Is Root-binding A Myth?

[bibbles]

I just tossed a few mothers I've had going in Solo cups for at least two years, without root pruning, and they never had any problems; in fact, it would seem the benefits of root pruning, whether manual or via pot material/design, are easily explained by transport time and efficiency; that is, ten 1ft roots will be faster and more efficient than one 10ft root.

The only real difference I saw was in girth at the base of the stem, but the more lines a transportation hub serves, the larger it needs to be, and using larger non-pruning pots did not appear to ameliorate this distinction; in fact, the root girth achieved in those Solo cups was on par with that achieved in larger pots, and even beds.

There are, of course, any number of other reasons to choose one pot over another, things I did not control for, things like how often they need watering, how strong your solution needs to be relative to evaporative desiccation, and even simple stability; but, I've come to believe that root-binding is probably no different from everything being a "calmag deficiency" on the Interbutt.

NOTE: This is not a scientific study, just an anecdote, albeit one with a bit of weight, IMO.

 

[kansabis]

You could be right or maybe just partially right,I do believe that in a container a plant can become rootbound,but I also believe that alot of it comes down to the type of plant and final goal or outcome desired from the plant as well as the care that is given to the plant,you raise some valid points as far as speed of smaller crops and so on,as well as that they may not be as strong or produce like a bigger plant...thats the joy of life,so many ways to do things,observe,learn and finally,live. I mean what is actually right or wrong anyways besides a point of view.

 

[MIMedGrower]

For a fast flowering annual like our plant I believe root binding is a myth.

Smaller pots do limit size and require more upkeep to grow in. More frequent watering. Likely more nute sensitivity.

But you also use less water and nutes. Like anything. It’s a trade off.

This plant was sprouted, vegged and flowered in its original #1 nursery pot. Which is just about 3/4 of a gallon in actual volume.

She produced 40 grams of nice solid bud. The root ball was packed. Almost more roots than soil left.

Had to water her every day and run fresh water through to leach every week or she got unhappy real fast.

Here is a #3 nursery pot. About 2.5 gallons.

This OG Kush x Trainwreck is still flowering but from experience with this pheno she will likely do 5-6 oz.

Both were grown the same way but this one was transplanted up to the 3 before bloom.

I frequently take these sativa leaning hybrids 11 or 12 weeks in that little pot.

Again. Roots dense all the way through so you can’t even push a finger through.

You only need a larger pot if you have time and space to veg long enough to fill it.

I think it’s a myth for pot plants.

 

[bibbles]

6" rockwool cubes are a great example as well, people talk about how they can hold much more water than soil, but that's irrelevant, and you don't want to keep them saturated anyway. I'm currently rocking one gallon smart pots and could not be happier; I used 140 gallons a week for two beds, and with these I'm down to 40 with a 30% weaker solution.

I don't really flush, I add tea once a week, but there's typically little to no runoff; however, the tea could be much more dilute, so I think next cycle I'll double up and see how a fair amount of runoff affects things. Perhaps I'll need to bring the nutrient strength back up to where it was, but that's fine.

I think the cycle after next I'll veg half the plants in cups, and half in little coir pots; I don't expect things to be much different in veg, but replanting the entire pot should save some time, and more growing tips may result in a quicker population of new media post-transplant, which would be nice. :)