Get to the root of the problem for bigger better plants. I am a convert to Mycorrhizal Root Grow products that add beneficial fungus around the roots of newly planted stock.

Roots come in all shorts of shapes and sizes but are all designed to help the plant grow and remain healthy. To achieve that the roots themselves need to remain in peak condition and this is where the gardener can help. Start with the right hole in the right place and understand what and why you are doing something.

Unhealthy Root Causes

• Fine hairy roots can be burnt by the application of the wrong or too much fertiliser.
• Roots that are in waterlogged soil start to rot.
• Roots need air for themselves and the plants health. Air is squeezed out of soil by too much water.
• More roots drown than die from lack of water but plants will become very distressed and die if too thirsty.
• Fungal disease can attack roots and kill off the plant. Damping off is a rot that attacks a seedling where the new stem joins the young root.
• Breaking or damaging the root particularly the tap root can see off a plant.
• Moles do not tend to eat roots but some pests such as Vine Weevil can chomp through tender roots and corms.
• Exposure to drying sun and wind is a sure way to kill off a root. Leave weed roots on the surface to dry out and die before composting them.

Grow Healthy Roots

• Roots need soil they can penetrate. The texture of soil can be improved with humus.
• Seedlings may grow better roots if the compost is open with some perlite and drainage improved with fine grit.
• Water retention in fast draining soil needs to last long enough for the roots to drink and take up nutrient. This can also be improved with humus.
• Some plants have aerial roots or can root from the stem (like Tomato) but most do not like to be planted any deeper than when they are first grown
• Avoid unnecessary root disturbance, would you like being knocked about when you were eating or sleeping.