What do your roots look like after harvest?

Im wondering what's everyone roots look like after the harvest is over and its time to empty out the pots? What im seeing after harvest is really thin roots all the way thru the 5 gallon bucket with a thick layer on the bottom. Is this normal? The growing medium was promix HP, nutes were fox farm trio pack and the light was a 400 watt hps. Final product was awesome but yield was light. Any help would be great thanks

Smart Pots (or any root pruning pot)
http://www.greners.com/pots-tables-reservoirs/products/aeration-pots/smart-pot.html
HOBBES root pruning pot, DIY
http://www.hobbes-l.tc/uploads/equipment_-_pdf.pdf

So root pruning pots will help me how? I have no problem trying some but I got to order them in as my local shops don't carry them. I was thinking the thin root issue might of been from useing a soiless medium as I read alot about these mychoriza products that feed the soil but the promix was supposed to have that mixed in.... so that's why I started looking for other causes

Start them in smaller pots before transplanting. They form a rootball.
I like to put them in smaller cups because you can fit more under 1 light/space.
How many days after chop did you clean up? The outside layer might be dead from getting air pruned.
Here is some advice for yeild. water, feed, water. I feed so i see a bit of run off and when i water i see alot of run off. That is because i let my pots dry out and then flush them hard to take away salt/old food. Then start the next week with a feeding.
For roots i give my plants voodoo juice. Thats the only product i stand by for advanced nutrients.
Ditch the big pots and grab 2 gallons. Do more plants. three by three space for a 400 9 clones vegged two weeks in 2 gallon pots.
I use the same soilless as you and dont have any problems with it. You will be lucky to get a half pound of some decent herb. Depending on ventilation aka temps

how many times did you transplant it or did you start off in a 5gal bucket? if you used the 5gal from the start then that's why the roots look like that. roots grow down first then out. So if you have a big pot to start off with, the roots will grow down to the bottom and then just pile up. If you start off in small pots (I use herb garden kit pots) and let the roots build up in there, then switch to a bigger pot and wait for the roots to fill that up and then transfer and so on until your in your final bucket or pot. I would do like 3 transplants for a 5gal bucket, maybe 4. You will notice your plants will probably get bigger this way because they have much more roots.

It was about a week after harvest till the buckets were cleaned out.

I just checked my local store does sell those smart pots and I rember looking at them before and wonderring what keeps the water from just flowing out the sides?

Transplant schedule is clone in solo cups..about 14 days they go into gallon pots and then in about 3 weeks they go into 5 gallon buckets vegg cycle is about 8 weeks total from clone. These are grown in the screen of green style only 2 big trees per cycle....I've actually been tossing around the idea of using 18gal pots as the final pot size as I originally thought the roots looked liked that cause the pot was too small.

In my mind I think I should be seeing big thick roots am I wrong in that thinking?

Do you use promix bx or hp?

i use smart pots and they look like a sponge

just let your plants sit in pots longer and start off with small and work your way up or you will keep having long stringy roots that pool up at the bottom instead of actually using all that soil you have in there.

Could someone throw out some root ball pics just so I can see in comparison how bad mine really are..

im sorry, i dont have pics on this 'puter, but the rootball of a 3ft tall and wide Blue Mystic male in a 3 gal smart pot it was impossible to get our dirt back (about 50% Pro Mix) because there were roots EVERYWHERE, with no circling. also found a LIVE worm.
think about how long it takes nutrients to travel up a huge coiled taproot, rather then a LOT of of short efficient roots.
also, thick roots are used only for structure, thin roots collect nutrients and water.