Alright N-Stuff....Its now time for Ya to move on up to 30 gallon barrels, Maybe even 55 Gal.... I did notice your other containers Plants from an earlier post and I must say they look Great! And I just love that CAM Ya got....
Good Gardenen to Ya.. and keep the plants a-Growin!

Does a 20" pot = 55 gallons?

I don't think that a 20 inch pot would even equal a half barrel.

See link below for what your roots are trying to do.
Bill P.

Here is a link that might be useful: Linik mentioned above

At least those are healthy roots that you can tease away from the rootball when you plant them.

Holy cow gonefishin, nice site. I wish I can read and understand all that right now but maybe cause it's only 5am, I'm having a hard time!. LOL

So How can I tell from that plant if the roots were steamed or not steamed? What does number of roots 3rd order mean?

Like you said, it is still early. Do not worry about the steamed part, You would remember it if you had steamed your soil or stuff in the pots. That was a part of the study done on some fields way back down the road, but still, probably the best of it's kind.

It is enlightening and very informative. Carolyn posted it first some years ago, and that section that I linked was just the part about tomatoes. Those that do square foot gardening and advocate three or four plants (or more) within a square foot may somehow get some corn, but should read about the roots on sweet corn.

Bottom line, many people successfully grow veggies in containers, or very cramped up close together by additional feeding and watering, but it is not what nature intended for those roots in my opinion. But that is just my opinion and if you do not have much room, you are limited to what you do have. I will link the whole study below.
Bill P.

Here is a link that might be useful: Root Development of Vegetable Crops

I've been loving my BFT these days ...
The plants a MONSTER with lots of greenies and blossoms ...
I simply CAN'T WAIT !!!

~ Tom

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1361557}}

Here's a link to my blog with pictures of my BFT's. They are looking great!. This is the first time I've grown them and so far I am very pleased.

http://gardener-matt.blogspot.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: Matt's BFT's