/ 1
Had this issue with a few landrace selections in the past. Two that stand out in my memory did exceptionally well when I used nutrient film tech and let the roots run shallow but over a wide area. I came to understand natural selection favored the plants that grew this way as the area they hailed from was essentially a top soil only a few inches deep over a large rock quarry. I used flat gutter extensions and a layer of felt to create a contained cap mat, worked like a big flat wick essentially. The other configuration was fed by a pump to multiple drip lines at one end, trickling a film layer down a gradient on a large, shallow, drip pan used for oil in a bike garage typically.
The all responded well to some growth stimulation I eventually incorporated into my standard procedure for starting seeds that benefits from Aspirin, triacontonal (found in alfalfa meal), kelp meal, EWC and aloe. I combined these with a soln of Real Growers Recharge left under aeration for a couple days to make a very effective seedling tea. I use this to hydrate the peat pellets and fertigation until they are ready for nutes.
If I’m starting in coco I use this same mix but start with a soln of master blend or Jack’s plus cal mag diluted to around 200 ppm.
Recently I had incredible growth using coco mat liners layered under the pots or bags the plants were started in. I simply put a layer of digested super soil mix in between the mats and the roots exploded into it.
I share this enthusiasm and have a few tricks I can share to help, and a few pit falls to avoid should you care to discuss. My current set up is using the surface Blu mat on these amazing cap mats made by sustainable village. They are next level stuff that mitigates issues that can be problematic. They are key to developing a sort of hybrid (organic/synthetic) set up by suspending living soil over the mat and allowing the roots to dangle down to the mat like a shallow Kratke where they can fertigate a mild hydro soln. I’m still feeling it all out but so far it seems to give the grower additional control to maximize specific events like bud set at the flip by tweeking the ratios of the synthetic component. It’s also been beneficial when using a PK boost without buggering up the organ1ic balance established in the pot. More work and study is required here to call it a win, but it’s showing potential