Indoor Taproot pruning Experiment - Baby

[Druid]

Hey, I've refined my methods a bit and am running a new experiment. This time I aim to get some indications as to the effects of early root pruning.

• Hypothesis 1: Early on air-pruning of the tapRoot can greatly increase root density and lead to stronger plantGrowth
• Hypothesis 2: Dwc Hydroponics will outperform regular coco (d2w hydroponics) while using fewer resources.
• Setup: 6 plants, 3 Groups {Coco netpot unpruned, Coco netpot pruned, Dwc pruned}
• Cultivar: Baby Boom automatic (small & fast plant, 8weeks)
• Lights: 180W DIY 4K Kelvin CoBs
• Fertilizer/20L:

N: 2.2960 g
P2o5: 2.2960 g
K2o: 4.5160 g
Ca: 0.9840 g
Mg: 1.0680 g
S: 1.2580 g
B: 0.0041 g
Cu: 0.0016 g
Fe: 0.0271 g
Mn: 0.0066 g
Mo: 0.0007 g
Zn: 0.0041 g
Fulvic Acid: 4.2 g
​

The seeds were all germinated in 5cm netcups filled with a coco/ perlite mix. Three days later (day 0) the pairs were selected and the first pair was planted into bigger netcups (1 liter volume). On day 5 (after the taproot was manually pruned outside the small netcup), the second pair was placed in their respective dwc buckets (3 liter volume). The last pair is being planted on day 6 (tomorrow).

This experiment runs in parallel to my actual crop (it's that time of the year again), is estimated to run 2.5 months and yield not definitive proof but an indicator. Alongside this I'll fem some NL auto for my next experimental run (new kiss fertilizer line) which is to take place in Feb next year.

Might be interesting, why not tag along?

 

[MaxPowerGrows]

Hey, I've refined my methods a bit and am running a new experiment. This time I aim to get some indications as to the effects of early root pruning.

• Hypothesis 1: Early on air-pruning of the tapRoot can greatly increase root density and lead to stronger plantGrowth
• Hypothesis 2: Dwc Hydroponics will outperform regular coco (d2w hydroponics) while using fewer resources.
• Setup: 6 plants, 3 Groups {Coco netpot unpruned, Coco netpot pruned, Dwc pruned}
• Cultivar: Baby Boom automatic (small & fast plant, 8weeks)
• Lights: 180W DIY 4K Kelvin CoBs
• Fertilizer/20L:

N: 2.2960 g
P2o5: 2.2960 g
K2o: 4.5160 g
Ca: 0.9840 g
Mg: 1.0680 g
S: 1.2580 g
B: 0.0041 g
Cu: 0.0016 g
Fe: 0.0271 g
Mn: 0.0066 g
Mo: 0.0007 g
Zn: 0.0041 g
Fulvic Acid: 4.2 g
​

The seeds were all germinated in 5cm netcups filled with a coco/ perlite mix. Three days later (day 0) the pairs were selected and the first pair was planted into bigger netcups (1 liter volume). On day 5 (after the taproot was manually pruned outside the small netcup), the second pair was placed in their respective dwc buckets (3 liter volume). The last pair is being planted on day 6 (tomorrow).

This experiment runs in parallel to my actual crop (it's that time of the year again), is estimated to run 2.5 months and yield not definitive proof but an indicator. Alongside this I'll fem some NL auto for my next experimental run (new kiss fertilizer line) which is to take place in Feb next year.

Might be interesting, why not tag along?

I'm watching

 

[Autotron]

I love seeing people put their neck out and forge new frontiers for the sake of curiosity! Subbed up!

 

[Druid]

Here's the plants, from left to right, pruned coco, unpruned coco, pruned dwc.

and a little shot across the canopy of my current main grow:

 

[AutoWonders]

Right on

 

[Druid]

Update Time:
It's now Day 14 since germination, as you can see they develop slowly since they are far away from the light (easily 4 feet) and are only on a 12 hour light cycle. Luckily these plants don't need to yield big, they just need to be comparable to eachother.

What I'm observing so far is against my expectations.
The unpruned plants are ~on par with the dwc plants, they are also already poking a few roots though the netpots.. So pruning the taproot at 2inches might actually have shocked them a bit. Too early to tell though.
Once this is finished, it might actually make for a descent mythbuster thread @pop22


My Somango plants on Day 97 are doing well. I must say, I'm quite proud how well I've dialed in my fertilizer, light and atmosphere for this strain. The last time I logged a grow of Somangos this is what they looked like:

Here is what my current ones look like:

Same size pots, same lights, and yes.. that is(almost) the entire tent space filled out.

You wanna know one of the most important things I found out? If you use coco.. perlite is useless.

 

[Dudeski]

Ill tag along for this one!

 

[Druid]

Ill tag along for this one!

Awesome, welcome.

**Perlite is useless in many coco mixes.... provided that it has at least 10% Airspace and ~50% water holding capacity. If you use "dustier"/more granular fibres then Perlite does have a use.

But that's is one of the future experiments I intend to run with my new pots: https://www.autoflower.org/threads/pots.62216/
To find out the exact values and establish a common measurement system for growing substrates (at least for this site). These experiments will be based on previous work by the oregon state u: https://oregonstate.edu/dept/nursery-weeds/feature_articles/article_list.htm

 

[Druid]

Alright I tested the Coco I'm currently using and it's pretty much perfect.

does anybody have other substrates they want to test, we could make a list @Mossy ?

 

[Druid]

I've noticed that with my current line of planned experiments I don't have the time to take part in the early 2018 competitions, so to accelerate my timetable a little I'm building myself a cardboard growbox
Here's the 3d mockup:

I plan to make it from cardboard and ducktape.