TFro3
Gardening Enthusiast
Staff member
DIY Aeroponic Tower Supporter
Aeroponic Assembly Guide Supporter
Super Duper Neighbor
- Growing Zone
- 7a (US)
Well, learned my lesson today. The second tower with the large plants drinks about 3 gallons of water per day now.
I had topped off the reservoir yesterday morning and thought I would be good for 2.5 days or so. Well, came outside just before dinner the next day to see the tomato plants very wilted!! Looked in the bucket to see the water level is now lower than the water pump. Luckily the cucumber and zucchini has roots super long (because they are now too big to remove from the tower and trim the roots) so they were drinking up the water in the bottom of the bucket.
At first I freaked out thinking that this was it for the tomatoes because I wasn't sure how long it had been since they got water other than earlier that morning. I quickly mixed up more nutrient water and was transferring it into the bucket.
I also consulted my wife's thoughts on this because back in college she worked in a plant research lab and stressed plants out for this research. She quickly took a look and said they would be fine and should perk back up in less than a hour.
After refilling I adjusted my pump settings to run more often for a few hours while the plants caught back up from me nearly killing them in this 90 degree Fahrenheit heat.
And as much as I hate to admit it, she was right (per usual). The plants perked right back up within the hour!
I had topped off the reservoir yesterday morning and thought I would be good for 2.5 days or so. Well, came outside just before dinner the next day to see the tomato plants very wilted!! Looked in the bucket to see the water level is now lower than the water pump. Luckily the cucumber and zucchini has roots super long (because they are now too big to remove from the tower and trim the roots) so they were drinking up the water in the bottom of the bucket.
At first I freaked out thinking that this was it for the tomatoes because I wasn't sure how long it had been since they got water other than earlier that morning. I quickly mixed up more nutrient water and was transferring it into the bucket.
I also consulted my wife's thoughts on this because back in college she worked in a plant research lab and stressed plants out for this research. She quickly took a look and said they would be fine and should perk back up in less than a hour.
After refilling I adjusted my pump settings to run more often for a few hours while the plants caught back up from me nearly killing them in this 90 degree Fahrenheit heat.
And as much as I hate to admit it, she was right (per usual). The plants perked right back up within the hour!