small root ball

[peppero]

i have had some plants die suddenly(mainly peppers and tomatoes) and noticed that their root mass was very small. as this happened last year i was wondering if someone had some suggestions how to stimulate root growth. my soil is pretty loose due to the organic materials put into it over the years. anyone? jon

[TomatoDon]

I'm guessing the plants were what the nursery people call "root bound." This is the result of the plant, particularly the roots, outgrowing their container, but being forced to stay cramped up like that. The roots start growing in a swirling mass and it literally becomes root bound.

There's a little bit of art and delicacy to it, so don't be too aggressive, but the remedy is to loosen up the root ball, even if you have to pull and pry and prod. The roots can stand a reasonable amount of that, just don't overdo it. You're going to break and frazzle some of the roots, but you want to tear the roots from the pattern of swirl many have when root bound in a pot.

It can also result from planting in a heavy clay soil. The planting hole acts like a pot in this case, and the roots can't spread out and grow. I've always thought that width was as important as depth when preparing a planting hole.

The other thing is, when the season is over and I pull up the plants, I'm always amazed at how small some of the root balls look. I guess they send out a lot of hair roots that break off when you pull them, but I always expect a bigger root ball than what I pull out.

That's my experience.

[beeman]

My plants have suffered with small root balls over the last few years. Late last year I had a soil test done and found it was very low in Magnesium, necessary for the plants uptake of the other necessary materials for root growth.
I added Epsom Salts and am waiting for the results when I pull plants, Certainly things look totally different than previous years, but then I've changed a number of things this year.

[mdvpc]

You can also have a small root ball if you water too much.

[peppero]

thanks for your replies.

jon

[TomatoDon]

Hi Peppero....just noticed your home town. Sort of a distant neighbor. Used to know several people there.