Root System: Index of Health and Productivity

[GaryStPaul]

Hi, folks

Just finished one of the better tomato seasons in recent years. 31 plants in the ground, 7 in half-whiskey-barrels, 6 in large terra cotta pots, 11 in 5 gal pails, 4 in 20 gal tubs. I've been examining the root systems as I've pulled plants up and was quite surprised to see not a lot of variation: With a few exceptions they all seemed rather small and, well, unimpressive. I recall someone on here making a similar comment, in that case about her toms grown in large containers but with roots not even close to filling out the available space.

If any of you have experience/ knowledge to share, I'd appreciate hearing it. I took photos of several of the root systems; if it would help, I could post some of them.

Now, as I say it was a good overall season, but examining the roots made me wonder if I could get even better yields if I knew more about what was going on out of sight under the ground.

TIA,
Gary

[Durgan]

When pulling the spent tomato plants in the Fall, it has always been of some interest to see just how small the root ball really is. When growing my seed tomatoes now I seldom go larger than a gallon pot, whereas at one time I used larger pots just prior to planting outdoors. Also I am of the opinion that the root should be relatively close to the surface, and mulched to prevent from getting dry or too hot.

Even the largest plant root only covers an area of about a foot in diameter or less. This makes watering relatively easy once this area is marked and made slightly depressed. If watering, I flood this area using a pail. Also it makes it easy have a rich soil for feeding. Do a root ball area instead of blanketing a large area with rich soil.

[bcday]

Are you sure most of the little feeder roots that comprise the bulk of the root system didn't get broken off and left behind when you pulled (or dug) the plants up? They are very fragile.

My 5-gallon buckets are completely filled with roots by the end of the season, but I don't see all of those roots unless I turn the bucket upside down and dump it out instead of pulling (or digging) the plant up. Just for curiosity's sake, sometime (maybe this year) I may soak all the potting medium off and untangle one of those root balls and see just how extensive the root system was.

[PNW_D]

This is an article I've come across re root development ...........
http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglib...10137ch26.html

In my experience I've found most tomatoes appear to have a small rootball, but on occasion I've had one fill my 5 gallon container, or in the case of one grown in my community garden plot this year, the roots reached almost across the six foot bed width - this plant was very large with loads of tomatoes

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by PNW_D

This is an article I've come across re root development ...........
http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglib...10137ch26.html

In my experience I've found most tomatoes appear to have a small rootball, but on occasion I've had one fill my 5 gallon container, or in the case of one grown in my community garden plot this year, the roots reached almost across the six foot bed width - this plant was very large with loads of tomatoes

D.,

Medusa?

Most of my tomato plants have a fairly small rootball, taking up not much more than 1 square foot, or so. Rarely, I get a plant with a 4-6 foot long taproot that grows horizontally into a bed of a different veggie/fruit. This other bed gets much more watering than the tomato beds. The tomatoes are always bland on these long taproot plants.

Gary

[Durgan]

Here are pictures of a tomato plant root ball. I hadn't pulled this one up yet.


http://www.durgan.org/URL/?SOOZJ 4 November 2013 Tomato Rootball
Pictures depicting a typical tomato root ball. There is no tap root and a cluster of roots surround the plant at a depth of about six inches and a foot in diameter. One or two roots may extend out further, probably seeking moisture. This was a free growing Lemon Boy tomato plant supported by ropes tied to the trellis. The point being if growing in containers the pot need not be excessively large.I have noticed if transplanting outdoors and the soil is too cold another root ball will form just above the existing one.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?RZDPA 5 September 2013 Lemon Boy Tomato

[ginger2778]

This is a truly excellent thread. I am learning so much. Durgan, many thanks for the trouble and time you took to document this very useful info.

Marsha

[amideutch]

Here are pictures of the root systems from my tomato plants removed from my surrogate garden at work last week. This is the sixth year I have grown tomatoes in this bed and every fall I add horse manure and in the spring organic compost and ferts. The last 3 years it has been a no till bed.

Ami

[Bladefan]

Here is one of mine planted in about 8" of horse manure...

[Tormato]

I see the fertilizer machine in the background.

[Fusion_power]

If you think that is as big as a tomato root system gets, you have another think coming. I can easily find roots extending from a large tomato plant 10 feet away from the "rootball". Not just one or two roots mind you, but several major roots and thousands of fibrous feeder roots.

If you want the see the effect of root suppression, plant a bunch of vigorous indeterminates in moderately fertile soil with spacing of about 9 square feet per plant. Plant another group with spacing of 15 square feet per plant. Water and feed consistently. At the end of the season, the plants that are at 15 square feet will have produced significantly more total fruit for the given area than the plants on closer spacing. It is caused by root suppression.

If you do the same with very fertile soil (pure composted horse manure ) the suppression effect will not occur because total nutrients available are sufficient to maximize production from all plants even at close spacing. Under these conditions, close spacing results in a significant increase in total production.

[amideutch]

So basically what you are saying is if we have fertile soil and a active Microbial population the plants root system will not stray far from home.

We experience this in container growing as we have more control over the rhizophere and the water and nutritional needs of the plant. Here are some pictures of a plant I grew in a 6 gal container (Belmonte) after removing the foliage and pulling the whole root medium from the container dissecting it and separating the top of the root ball from the bottom half including the tap root.

Take notice of the feeder roots that are on the outer circumference of the intact root medium which was destroyed when the main root ball was removed.. The last 2 pictures are of the Belmonte plant in the corner at different growth stages and the PL in front of it is Cowlicks.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Tormato

I see the fertilizer machine in the background.

I was thinking the same thing!

I can see the merit of the 'it's not the size that counts' argument about roots. Certainly quality has to have an impact as well as quantity. Curiously, though, I don't think hydroponic tomato roots ever stop growing, at least they don't in an NFT style of machine where they have a flow of water to follow.

[amideutch]

Curiously, though, I don't think hydroponic tomato roots ever stop growing, at least they don't in an NFT style of machine where they have a flow of water to follow.

Contrar. Dr. Cooper who developed NFT and wrote the book "The ABC's of NFT" found when researching growing tomatoes in NFT that during the growth cycle they would experience what they called "Root Death" where most of the roots would die back unexpectedly and then regrow anew and they had no idea what caused it. They even went so far as to say tomato plants grown in soil probably go through the same ritual but would never be seen when growing in aggregate.