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["Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

I wonder if the idea that excess N results in smaller roots stems from the old myth that N feeds the top and Pand K feed the roots.  The first time I ever saw someone produce perfect and huge carrots was when they were grown in a bed of pure composted manure.  That almost pure humus organic soil must have been releasing more than modest amounts of N even if the release was slowed. 

 

By far, the best book I ever read  about arboriculture is Harris's book (Arboriculture  Integrated Managment of Landscape Trees, Shrubs, and Vines).  On the subject of plant response to N he sited research that showed that N stimulates both shoot and root growth and that in the vast majority of soils it is the only nutrient to have measurable influence on the vigor of the roots and shoots of woody perrenials, which of course a carrot is not.  Am I missing something?