I was doing a little reading on transplanting and saw that some people break up the root mass on the bottom when transplanting. Reading that along with noticing that there weren't any ill affects when trimming the amount of roots I did before I came to the conclusion that cutting off the bottom quarter wouldn't hurt. I know it's not a solid answer but it is what I went with! I didn't cut off a full quarter this time but will next time! Just slowly pushing my limits! But like everyone says "pics or it didn't happen", so here you go!

hoagtech said:

Goddamn thats a big party cup plant. how come you chose not to transplant it? Is it a space issue? I take roots hanging on the outside as a sign to transplant them and let them sprawl at their liesure in some new soil. Ive brought back bad looking plants by unfurrling their root zone and transplanting them.

Click to expand...

Just trying to follow the rules of the party cup grow off thread!

You should try this on your party cup: http://www.sepro.com/default.php?page=spinout

But eventually chemical pruning wont work, cos your mass of roots will just get denser and denser until they physically run out of space in a tiny cup.

Awesome plant for the size of the cup tho!

Spin out is a great product I used to use it In plastic pots when I still used them but smart pots have changed that .. I have found that if you elevate the smart pot with a wire grate on bricks it air prunes the lower roots and plants seem to stay shorter... Nice pics I like spreading roots when transplanting within reason . I have three Sweetooth clones in the exact same pots all f
Transplanted in the same batch I think When transplanting I will;
1 break up root ball on one
2 trim roots on one
3 do nothing on one and take morning and night shots .
I know it's not party cup terrain but I have always wanted to race plants against each other I will start tomarrow

i had to trim the bottom 1/4 off a 3 gallon square pot to make it fit in a 7 gallon smart pot.
after pruning off the lower 1/4 i set the old rootball directly on the bottom of the smart pot, and filled in around it with dirt.
the first day, it drooped, but the second day it picked up and started growing again!
it is now loving the smart pot, and growing rapidly.