Interactive comment on “Root uptake under mismatched distributions of water and nutrients in the root zone” by Jing Yan et al

The manuscript entitled “Root uptake under mismatched distributions of water and nutrients in the root zone” aims to test how mismatched distribution of water and nutrient influence nitrogen acquisition and plant growth. The authors further investigate how hydraulic redistribution and changes in root morphology can explain their results. While the objective of the study is very relevant and rather clearly defined and justified, the rest of the manuscript (material and methods, results, discussion and conclusion) is hard to follow, with crucial elements lacking from the material and methods. It makes it difficult to understand why the authors did some measurements and what they really measured. In the discussion and conclusion, I found some part too speculative. For example, how could you conclude so strongly about the crucial role of root hairs and production of mucilage, only based on non-quantitative microscopic observations? I