Control those roots!
Well guys it has been a while since i have been in here with any new tips. Some of you know that i am currently working a few projects and that has taken my time and i hate it that i cant be here more than i am. But none the less the stuff that i keep testing over here is to make the experience of growing autos better for you and to keep it all under one key statement, keep it simple. :thumbs:
Now i have been testing a few of the newer strains by Wiz for times, yields, and for effects. At the same time i am always looking for something new to make the auto produce that much more in its little life span. If you have been growing autos for any time you know that the bigger you get the plant the better the yield is going to be. The first step to this is providing a thriving environment for the roots, if you do that then the plat will yield well.
This next process was to stop the root balling at the base of the plant to en long the veg period of the auto. Currently we think that the auto show sex at the time the roots touch the sides and or the bottom, i think think that there is a massive explosion of root growth at this point. If you think about it the auto shows its preflowers and then the plant goes into overdrive. This is when the roots start to fill the bottom of the pot and i believe that this is when the head starts to form and vertical growth stops and the buds begin to cluster, form and then swell.
On my last grow i had 7 plants, one in which i change something about the pot. what i did was remove the bottom of the pot and replace it with a fine screen. Something small enough to stop the roots but yet let water pass and not cause a clogging issue. what happend was amazing, the mesh bottom stopped the root ball from forming as fast as it usually does allowing the plant long time to grow int he veg stage. This plant was 2x taller and 2x the yield of the other six in the room of the exact same age.
As the roots grew to the mesh and through it, they were "air pruned" and then from the tip back feeder roots will form, stopping the root pooling at the bottom untill the mesh became full of roots. This proves to me that a lot of the autos "timing" has to come from the roots.
I am testing this again in the party cup challenge, i have three cups that have the bottoms removed to see if they will double in size with these changes.
Fingers crossed for another live experiment.
