Is it just me?

[guineapig]

In my opinion root rotting is more efficient than kiting unless you are quad kiting.

The reason is simply because you can meditate while they die as opposed to you running around the entire time barely gaining any mana back. Yes you can try to time it perfectly with your regen tics (and I have done this before) but in most cases it's much more effort than it's worth.

Also druid roots have a DD component so it serves a dual purpose.
If they can effectively be rooted and you can't get 4 mobs, then root rot em.