My System

[jamromhem]

The plants are looking great. I am guessing by your wording you are thinking they might not make it through the storm?

I hope the plants survive the storm and come out ok. I don't know if building a wind wall from some plywood would be feasible if you think it will be that damaging to the plants/system.

[Stan]

I was thinking about putting up plywood but then it might bring down my awning. Just going to have to ride it out and hope it won't damage the plants that much.

[GpsFrontier]

Good luck with the hurricane!!! Being I'm in AZ, I don't really keep up with what's happening on the east cost, but I have herd a few bits and pieces about it, and it sounds like it's going to be a big one.

[jamromhem]

I try not to pay attention what happens on the east coast and I live in FL :P I was lucky and didnt get any of the storm though.

I hope you fair well in the storm and don't have too much of it.

[Stan]

The good news is the hurricane blew threw and ruffled up the plants pretty good but they all survived the blow. Some tomatoes fell off but still have plenty of them still on the plant.

The bad news the power also went out very early Sunday. When I came out later in the day I see all the plants are now bending over because they are starving for a drink. I rigged up my garden hose to the last highest plant (watermelon) and put on the hose at very low steady pressure. Every 4 hours I would pour in 3 gallons of the nutrient water from the reservoir and plug up the end and would let it sit in there for an hour, then unplug and drain, again put on the garden hose. The watermelon plant comes back to life and looks good but the tops of almost all of the tomato plants are dead. I will have to clip the tops off soon.

Good news the power came back on today. Dumped everything left in the reservoir filled it with water and nutrients and got it up and running again. Will wait till tomorrow to see how the plants react.

Lesson learned for next year I will have a gas generator to work the air/water pump and other appliances in and outside of the house if the electric ever goes out again.

[jamromhem]

Another option might be to set up a small solar cell with a battery and inverter. That will give you a little while on a small pump and air pump. You can also use it on a regular basis to save a few cents on your regular electricity bill, or just have the small solar set charge a few batteries for emergencies.

I think harbor freight has like 30 dollar 12V solar set every now and then. A couple of those should be able to run the airpump and water pump pretty much full time, so would be more than adiquate for emergencies with the system.

You can probably get that set up for less than the cost of a generator.

I am happy to hear that the plants faired well with little loss. With hope there is a sucker on the tomatoes you haven't plucked off yet :P That will buy you some more time.

[Stan]

Already have a solar charger for my trolling motor battery on my boat. I'm still leaning towards getting a power generator just so I can have other necessities in the house (refrig, hot water heater, AC, lights, washer, dryer, and maybe TV) working until the power comes back on.