Quote:
|
If I use large enough containers, would the plants survive without replacing nutrients?
|
Yes but first it would be large enough to hold enough water volume. 4 weeks, 4 weeks worth of water volume. Quick numbers 8 tomato plants, with a minimum of 2.5 gallons per plant, but should be at least twice that. So 5 gallons of water volume per plant, 8x5=40x 4 weeks=160 gallons. Even if you had a 160 gallon reservoir for the 8 tomato plants. You would still need a automatic water replacement system to replace the water the plants drink up, or your
nutrient concentration will just rise as the water level drops. That's not that hard to create. A float valve connected to a fresh water line will keep the water level correct. However the pH will change because of the water being added through the water line. That is unless you have a separate holding tank with pH adjusted water your running the water line from. It would need to be higher than your reservoir so you can gravity feed the water to the float valve in the reservoir. You would also want to make sure you have a air stone in the fresh water tank as well as the reservoir, to keep the water circulating and mixing.
Quote:
|
Also what would be the chance the PH levels would be so out of whack it would destroy the plants?
|
Probably not destroy the plant if your using a large enough reservoir. But it will likely change for sure in 4 weeks (even in a large reservoir). The buffering ability of the pH buffers depends largely on water volume and how quickly the plants use up the nutrients. But if you had a large enough reservoir (like I mentioned above) and replaced the water the plants drink up with pH adjusted water or a very diluted nutrient solution through the water replacement system, there's a good chance the pH will remain close enough to be fine until you get back.
My advice would be,
teach the friends that would be harvesting the plants for you how to check and adjust the pH, as well as how to change the nutrient solution for you. Much simpler and easier, and they can call you if they need help or there are any problems.