Developing a great root system?

Hey.... new to growing and have a question. Im growing outside...a buddy kicked me down some starts. They went from cups, to small containers then into the ground in a soil blend or FF, mushroom compost, and dirt from location, as well as perlite and some other things. Some of the plants have really done well... already 24" tall and really veggin out, in less then a month...and its been an of and on rainy weather in the california bay area. Ive been watering heavy every few days with nutes.... plants look lush and happy. Ive been sexing some of the more recent transplanted plants and pulling the males.... and have noticed that the roots dont really go that deep. In fact the roots dont seem to be very extensive at all, depth wise. What can I be doing to really make sure I establish a great root system into the ground? I thought watering heavy and deep would get the roots to really get headed downward into the soil. Maybe Im watering to much and the roots think they dont have to go anywhere in search of water. Any suggestions.... I really want to make this work out well this year with big plants and big buds. Also... any suggestions on clone strains and where to pick some up... looking for reputable clones/strains from somewhere that knows what their doing.
Thanks!

You can look up a technique called root slicing. However, if the plants are doing really well already, I don't think there's any need to worry about it. Just treat them right and they should turn out great.

I agree with tropical. It doesn't matter if your not happy, as long as they're happy.
But just lay off on the water until they start looking sad and then water them.

If the soil you are growing in is to compact it's gonna restrict the roots from growing. Roots will also grow deeper if they are forced to search for water

im no expert on this but i say u wanna develop the root system early on cuz that is the first thing that starts growing on your plant so develop a good one as a seedling and it will flourish a grow bigger and better as it grows until it becomes rootboundi start my babies in the longest skinniest containers i can find..... water bottles are good jsut like the 500mllast year ive realized PVC piping with a cap at the end is the best cuz they cum in all different widths i use 2" at about 8" longi havnt gotten any bad results from it ive never done any like vs./ comparisons with it like have a couple in a potting cup and a couple in the PVC tube and see which ones grows the best my theory behind doing this (now i dont think im correct but it logically makes sense) a narrow and long container makes it so the roots grow longer not wide so when it comes time to transplant into ur next medium whether its a bucket or ground the roots will already be 8+ inches in the ground not 4" or 5" and from there the roots will grow outwards width ways filling out the bucket or hole while still growing downards too.the downside to this is it does make transplanting a whole lot more difficult because it is long and thin i have thought about removing the cap of the pvc pipe and push it out of hte bottom into the hole in the medium but it may damage something in process i am unsure.id appreciate inputs on this method

I have to agree with bongOHboyy. Plants require cycles of moist and dry for the roots to develop and search for water. I allow my container grown stuff to go just short of drought stress before I water them. I sometimes add beneficial mycorrhizae to the soil. Cheap and effective. Watering too frequently can result in a shallow, poorly developed root system that is ill equipped to handle even a minor drought period.

I agree
Back off the watering and make the roots look for water

Yep..... I agree with all your input.....I'm sure first times growers like myself and a little water happy.... i should just follow my instincts a cut the water back some. Thanks all!

Ya everyone OVERLOVES there plants in the begining Live and Learn
Good luck but becareful
Growing is adicting

Im having problems I think as a result of being to loving towards my plants. So a couple of weeks back I decided to bend one of my plants...all of a sudden I was getting great growing results. A few side branches really started popping off...growing like tops. Well I went out to look at my plant this morning after noticing something strange from the shower window. Two of the branched, i guess from to much weight, had split from the main stock.... what the hell??!!! how could this happen..... could over watering make my plants to>>>limp or watery to hold these branches? This sucks!