PDR1 OE plants grown in full nutrient conditions show several morphological traits common to plants grown in low‐Pi conditions, such as inhibition of lateral shoot growth, induction of lateral roots and root hair development (Zhang et al., 2014a,b). We propose that PDR1 overexpression‐induced synthesis of SL triggers a plant response similar to phosphate starvation, and hence results in plants that are primed to starvation before they experience it. Such behavior could explain why PDR1 OE plants can sequestrate more phosphate from soils, and mycorrhize and produce biomass faster than the wild‐type only in phosphate conditions lower than in full soil, conditions in which wild‐type plants need more time to adapt their architecture to the challenging environment. The observed PDR1 overexpression‐dependent increase in lateral root number particularly affects shallow lateral roots. The topsoil commonly shows higher nutrient (and particularly P) concentrations. Pi resources are limited as well as expensive to explore (Cordell et al., 2009). Therefore plants with higher capacities for Pi uptake are of agricultural interest. Additional field tests will be necessary to obtain a broader view of which conditions and which soils confer a similar advantage to PDR1 OE plants as that seen in glasshouse tests.