Indoor Gardening and Houseplants: Myth: This Plant Likes/Prefers to be Root-bound , 0 by tapla

tapla wrote:
Actually, that isn't true. In in situ situations, no one runs from plant to plant, constricting the plants' root mass in order to make them bloom, yet they seem to bloom and reproduce admirably well. There is no physiological reason they can't/won't do the same grown under container culture.

From the OP:

Lets examine what 'growth' is. Growth is simply a measure of the increase in a plant's biomass, how much bigger it has become (the weight of the sum of it's parts), and is the actual measure of how 'well' a plant is doing. We know that tight roots restrict growth, reduce the amount of extension, and reduce the potential for an increase in mass, so even if we THINK plants are doing well because we use the stress of tight roots to get them to bloom or grow in a particular habit that we like, the truth is tight roots are stressful and plants would rather have plenty of room for their roots to grow so they could grow as mother nature intended. No one is more aware of the negative influence tight roots has on growth than the bonsai practitioner who uses that tool extensively to bind down the plant's growth habits so the will of the grower, not the 'will' of the plant, prevails. Using tight roots as a tool to achieve an end is all about the grower's wants, and not the plant's.

If we chase this a little further, we can see the reasons it is often suggested that particular plants might like root-bound conditions. Tight roots alter the plant's growth habits, and the stress of tight roots can cause other physiological responses like bloom induction. Again, this is happening because of stress, and is the plants unhappy response.

Al