Indoor Gardening and Houseplants: Myth: This Plant Likes/Prefers to be Root-bound , 4 by tapla

tapla wrote:
You're making points that have already been made, so it's difficult to disagree. The grower's wants are ALWAYS primary, but sometimes the grower's wants need tempering if the plant's health and growth are the focus. When you change focus, an entirely different set of tactics might come to play. I might not wish to repot regularly, but I know it's necessary for the healthiest plants and best growth. If I want small leaves on a maple I'm going to show in Aug, I completely defoliate it in early July. That's not good for the plant's health or its growth rate, but I find it a perfectly acceptable method of achieving a tree with a full flush of very small, vibrant leaves.

As a bonsai practitioner of 20+ years and a regular manipulator of plant material, I'm no stranger to using various forms of stress as tools to bend plants to my will, and I don't care one way or another if others follow suit - regardless of the plant material, but facts are facts. The plant simply doesn't appreciate being root bound - even if the grower does prefer the results obtained by subjecting the plant to that stress.

Let's be realistic, too. The OP is clearly aimed at broadening the understanding that if growers want their plants to come as close as possible to reaching their growth/vitality potential, increasing root congestion is more than a significant encumbrance to that end - it makes it an impossibility. That I recognized the usefulness of employing the stress of tight roots to achieve certain ends should illustrate that the discussion is about growth and vitality, and separate from appearance. It's wise to gain a full understanding of what effect limitations like tight roots have on the plant before we endeavor to use the stress as a tool. Understanding the effects of root congestion allows the grower to decide if he/she wants to accept the limitations that come with tight roots, do something to correct the limiting effects of stress, or even put those limitations to work for the grower to achieve a desired end.

It's not about a vote. Tight roots affect growth and vitality. Period. If there is a vote, it comes in the form of the decision to A) ignore the stress of tight roots entirely and leave the plant to its own devices B) act to eliminate the source of the stress C) use the effects of the stress to achieve a desired end. In this case, you are certainly trying to walk a line that provides for acceptable levels of growth and vitality while working toward an end that partially compromises both. The grower might ultimately think the stress is useful because he thinks the plant looks better, but the plant would prefer to do without the limitations.

Anyone can allow a plant to decline because of a tightly compacted root mass. As growers, our aptitude is first defined by our ability to isolate and eliminate limiting factors to the greatest degree possible. Choosing to live with or even employ limiting factors doesn't change their effect on the plant, and the focus of the thread is on just that - the effects of a factor that limits growth and vitality. Tight roots are stressful. Stress results from an organism operating at or near the limits it was genetically programmed to deal with. From the perspective of maximizing the potential for growth and vitality, that can't be viewed as a good thing, even though a compromise in growth and vitality might be perceived as a good thing when that compromise results in a more attractive plant; BUT, we need to be very clear that in most cases, the stress of tight roots is not made manifest in a more attractive plant. In fact, in most cases, the opposite is the rule.

The pictorial below increased this little boxwood's potential immeasurably, and reversed the decline associated with its root-bound condition.

Al


This message was edited Jan 23, 2013 6:14 PM