Roots shooting to bottom of pot

I’m hoping someone can help me figure out why my roots are shooting down to the bottom of the pot and accumulating down there rather than using the whole pot/medium. I start seeds in small nursery pots and about 5 days later the growth slows down and roots are coming out the drain holes. When I transplant them I see the roots amassed at the bottom, I don’t even see roots coming out the sides of the medium. No matter what size of pot I transplant into the same thing happens, after about a week and maybe 2 new sets of leaves, growth halts and roots are are bunched at the bottom with no where else to go.

i don’t know why this is happening or what I can do differently. I grow in pro-mix or sunshine and I always allow the medium to dry out before watering again with a little run off and never let them sit in run off water. I keep my pots elevated so air can reach the bottom of the pots which made me wonder it that was the issue, thinking maybe the roots are shooting straight down the pot towards oxygen. I tested that theory by placing a couple of freshly transplanted plants right on the grow tent floor and elevating the rest but had the same results. 12 days ago I started 2 seeds in pots a little larger than I normally do, like 1/2 gallon pots and elevated one and left the other on the ground. They grew vigorously for about 8 days and then really slowed down. Today (day 12) I took one out of the pot and snapped a photo to show what I’m talking about.

That's where water goes and sits, generally youd like more root development than that. That way it wont take as long to hit new nutrients and stretch out. Longer times in between transplants. Autos I'll transplant at 3 wks photos a month then photos again in another month.

GroBud said:

That's where water goes and sits, generally youd like more root development than that. That way it wont take as long to hit new nutrients and stretch out. Longer times in between transplants. Autos I'll transplant at 3 wks photos a month then photos again in another month.

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Thanks for replying. So are you suggesting I not transplant yet? Cause I totally agree there should be more root mass and ideally the roots should be using the whole medium but I figured that since all the roots have shot to the bottom and have nowhere else to go and the plants stop growing that I need to transplant. The way things are going makes me think I could transplant into an f’n garbage can and roots will be jammed up at the bottom in a week. Thanks for help.

That's normal it takes a long time for a plant to get root bound. Especially with that much soil to go through. A while back in used to run seed to harvest in a solo cups. Months in a solo cup. All for fun if I had extra room

Totally normal.
Wait until the roots look like this before you transplant.