The roots emanating from the basal root flare serve only to anchor the plant and serve as conductive plumbing - water & nutrients from roots to shoots (and leaves) - food and other bio-compounds from shoots to roots. They can be shortened, if you can shorten them w/o leaving the plant with a root system unable to keep up with water demands. I usually concentrate on removing roots growing downward, upward, and back toward the center, then assess. There is a lot of suggestions about how to work on roots in the thread about containerized trees. Let me know if you get stuck. ;-) If nutrients were plant food, we could accurately say that plants eat salts. Plants take up nutrients in the form of salts - and while too much salt, or the wrong salts, can quickly kill plants, we should actually be striving to ensure the right salts are in the soil at the ratio in which plants use them, and at a concentration neither so high that it inhibits water (and nutrient) uptake, nor so low that deficiencies occur. If you're using the gritty mix and a fertilizer without Ca or Mg (like MG soluble 24-8-16 0r 12-4-8) you need a source for the nutrients (Ca/Mg). Gypsum and Epsom salts supply Ca and Mg (respectively), and do it without raising pH. Once you decide on a fertilizer, we can help you decide what you might want to supplement with, if anything. I'm probably the strongest proponent of well-aerated and durable soils on all of Garden Web, but I'm no where near as harsh on the heavy, commercially prepared soils as many others who have started (or have been) using soils like the gritty mix or the 5:1:1 mix. I think I'm both fair and realistic when I say that you CAN grow healthy plants in the heavier soils, but it won't be as easy, and the margin for grower error is substantially reduced. Since the margin for error, especially in the areas of watering and fertilizing is reduced, you can see how quickly the opportunity for plants to grow to their potential is affected by less than ideal habits or influences. I use both the gritty mix and the 5:1:1 mix. I use the 5:1:1 mix for plants that will be in the same soil for 1-2 growth cycles, and the gritty mix for 2-? growth cycles. The gritty mix, properly made, never 'wears out'. Plants will become root bound to the point they should have a pruning and soil change long before any thought of structural collapse. In fact, there is collapse prevention built into the soil in the fact that bark is limited to a 1/3 fraction of the whole. Even if all the bark were to break down, the soils structure would still be fine, based on the remaining 2/3 inorganic component. I spend a lot of time helping people, but I'm not selling recipes. ;-) I'm selling a concept. I want growers to understand why free-draining and durable soils work so well, and how to build and utilize them if they choose. The recipes are just what I have found to be the best way of implementing the concept. Once you understand the concept and get a feeling for what ingredients are available, implementing is easy. Al

Even using the same growing medium in both a flood and drain as well as in a drip system, the roots in the drip will get more air/oxygen than in the flood and drain system (assuming the flow rate is equal). While the flood and drain system is flooded (pump on) the roots are completely submerged, and are only getting oxygen from what's in the water (until it drains). In a drip system, there is still generally a lot of air still in the root zone while water drips down through it. But just because you are using the same growing medium in both systems, that dosen't mean that the the moisture retention will be the same in both systems. Two other variables are the amount of growing medium (the overall volume of growing medium). As an example a five gallon bucket filled with growing medium will hold much more moisture than a 3 inch basket filled with the same growing medium, thus the 3 inch basket will need more frequent watering. The other major factor is the size of the plants, a large tomato plant will suck up a lot more moisture, than a small lettuce or strawberry plant will, even if they both have the same volume of growing medium. So the large plant/s will need more frequent watering. My rule of thumb is to try and make things adjustable. That way you can see how the plants respond and adjust to their needs accordingly. One way to adjust water flow is with a ball cock valve, it can be opened or closed according to the water flow needed through it. P.S. One thing that's important with tomato's is even watering. The fruit can tend to crack if the roots are subject to moist then dryer conditions between watering cycles. So you'll want to keep them evenly moist.

lazypup- Thanks...I always appreciate your knowledge and straightforward answers. I am assuming from what you said that it was intentionally plumbed that way (without a trap) precisely because: 1) that is the way it has to be for a sink to be correctly connected (with one P trap under the bowl), and 2) if someone wanted to hook up a shower or bath to share that drain line with the sink, then there would have to be a P trap at the floor level beneath the shower pan or beneath the tub. Correct? The reason I was thinking the drain line might have a P trap under the slab is that none of my neighbors' houses (identical slab construction to mine) have elevated tubs or shower pans, so I couldn't figure out how that would work. All of our houses have radiant heat lines in the slab, so it's always dicey to be jackhammering out concrete as you might have to do to set a P trap lower under a shower or tub. So I'm curious: What is the minimum height one would typically have to have to fit a P trap under a tub or a shower pan if you don't want to break into the slab? Or is there some other solution to this situation that I'm not aware of?

I suspect aliceinwonderland's comment might be what is happening. I think that one side (especially the pressure from the disposal) may be siphoning the other side leaving a dry trap sometimes. We've tried everything else- enzymes and citrus to clean out disposal odor, etc. Also, I can confirm that the wall pipe is level and below the disposal discharge, so that may have just been an optical illusion from the camera angle. I will try re-plumbing with a single trap. But that still leaves me puzzled about one thing- When researching this, it seems the correct type of tee has an interior baffle to direct water towards the waste line, and not up the other side. I'm certainly not an expert, but this seems like a terrible design to me. It restricts flow, and seems like it would be a major opportunity for clogs. But all of the reputable information I can find shows that this is required by code and is how everyone seems to do it. I appreciate the comments and feedback.