Re: Roots vs Leaves (watering)
Several years ago Doc Pumpkinstein wrote about this subject. It was
published in the WPC news letter. I seem to have missed placed the
article but the just of it was the plant roots extended out beyond the
trunk by some 25 to 30 feet. He used a high pressure hose to remove the
dirt and found a massive bed of roots going in all directions form the
trunk. He also found that the majority of feeder roots stayed up in the
top 6-8 inches of soil. As I recall these were what he called the main
support for the plant. He warned of the dangers of deep watering
because most of us have heavy soil and the sub soil will retain moisture
and the deep roots will rot making our plants week. This may explain
some of the problems we have been having with stump rot. Possibly the
roots start to rot and decay travels up the larger roots to the
stump.(just a theory) I lost two plants to stump rot this year and never
found any large roots attached to the stump. I think the rot may have
started in the large vine roots and worked its way to the surface where
it was too late to treat the problem. This seems to be a big problem for
a lot of growers both new and experienced. Have any of you with well
drained soil experienced root or stump rot problems?
Jon Hunt
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