by Rose
Low-tech system needs more information to work!
2:01 pm in Nutrients, questions, Seeking Advice by Rose
Hi!
I’m building a window farm that will be run entirely by gravity and simple machines. I’m doing fine working out the physics and engineering part, but I have a biology question that I can’t quite seem to find the answer to.
How much nutrient mix per day (not solution, but nutrients themselves) assuming a run-of-the-mill nutrient recipe will a single three-plant column absorb? If I know this, then I can figure out fast I need to deliver a given solution, and this makes a big difference in how I design and build the system. Also, can there be significant fluctuation in the feed rate over the course of, say, eight hours? Could the feed start at a good pace, and then slack off as time passes, or will this stress out the plants?
Is it just a matter of “enough, and not too concentrated, and not too waterlogged”, or is there a range of values I can work with?
Thanks much for all your help!
I don’t know the specifics, but depending on direct light, wind, and heat, the plants will use a great variance of solution; they are organisms, not machines, and they metabolize according to environmental conditions, so I don’t think that there is a magic number like what you are looking for.
As far as how fast to deliver it, my system was initially a gravity driven system. I tried all sorts of different things, but generally if it was dripping every 2-6 seconds the plants didn’t look like they were on their death bed at the end of the day. (during the hottest part of our summer)
And it can definitely slow down and speed up, as long as the grow medium never completely dries out. It doesn’t rain every day in nature. (mine did this simply because: when the reservoir was full it had more weight forcing out the drops of water, and as it lowered it had less force behind it)
In a drip system you don’t have to worry about waterlogging, because excess nutrient solution will simply run off of the plants. But nutrient burn is still a worry, especially because as water is used the solution can become more concentrated. And there are definitely specific nutrient ranges out there, but it varies greatly between products, and what nutrients/ minerals/ synthetics you are talking about. I would recommend looking into what group of products you plan to use, and then researching specifically what their make-up is to find some of the answers you are looking for.
Keep us posted though, I worked out a few ideas on how to do an electric free system, and am interested to see what you come up with!