4 inch rule regarding Roots, anyone try???

[Madman960]

I watch lots of YouTube videos and read many books on growing. I came across this guy talking about the 4 inch rule. Said he stumbled upon it and it's a method used by tree Farmers. Basically you get the Roots as big as possible 4 inches deep and 4 inches wide. Makes for extremely large plants. As I only found 1 source, wondering if it's legit or not. Makes sense to a point. He uses 4 inch rockwool cubes and Coco. I think it can be done without the rockwool cubes but special attention would be required during watering. So, if I don't find any other sources, I plan to build a 4 inch wide by 4 inch deep cube out of popsicle sticks so I can focus my top watering. I believe the watering technique is key. Just another experiment to try. I hope it works and more so, that the plants will thrive after going into a large DWC.

Happy growing.

Madman

[Canuck147]

Solo cup works just fine.

[Madman960]

Correct sir. I just like testing stuff.

Madman

[tyler_ hobbyist]

Iv seen a lot of plants grow in small planters but ur roots will end up getting root bound and suffering. Depending on the size of plants u want, ull never get a 7x4 foot plant in a cup of water but if ur doin a sog it would work

[GanjaGed]

The idea of the 4 inch rule first applied to branches, when you prune a branch the majority of new growth and additional branching occurs within 4 inches of the cut.

This also appears to follow suit with roots. The 4 inch rooting style is a pre transplant method of root training. The idea is tho set up an early container that is about 4x4 and prunes the roots. You can do this with smart pots to air prune, or set up a trap prune container etc.

The purpose is to set up a root ball that is very branched prior to moving to the final container. This increases plant functions and results in a stronger plant.

This accounts for one of the reasons I suspect in time I'll find that smaller (1 gal) Smart Pots will out preform larger (5gal) Smart Pots especially in systems like E&F where the roots can grow and expand out of the bottom. The roots can expand without becoming constrained and the air pruning on the sides in a smaller diameter container should produce a very healthy root ball inside the pot. That's a theory I'm working on testing.

[Madman960]

Tyler,. LOL. I a not trying to get a 7x4 plants out of a cup. I a just wondering if Roots can be trained by watering without the need for anything else. I already know it works with 4 inch rockwool cubes. My belief is that it's the watering technique employed and not so much the rockwool or other Roots training devices. There are only 1 or 2 companies that sell the root training equipment. They are not expensive. I can post links if anyone is interested. I a not affiliated with any grow companies or websites. I just like learning. I a doing these experiments because I plan to start farming and ranching in a couple years. Bigger Roots equal bigger plants means larger yields. If it works great, and if not, I will purchase Roots training equipment.
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Ganja,. I a subbed to a YouTube channel where the guy uses the 4 inch rule. He grew a 4.5 ft plant in a 1.8 gallon pot using Coco. He uses 1.5 rockwool cubes for seeds and transplants into 4 inch rockwool cubes. His 1.8 gallon pot, only holds 1 gallon of Coco. So, I would have to agree that the smaller pots can outperform the larger pots if utilized by growers using the technique. I want to see if I can train the Roots just by watering. I transplanted some tomatoes into soil last night so I can begin the experiment this week.

Madman

[GanjaGed]

I don't think you can achieve the same thing by watering alone. At it's very core using TFIR is a form of high stress training via damage. It's the death of the root tips that cause the branching. By pruning the roots at the specific distance you cause branching all along the main runner and each branch that makes it to the edge.

Much like light schedules there's a general misconception. with lights it isn't less light but more dark that triggers flowering. With roots it isn't really about bigger roots it's about more branching or more specifically more root tips since roots only intake along about the first 1/2 to 1 inch of the tip. That's why Smart Pots out preform regular pots. A regular pot keeps the main runners growing in a circle and don't promote branching like Smart Pots do which allows the roots to more fully utilize the space available.

That's just info talking not experience. I'll be interested to see what you find out on the experience side for sure.

[Madman960]

Ganja,. That's good information. I was unaware of the science behind it. My theory is based off what I saw in the YouTube video. I believe the watering technique still plays a role. I am currently trying the experiment with my rapid rooter plugs. Not sure how it will work as they are not 4 inches. But the watering technique is what I a testing. My next test will be using 4 inch cubes made out of popsicle sticks. The focus of that will also be the watering. I will likely add landscape fabric around the outer part of the popsicle cube just so I have something to pack the soil against. Once first transplanted, you water the entire surface area. After that, I will just be watering inside the 4 inch cube. With this technique, you want the soil to get pretty dry at times and then water very little to get the Roots to grow back towards the surface. That's not how it's described in the video, just my understanding of the technique. This occurs multiple times over about a month until the whole 4 inch cube is full of Roots that grew down then up then down and up. Some of the root training equipment grows the Roots in this shape. The Roots in the videos I saw using this technique were about as big around as a baseball bat and the plants were said to be about 4.5 ft tall in 1 gallon of Coco. I will see if I can upload a picture of the room training equipment. I also have no 1st hand experience with any of this. However, I believe it's worth investigating. The 1st people that discovered this technique had no equipment, so there has to be some way to get the same results. The equipment is fairly cheap but I don't like buying stuff I don't really need. But, I do love experiments.

Madman

[Madman960]

Here is a picture. I hope this helps with explain what I a trying to replicate. Supposedly, these promote branching as Ganja said. They run about 50 cents per cube. I believe they are called Rootmaker ll. I can post the 2 websites that I are in the videos if anyone is interested. The YouTube channel where I learned about these doesn't make or sell them. But he does share the websites in the video.

Madman