Ok this is random, but in theory could you cut off healthy roots from a plant, and it be ok? Would anything happen to the plant? Also, if you can do this, could you grow a new plant just from the roots, or does it not work like that? Just a random question that popped into my head :)
I’ve seen some people do it with an established plant to keep it in the same pit size. Like they don’t want the plant to get bigger so they cut the roots. It could go into a little bit of shock but should bounce back. And you can’t grow a plant from root cuttings.
2 likes
I used to do this a lot. If you do this, one key is to also trim back the foliage. The plant has a certain amount of root mass to support a certain amount of foliage, so if you root prune you should prune above as well. There are certain plants that don’t take well to root pruning (I’ve never done it for an orchid or a palm, for instance).
2 likes
There are certain plants that can regrow from roots. The most classic example is any plant you can grow from a tuber (think potato), though I believe others like peony can also be regrown from roots alone. Many plants can regrow roots if they are removed, which is why things like water propagation can work. The only plants I know of that can live long-term without roots are air plants, which are specially adapted so their roots only serve as anchors.
2 likes
+1 to advice above, but also just don’t cut off too many roots at once (same as you would do for leaves). The plant needs time to adapt.
1 like