tiny plant, large root ball - wtf?

[growone]

this is from a micro grow that really went bad(mostly)
in a pc case with a single 27w cfl(5500k)
in the pic below, you see a tiny green jock horror(to the back)
the plant in front is a nl clone that was going to be tossed
the clone was an extra, didn't water for like 10 days
anyhow this one inch jock horror is at 54 days
so i'm ready to toss, but pop the plant out of the pot
huge root ball, not quite root bound, but close
how can such a tiny,miserable plant have such roots?
probably a rhetorical question - i did transplant to larger pot

 

[ghostsamurai25]

Thats a pickle. Ive had that happen a few times in the past and never figured out why this happened.
I ended up just picking them out and squishing them out of frustration, they were bag seeds no biggie.
However this one is a good plant, can you raise the light up forcing the plant to grow up to the light, that
might trigger something in the plant to make it start to grow foliage vs roots.
Anyways, hope someone else can chime in with some more info on this. As a matter a fact I got a plant in veg that
looks like miniature mature plant however its only two inches tall, with two tops and is over 30 days old, I wrote it off as
that its due to the container it was in was small small small and it was with two other plants one got really big and left the other
two in the dust. Ill keep them and see what I can do with them.

 

[growone]

Thats a pickle. Ive had that happen a few times in the past and never figured out why this happened.
I ended up just picking them out and squishing them out of frustration, they were bag seeds no biggie.
However this one is a good plant, can you raise the light up forcing the plant to grow up to the light, that
might trigger something in the plant to make it start to grow foliage vs roots.
Anyways, hope someone else can chime in with some more info on this. As a matter a fact I got a plant in veg that
looks like miniature mature plant however its only two inches tall, with two tops and is over 30 days old, I wrote it off as
that its due to the container it was in was small small small and it was with two other plants one got really big and left the other
two in the dust. Ill keep them and see what I can do with them.

well thanks for sharing that info, +rep for sharing miserable experiences
this little devil is actually a little better than it had been, starting it feeding it and it did pick up a bit
but not enough to keep it the way it was, so into new pot it went
and like you say, its color isn't bad, and does look kind of healthy in a miniature kind of way
hadn't thought of trying to stretch it, may be worth a try if this change doesn't help

 

[ReAVeR]

I'd flush them first

 

[growone]

I'd flush them first

i know what you mean from the clone's appearance - but i have done that, didn't help
i kept the clone just to have something else as a test plant in the same environment as the jock
the clone may go, i have another clone that is doing much better

 

[fdd2blk]

they are over watered.

 

[ReAVeR]

so i was typing, then looked @ fdd's post and held the backspace down..

 

[growone]

they are over watered.

may look it, but they're not - been letting them dry way out
wasn't %100 sure, but when i popped the jock horror out of its pot, there was no damp in there
roots looked pretty damn healthy actually - which just confused me more

 

[Vindicated]

Weird. I have no idea what would do that. lol. The only thing that comes to mind is environmental stress. Genetic drift maybe, but unlikely in the first generation. Although I'm usually pretty quick to replace the slow growers and the sickly looking ones. If you still have the mother, I'd call it a loss and start again. Why maintain the retarded one?

 

[growone]

Weird. I have no idea what would do that. lol. The only thing that comes to mind is environmental stress. Genetic drift maybe, but unlikely in the first generation. Although I'm usually pretty quick to replace the slow growers and the sickly looking ones. If you still have the mother, I'd call it a loss and start again. Why maintain the retarded one?

real good point - why try to grow out what may be a 'weak' genetic plant
but there is a method to my madness - use to do lot of outside grows years ago
i'd thin out smaller plants, most of us do that
but after a plant was left to grow, i don't think i ever saw what we would call a 'bad genetics' plant
i just never saw one, had other problems like weed rippers
so i suspect my technique 1st and genetics 2nd, my guess is 'weak genetics' is pretty rare - just my 2 cents

 

[Vindicated]

That makes a lot of sense. I was reading, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew and he doesn't recommend thinning at all. His whole aim is to put the seed where you want it, give it plenty of space, and take care of it. Although he doesn't really go into why he thinks that way.

I have been thinning anyway, only because that's what I keep reading to do in every other gardening book, including the seed packets themselves. I know ample room is important. But you've noticed the sickly ones bounced back and are full of just as much vigor? Do you ever breed or cross breed them?

 

[growone]

That makes a lot of sense. I was reading, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew and he doesn't recommend thinning at all. His whole aim is to put the seed where you want it, give it plenty of space, and take care of it. Although he doesn't really go into why he thinks that way.

I have been thinning anyway, only because that's what I keep reading to do in every other gardening book, including the seed packets themselves. I know ample room is important. But you've noticed the sickly ones bounced back and are full of just as much vigor? Do you ever breed or cross breed them?

been some years and the memory is a little hazy
other than seeing some that were a bit smaller than others, a sickly one didn't seem to happen too often
seem to remember some that would die right after popping up, but anything that made it after the 1st week, well bigger/smaller didn't seem to make any difference that i could notice
breeding is on my list, just started indoor growing after a long 'growing vacation', so far all females(standard seeds) - waiting for the 1st male