Anchor

Anchor is typically a seafaring term used for a device to tether a boat to the bottom of a body of water.

I like to use it to talk about roots. If the root is healthy the plant is healthy. Wisdom from Mr. Miyagi the sage of the "Karate Kid" trilogy.

Have you ever gone out after a good rain to pull weeds because it is easier. The rain loosens the soil and lubricates the roots so they have less "anchoring" ability.

This time of year roots have a slightly different anchoring function...

For example, when we plant garlic in mid to late October. The garlic cloves know they are no longer in a basket in the garage, but are now in the soil. They send out roots from the basal plate area of the clove to anchor the clove in the soil. This prevents frost from popping the clove out of the soil. This is a very cool process and takes place in as little as two weeks after planting.

I have also notice that if you give the plants 3-4 weeks to get established before freeze up, the bulbs are larger at harvest...I think this is a direct correlation to root development.

Baby spinach plants also anchor their hosts deep below the soil. The top part of the plant will go dormant but the roots are still very much alive. The plants over winter if the roots are strong and will come out of dormancy in the spring.