happytrees

Congrats, nice looking buds. Just fyi root mass isn't really a good measure of root health and effectiveness. The swirly roots like you have in the pictures are not effective roots, you want to see a root ball that doesn't have any roots wrapping around the outside. The old mature roots that are swirled around the bottom and outside don't uptake water and nutrients. This is the reason for air pruning potting containers, they prevent roots from swirling by killing a roots growth and causing the root to branch out instead creating lots of root ends to uptake water and nutrients.

@TheMachinist, Hey, thanks for the info. I always just grew on the old prospect of "bigger roots = bigger harvests" and it's something I always heard in passing from old timers, so I went with it. I do have a massive root ball wrapping all throughout the inner parts as well. You're not wrong about what you said, but there's also a good reason for the root mass being so dense like that on the sides and bottom. Because I didn't have a fabric pot to use at the time, I went with the bigger sized 15L auto pot and put a 2 inch layer of hydroton, air dome and air ring connected to an air pump. I didn't turn the air pump on until I rooted the entire pot. When the air went on, the roots grew out towards that source of air and focused growth all around the moist/aerated hydroton. This dense root growth is something I have little control over. In that situation, my best case scenario was to supplement air to avoid suffocating the roots. I also had to provide necessary enzymes to take care of dead roots and organic matter. I didn't notice any cons, as my ph levels and ppm levels were consistently in line, being monitored every day. Feeding less when I need to, feeding more, etc. You do raise up a lot of good points and if it's something that isn't monitored, it could be a major issue. I appreciate you looking out and bringing it to my attention. Root rot was something I experienced in the past and thanks to that experience, I try to do whatever I can to avoid it. Being limited to an enclosed, tight grow space is a bit of a drawback when things aren't in tune. To improve on this, my next grow will be in a fabric pot placed on a plant caddy elevated from any runoff, with a drip tray underneath. No need to supplement air this time.

@Nickeluring, Thanks man. I'm very happy with how the root system turned out. I tried a few different things and found them to be successful. Learned a lot from this grow. 🙏🙌