to break up a rootball or not to?

so i have a severely rootbound plant in a 1 gallon pot. i am planning to transplant in a 2 gallon next watering, but i just want to know what is the recommended method of dealing with the rootball. should i break it up or just leave it alone? i've seen people who recommend gently cutting it with a razor or just teasing out the roots a bit. then there others who just leave it be and let the plant sort itself out after transplanting.

my first intsinct is to just transplant and leave the rootball alone since i like to play it safe but what do you guys recommend? is it really necessary to cut the rootball or is that just to speed things up?

definatly tease it a little bit to let it know its not in the pot anymore. If its severly rootbound the roots have been going in circles enough to make a wall out of itself. just break it up a little bit and pull some strands to get them headed out.

Hey, check the 'how to make a bonsai' guide that's about (Google for it), it explains how to cut down the rootball. Really easy if it's a square pot, you just slice it down a little, will improve plant's health and nutritional uptake tremendously despite how odd it might feel cutting away some of the plant.

remove plant from pot.
score the rootball to losen the roots...with scissors or a knife. also you can remove the entire bottom of the rootball if it's really potbound.
plant into a pot that's 2 or 3 sizes larger. ie...1 to 3gal...or 3 to 5 gal. that's standard. you shouldn't go one size up. it doesn't allow for proper repotting. and it almost always leaves air spaces in the new pot...that could be a problem later on