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Root System Drawings

images.wur.nl

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Re: Root System Drawings

#11

Post by 29athrowaway »

From the perspective of a plant... In soil, you have: silt, clay and sand. Plus other plants, fungi, worms, microorganisms, rocks, insects, animals, etc. Each plant needs different nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and others), need different pH levels, can tolerate different salinity, etc. There might be different humidity, precipitation, wind speed, the water tables are different...

I guess all these differences translate into how the root must structurally develop to satisfy all those requirements and constraints.

Re: Root System Drawings

#13

Post by JKCalhoun »

throwup238 wrote: post #9
daemonologist wrote: post #6

How are these produced? I assume they're not actually digging a giant trench and taking a section, but are the drawings based on measurements of a specific individual in some way? In any case, very cool to have such a collection.

They usually are. It’s a process akin to archaeology where they have to carefully wash away the dirt from the root system, measuring as they go. The problem with this method is that it's hard to reconstruct the entire 3d structure of bigger plants like trees so a lot of the root drawings on the site don’t accurately show how deep they go. It’s much easier with small plants where the researcher can control the soil us…

I had assumed they had grown the plant between two vertical, parallel panes of glass.

Re: Root System Drawings

#14

Post by Karliss »

daemonologist wrote: post #6

How are these produced? I assume they're not actually digging a giant trench and taking a section, but are the drawings based on measurements of a specific individual in some way? In any case, very cool to have such a collection.

Collection history page has a photo for part of the process https://images.wur.nl/digital/collection/coll13

Re: Root System Drawings

#15

Post by paulgerhardt »

daemonologist wrote: post #6

How are these produced? I assume they're not actually digging a giant trench and taking a section, but are the drawings based on measurements of a specific individual in some way? In any case, very cool to have such a collection.

A few ways. This particular project is doing it by hand and very tedious.

The traditional way of transplanting large trees while keeping the root system intact is with a hydrovac. A machine the size of a jet engine that liquifies the soil with water and then vacuums it up. [1]

More recent developments have tried using an AirSpade which doesn’t use water but compressed air to blow apart and then suck the soil without making a slurry which is better as the soil can be redeposited in the same hole rather than discarded[2]

[1] https://youtube.com/shorts/HinwD5-Q2xA

[2] https://youtu.be/B3XomJ6Z1I4

Re: Root System Drawings

#16

Post by Arch-TK »

thirtygeo wrote: post #8

Really neat. I've often wondered about what the unexposed part of trees and plants are. Like: am I walking on them? Are they tapping down somewhere deep or are they shallow. The examples on a hill were interesting; I would have thought the extent would be skewed but it was fairly even

For plants, and trees too I guess, you can just grow your own, dig it up after a while, and inspect for yourself.

Today I finished picking tomatoes from my tomato plants and pulled them up to avoid them rotting in the field as the temperature goes down. It was curious to see how the root systems varied both between the two tomato varieties I had planted, the location of the plant in relation to surrounding grass, and the type of soil they ended up in.

Re: Root System Drawings

#17

Post by oasisbob »

paulgerhardt wrote: post #15
daemonologist wrote: post #6

How are these produced? I assume they're not actually digging a giant trench and taking a section, but are the drawings based on measurements of a specific individual in some way? In any case, very cool to have such a collection.

A few ways. This particular project is doing it by hand and very tedious. The traditional way of transplanting large trees while keeping the root system intact is with a hydrovac. A machine the size of a jet engine that liquifies the soil with water and then vacuums it up. [1] More recent developments have tried using an AirSpade which doesn’t use water but compressed air to blow apart and then suck the soil without…

I'm not sure that either of these methods count as traditional.

Air spades in particular are primarily used for rootwork, not transplanting. Bareroot methods are used for smaller trees. Bare rooting leaves roots in a very vulnerable state, so doing it on larger trees you intend to move and keep alive is a serious logistical challenge.

The most traditional method I can think of is "ball and burlap" where root balls are cut free in the field, and retrieved later in the season for final packaging.

Re: Root System Drawings

#18

Post by joshdavham »

perihelions wrote: post #4
mellosouls wrote: post #2

Nice link, for anybody coming to the comments first, it isn't a sample of linux system layouts as I thought.

I thought it'd be about Lie groups! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_system

The context of HN is interesting. We see the word “root” and immediately assume it has to do with a filesystem or math… but not actual, physical roots haha

Re: Root System Drawings

#19

Post by joshdavham »

I like to think of a plant’s roots as an analogy for the knowledge required to create something.

As a weird example, a web app may be like the exposed plant above ground while the roots are that developer’s knowledge. The plant is what others see, but the roots are the intricate system that was required to create the plant.

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