The root network can extend over several hundred metres in natural environments. This network benefits from the mutual symbiotic association between fungi and plant roots, known as mycorrhiza. And all these associations form a rhizosphere similar to the web of the Internet, due to its flow of information.
In this underground world, mycorrhizae play an important role in plant nutrition. The plant produces sugars through photosynthesis and supplies them to the fungus, which in turn supplies the plant with water and mineral nutrients.
Mycorrhizae also protect plants against pathogens, resist predators and soil toxicity, and play a role in soil biology, fertility and chemistry.
I don’t know the microscopic biological life of my substrate, but I do make sure that the little roots of my seedlings, the radicles, are well anchored in their entirety without being damaged in their new habitat. This is because I respect the subtle world of roots that gives plants their magic.
