cbroad
Omono
Usually talked about in winter time for extra protection from frost
Elevated Garden Beds
- Thread starter Johnathan
- Start date
Johnathan
Omono
Ooohhh!!!! Gotcha... lol
Johnathan
Omono
Hate to rehash this old thread, but I had a question about growing out...
For the purpose of thickening the trunk, don't we want to encourage the roots to grow sideways instead of down?
My thinking is that a shallow longer grow bed is better than a small and deeper grow bed right?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my current understanding is roots growing sideways encourage the trunk to thicken, and roots growing down encourage the trunk to elongate.
Am I wrong?
For the purpose of thickening the trunk, don't we want to encourage the roots to grow sideways instead of down?
My thinking is that a shallow longer grow bed is better than a small and deeper grow bed right?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my current understanding is roots growing sideways encourage the trunk to thicken, and roots growing down encourage the trunk to elongate.
Am I wrong?
Melospiza
Shohin
No worries, it's always good to keep the conversation going. I don't think sideways vs. down has any effect on trunk thickness or length. Unrestricted root growth in any direction has the effect of thickening the trunk. The benefit of a shallow pot is that the roots are forced to grow sideways, giving you better nebari that will save you time when you are ready to start training your roots into a bonsai pot. If you had let the roots go deep, you would have to chop it really flat and start your root development from square one. I don't think there is any evidence that sideways growth thickens the trunk and downward growth elongates it, but feel free to share any literature if you find any. I found this video (
