How to Check & Prune (Trim) Roots

Keeping your plant roots healthy is key to growing healthy plants! One of the best and easiest things you can do for healthy plant roots is regularly adding HydroBoost to your water tank. Learn more about HydroBoost's many benefits here!

Roots are the foundation of your plants and have many functions, so it's crucial to show them some care. Roots provide the anchor needed to keep the plant in place, and they act as a lifeline by taking up air, water, and nutrients.

Healthy plant roots vary in shades of white*, most often appearing as a creamy white, especially on new growth. Certain species, like Swiss Chard and Bull's Blood Beets, have naturally colorful roots. Healthy roots have a neutral to plant-like smell.

It's also normal for the very tips of roots to appear a slightly different or darker color, sometimes appearing like black dots on the very tip, compared to the rest of the (white) roots. This is due to the root tip's active tissue formation.

Unhealthy roots appear brown* to black, feel slimy, and easily fall apart when handled. They also tend to have a rotten odor. When a plant has unhealthy roots, it's often called root rot.

*An exception to healthy root color is Bare Root Strawberries. Upon arrival, you'll see their roots are brown, which is perfectly normal and a result of the plants' dormancy. Once you prep and place your Strawberries on your Gardyn upon their arrival, you'll see the roots lighten in color over time.

Some hydroponic plants can produce additional, adventitious roots. These are roots that generate from other parts of the plant - like the stem tissue - rather than the root system, but they're nothing to worry about!

When plant roots become unhealthy with the signs above, it's often called root rot. Early signs of root rot can be prevented by:

• Using HydroBoost in your regular top-off and tank refresh routine

• Checking your plants' roots every 2 weeks

• Trimming away any unhealthy roots as soon as you see them

HydroBoost can also help treat minor root rot, but if you pull out a yPod and the entire root mass is rotten, it typically means it's time to retire that plant and remove it from your Gardyn. This is because removing the entire (rotten) root mass does not leave the plant with much ability to uptake any water or nutrients, so it would not typically be able to grow new roots at this point. Additionally, leaving rotten plant material on your Gardyn can attract pests, so we recommend taking this as an opportunity to plan a new yCube to replace it! You can learn more about identifying the end of your plant's life cycle here.

You can pull the whole yPod out - no need to separate the yCube!

Healthy roots are typically white & odorless. Swiss Chard & Bull’s Blood Beet Greens are the exceptions, with bright magenta roots.

These signs indicate rotting roots. Remove them by pinching away the rotting section & discarding.

• Tip: Regularly adding HydroBoost can improve root health & prevent root rot!

It's perfectly normal for a yPod to be full of roots. If any roots are growing outside or beyond the yPod, however, gently tuck them back inside the yPod.

• Tip: 1-2 month-old plants are still developing their roots, so it’s unlikely you’ll need to trim any at that stage.

Some plants have robust root systems that grow so thick inside the yPod that you can't push any more stray roots inside. When this happens, you'll need to trim the roots outside and inside the yPod to make room for new growth and water.

Trim the stray roots by pinching or using a clean pair of scissors. Next, separate the yCube from the yPod to access the full root mass and trim off the bottom corner at a 45° angle.

Consistent & small root pruning is less likely to shock your plant than more sporadic & severe root pruning. Kelby will help remind you with a task in the app!

Questions? Reach us at support@mygardyn.com, or chat with us. We're here to help!