Abstract For different kinds of plants, the distribution of lateral roots is highly plastic in different growth environments. In particular, the branching distance of the roots plays a decisive role in the formation of the root system architecture. In many root-system architecture models, constant branching distances of different branching orders usually are used to simulate the dynamics of a root system architecture. However, little is known about the formation of lateral roots, and branching distances for different branching orders are variable in the actual root system. The resource allocation model for predicting the lateral root distribution in individual plants has been established based on Parrondo's game. The root branching data predicted by the model is compared with the actual root branching data. The results show that the proposed method can cause serious changes in the spacing and distribution of lateral root formation. A parameter called development window can be used to override interbranch distance in the root-system architecture models.