Root Bound

I was surprised to see my containerized tomatoes starting to look like apple dolls. You know, those wrinkled up faces made out of withered apples ~ certainly not very appetizing!

Plenty of water and nutrients had been provided (or so I thought) but the fruit looked awful!

After a lot of online research, I decided to pull one of my plants up out of its pot. What I found was a ring of roots filling the container! Yup, every single one of my containerized tomato plants was root bound.

Wrinkled tomatoes (Kate Russell)

Root bound tomato plant (Kate Russell)

A plant is considered root bound (or pot bound) when the roots fill the container, usually winding around in circles, looking for food and water. As you can see, my roots were not happy!


Most store-bought plants are root bound when you get them. The best treatment for root bound plants is to gently remove them from their outgrown container after preparing a larger container with fresh soil or digging a large hole in the ground where your plant's roots can roam freely. Be sure to spread the roots out a bit when you place them in their new home.

When a plant is severely root bound, it may be necessary to cut the ring formation to encourage outward growth. To do this, use a sharp knife and cut vertical lines up the side of the root ball in several places. You only need to go in an inch or so. Using your fingers, pull the bottom roots outward as you place the plant in new soil.


Be sure to water well and your plants will grow new roots to support delicious above-ground growth!