Perma-Root Bound

[Bman_666]

Humidity: 65-80
Temp 22-26*C

So I was digging around my pot out of curiosity checking for moisture and root mass, and I have come to realise that a month after repotting my plant, the roots still havnt come out and grown more from the original cube they were in. The small cube was completely root bound so hence the repotting, but the roots seem to refuse to grow. Is this a problemI should be concerned about, or should I go and buy some stuff that enhances root growth that ive found at my local shop?

I circled the original cube shape of the roots and you can kinda see some of them poking out to give you an idea of how small they really are.

On a side note, my leaves seem to be growing funny... Look how one side seems to grow inwards. its happened on 4 of my leaves so far.


But overall problems side, shes growing pretty good. The leaves are getting so big and heavy its almost too much for the stem to handle!

[Fretgod]

Try letting the soil dry out a bit, this may encourage roots to grow further out insearch for water

[Jupe]

..I don't REALLY know if this is your  troubles...only you do....but if you didn't break into the rootball, and mix old with new soil, then heres why its slow to root, :



when you transplant, you have "fluff out" the roots on the plant, otherwise, the two different soils don't
blend...the cube dries out in a heartbeat, the outside soil stays wet....guaranteed troubles.....unless they bridge the gap on their own....

fixing means replanting (but not neccesarily).....gently breaking the cube apart with your fingers...leaving some of the old potting soil on the roots, but makng space for new dirt to get integrated in....

alternative method, used for large pots...its to just leave everything in the pot, but sort of scrape some off the top of both the core cube and the outside unintegrated soil, and then mix it with newer thicker soil, so when you water, it sort of flows through both and bonds them together. Make the outside soil higher than the inside, so when you flood the pot, everything mixes and runs to the middle, rather than the outside of the pot.

This is where good old fashioned "dirt" or "mud" comes in handy....but approach this with caution, as you can also screw up things.....needs to be healthy dirt or mud, and you can't put too much at a time.....you can also usethis method to revitalize weak or empty soils,  filling up  the hollow spots with new food stock...but again...approach with caution.....(I do this with potted plants that are too big to transplant, but which need a lift that ferts alone can't provide....plus they are all draining through....)

Static charges also occur with the standard potting mix greenhouses use...(perlite and peatmoss) its great light stuff, but when plant dries it out.....its very difficult to wet it again....(ever pour water into  dry dust...same deal)


..s

[Allglad]

nice little how to on repot'n....jupe

I really noticed a difference in my little ones that were only in potting soil.  The roots were so tight it was not funny.

Breaking the root/soil gently and mixing in perlite into the soil sure seems to of done wonders.

[Bman_666]

I just finished trying to let the soil dry out, day 6 into no watering the entire plant nearly died and half the leaves turned brown... For some stupid reason my humidity dropped from 70 to 40 and temp spiked from 23 to 28 while i was at school today, the entire thing looked like it was lifeless. I gave it a nice watering and huge misting and it seems to be coming back, but i wont know for a few more days how much damage was done.

Jupe: When i originally repotted from the cube i had ran the soil under water and broke it apart with my fingers the best i could, but i couldnt do much without damaging the root system.

I suppose waiting it out for a month and then repot it again to see if theres any roots, and if there isnt just take a whole new cutting. Take a look at the last pic in my first post, that stem below the leaves is long with loads of bare nodes, almost perfect for rooting dont you think?

[Fretgod]

I just finished trying to let the soil dry out, day 6 into no watering the entire plant nearly died and half the leaves turned brown... For some stupid reason my humidity dropped from 70 to 40 and temp spiked from 23 to 28 while i was at school today, the entire thing looked like it was lifeless. I gave it a nice watering and huge misting and it seems to be coming back, but i wont know for a few more days how much damage was done.

Jupe: When i originally repotted from the cube i had ran the soil under water and broke it apart with my fingers the best i could, but i couldnt do much without damaging the root system.

I suppose waiting it out for a month and then repot it again to see if theres any roots, and if there isnt just take a whole new cutting. Take a look at the last pic in my first post, that stem below the leaves is long with loads of bare nodes, almost perfect for rooting dont you think?

shit man hope it wasnt my advice that caused that. I meant let it dry out a little not completely, as a rule whenever i see my leaves beggining to droop i water again.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Take a look at the last pic in my first post, that stem below the leaves is long with loads of bare nodes, almost perfect for rooting dont you think?

I don't see the pictures anymore.... I remember seeing them the other day but they have disappeared for me now. I don't see any pictures above in your original post...

JARG

[Bman_666]

I don't see the pictures anymore.... I remember seeing them the other day but they have disappeared for me now. I don't see any pictures above in your original post...

JARG

I still see the pics :S
Oh, and to make matters worse, I've found whiteflys

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Man that is weird. I was on a different computer and it was blocking those pictures. Now that I am back home I can see them again.

Anyway that plant is certainly big enough if you wanted to chop it and try rooting it. It would certainly set you back a few weeks before it started to grow again, but on the other hand if you have soil problems and bugs maybe it would be best to start over. If it was me I would try and fix the problem before starting over. The plant already has roots and it is always better to root a healthy growing cutting rather than a stunted one. That's my 2 cents.

JARG

[Bman_666]

Emerging though the depths of hell...

Shes lost a total of 6 leaves and has become very lanky.

Although! There is yet hope. I had preformed the good ol liquid soap wash on the leaves very thoughouly, misted it consistantly and cleaned everything. The stem has regained composure and a butt load of new growth (2 leaves and a stem) are already growing, about 5 mm each at EVERY node of each leaf that had fallen, and even above the ones that stay, after only a day in recovery.

I am quite happy and feel that cutting and repotting wont be nessasary, but i have drawn a line in the pic where i could cut, aswell as circled each new area of growth... maybe this will turn out to be a benificial experience

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

If you do chop it for a cutting I would chop it much higher up for two reasons. I have found on my cuttings roots tend to grow better where there were leaves growing before. i don't see leaves growing that far down where you marked it. Secondly (and I have just found this out recently) is that if you leave at least one node growing off the main stem of the mother plant it usually turns into two branches. if you cut right at the main stem sometimes it doesn't grow anything back. So you might as well give it a node or two just in case it wants to start growing.

JARG