Root box-pin board method has been used for sampling the whole root system with minimum impairment and disturbance to its structure. This method requires a root box with one removable front wall, a pin board, on which 960 stainless nails are vertically driven at equal intervals, and a folio of transparent polyethylene sheet with 960 holes. Though the sheet enables us to detach and preserve the whole root system, preparation of the sheet is tedious and time-consuming. Furthermore, in the process of root sampling, it is difficult to align rapidly and precisely the pin board with the soil in the root box. Thus, we devised a work table with guide bars, which facilitates the fast and accurate alignment of the pin board. We also devised a stainless grid frame and a grid pressing plate, which enabled us to strip down the sheet with no holes from the pin board. This apparatus enabled us a fast and accurate root sampling in the root box-pin board method.

View full abstract