What do you think is the source of the roots?
Any trees nearby?

those are not tree roots. It can be any of a number of perennial weeds.

Celery makes root clusters similar to these.

Thanks for your response. My garden is on the edge of a pine forest. Makes sense the dense mats are feeder roots. There are thumb size and smaller roots that I chop out every spring. Should I put something down, (cardboard ?) and layer new soil and compost on top of that?

If the trees are close enough, they will grow into the planting bed despite any attempts - short of a root barrier - to keep them out. You can continue to cut them out - won't bother the pines at all - to cultivate or plant but they will grow back.

Again, Thank you. I appreciate learning about my reality. I'm thinking about raised beds, with a ground cover down first to limit the root clusters.

I have been engaging an invasive root mat and weed for years called mugwort and it proliferates its root structure into my flower beds if I'm not diligent in really aggressively digging down and yanking it out. The plant grows to 7' tall and makes a good privacy curtain like bamboo, but it must be actively confined or it will be difficult to remove from amongst more desirable flowers and plants.

Any cardboard etc. you put down will only be a temporary barrier. Next year they will be all up in the raised bed - no reason they wouldn't.

I have silver maples nearby with very shallow roots. I'm on a schedule of every couple years, digging a narrow trench on the edge of the garden where the trees are, and cutting any roots I find. If you do it often enough they will be small. I dug next to a two beds last year and found roots as big as my wrist. Obviously wasn't doing it often enough, so now it's going to be every couple years.

Very helpful. Thank you!

I have those in my raised bed garden. They are small and clumping sucking water. No trees around so what are they?

Ebergma7. I suggest you start a new post of your own and provide a photo and your location. This thread is 6 years old and we have no idea if you are even on the same continent as the OP.

I have this exact thing in my raised beds did you find out what it is? I have spent afternoon forking it out! I put weed mat under beds last year thinking this would stop it but thick as ever and seems to be eating up all the nutrients!!

Yes, it was solved. They were tree roots. Recommendations were made above.

there are no trees around and the roots are not really connecting

You need to connect with what floral said last month. Start a new post with pix.

tj

ebergma7 No they arent tree roots at my place either

ebergma7 and Lee Hunter: assuming your situation is similar to the photo provided by the OP (and we don't know that since neither of you have provided any photos to confirm), then the issue IS roots and most probably tree roots. Depending on the type of tree, the roots can extend out a great distance away from the trunk or base. The tree does not necessarily need to be near the area to cause a problem. Could very well even be in the neighbor's yard!

If your situation is different from the OP's photo, then you need to illustrate how it differs by providing photos. No one here is psychic and we can't tell you what it is based on a non-existent description of what you think it isn't!!

Thank you, yes there is an avocado tree not to far so it could be it is from that tree. Also the dirt came frome pastures ones used for a pheasant holding area. The roots look exactly the same as on the picture you mentioned.

The same looking like root, they propagate very first and there is no single tree in my farm.

Roots do not appear spontaneously.....they have to be attached to something and that something is almost always trees or large shrubs. There is really nothing else that can spread their root system far enough away from the mother plant to be obvious.

The only other possibility is some sort of stoloniferous creeping plant like some grass types. But you would see obvious evidence of the top growth in the same location as well.

I have exactly the same problem no trees in the vacinity of my garden the outside of the fence around my garden is surrounded by cuban oregano could it be this?

its matting my soil and causing it to clump and harder about 3-4 inches down from the surface

I have the same thing and they aren’t connected to anything.. It’s like they’re some underground weed web. i can dig them out and they grow back.. fast. They look just like above pick.

I have this problem as well. It looks exactly like the photo at the top of this blog. These aren't roots because they aren't connected to anything and are growing on their own. It must be some sort of fungus fibrous growth. Is there an extension agency in Illinois (where I am) that might know something about this? The stuff completely blocks the ability to plant in this bed. The soil I used was from compost bins that also have extensive root like fribous growth in them as well but I thought they were tree roots and that I'd cut them all out. Roots don't grow on their own so I don't think it's tree roots.

Fungal organisms do not produce any roots. They do produce a sort of fibrous networking system called mycelium but for the most part, this is a very delicate substance and any cultivation or working of the soil where it is present tends to destroy it. It is also rather temporary, coming and going as part of the fungal process and life stages.

Every state has a extension service and typically there is an office located in every county. Check here for one closest to you. You will need to provide photos and samples for a proper identification.

Thanks for the information. It's a mystery but I still think these cannot be from any plant as the bed has had none in it and hasn't been there long enough for tree roots to invade it. This has to be something like you discribe - only it's not fragile. I do hope it's temporary.

If what you ave fond growing in the bed looks like the OP's original photo, then the culprit is most definitely plant roots. Mycelium does not grow in clusters but more of a flat, web-like structure, typically has a furry appearance, is extremely delicate and can be immediately destroyed by tilling, cultivation, soil compaction or the application of fertilizers and pesticides.

If you can physically remove the root-like clusters then they are indeed tree roots, not a fungal organism. And as clearly noted above, tree roots can extend a considerable distance. The tree may very well not even be located on your property.

Thanks again to gardengal48 but I'm having a hard time believing these are plant/tree roots. I put this bed up about six week ago. The raised bed right next to it which has been there much longer (but didn't have soil from the compost bin put in it) has none of this growth in it. The compost bin did have tree roots in it but I severed and removed all of them before putting the soil into this raised bed. Can bits of severed roots just grow on their own?

They're roots. Are they attached, or loose clumps that were in the compost? Roots have to have a living plant attached to them to grow---as far as I know. If they're not just free floating, what's nearby?

Same thing, fight it third year with no luck

New ones white, older red, breaks easy, fat are soft, sucks all water arround, about 4 inch and more deep. Conected to nothing, broght them with a soil from one place of the garden to a raised bed. If put in water the roots float. Location UK, Berkshire.

Possibly Lily of the Valley. But that is a wild guess based on the white shoot. They are not tree roots and not the same as the other roots shown in this thread.

I also have this root cluster problem in my raised vegetable garden beds in New Zealand. constantly digging them out and not attached to anything. very frustrating as i think the plants i grow find it hard to get enough nutrients. Or their roots become tangled up in the other roots.

"this root cluster problem"

There have been at least three different kinds of roots shown in this old thread and several others discussed but not shown.

To get useful information on your issue you need to show photographs of your specific problem. I've yet to hear of any kind of true root that is free floating and not attached to a plant.