We are doing an experiment to test different substrates in plants of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). To compare the radicular mass of each substrate we first need to separate all the roots from the soil, bark, and debris particles. The problem is that the tomato roots are very tiny and fragile. We tried manually by immersing everything in a tray filled with water and waiting for the precipitation of the soil and other particles. However, that was not enough to separate and obtain only the roots. It is almost impossible to separate with this method all the radicular material from the rest, plus it consumes a lot of time with low results.
I would like to ask this if anybody has a different suggestion or easier mechanism that I can use to separate the roots or calculate the root biomass of these tomato plants? Is there any mild detergent or other product that can help without damaging the roots? Thank you very much.
First, keep roots in water for 24 hours. After, wash the roots to separate them from the soil. Then, spill roots in 2 sieves with different mesh sizes (use higher mesh for smaller roots) and separate roots from fine trashes with forceps. It takes some time but this is the easiest in manual methods.
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