Hemp is a tall (1.5-4 m or 4-13 ft.) annual plant grown for grain and fiber. In well-structured soils, the plant can produce a 15-30 cm (6-12 in.) tap root. In compacted or poorly drained soils, the plant produces more lateral fibrous roots.a part from a peak at 90-100 cm in response to a perched water table. Roots were found to 130 cm of depth in one year and to 200 cm in the other. Root diameter was finer (190mm) in the upper soil layer, it increased with depth until 100 cm, and remained constant at 300 mm thereafter. Following the same trend of RLD, root biomass was highest in the first soil layer; 50% of the root biomass was found in the first 20 cm or 50 cm when taproot biomass was considered or not. Total root biomass was 3.21 t ha-1 and 2.41 t ha-1 in the two years of trial, but the ratio between aboveground and below ground biomass was constant at 5.46. None of the root parameters were significantly affected by plant population, which seems to confirm the plastic behaviour that hemp shows for aboveground development. The high root biomass production measured in this study, especially in deeper soil layers, provides additional evidence of the positive role that hemp can play in sustainable cropping systems.

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 Actual dried hemp plants to study root pattern