They survived! (And they’re growing!)
We returned from Spring break today to a great relief: the potatoes are doing well! Unfortunately, our worries of losing water were also found to be true, as the water level was below that of the pump entrance, meaning that there was at least some time where it could not pump the water. Fortunately, we tested the pump and it didn’t burn out, and the potato plants that are growing show no signs of wilting or unhealthiness.
Speaking of plants, boy do we have plants! Three of our potatoes shot out of the ground over break and already have significant growth. At least two others appear to be sprouting, and in total 6 of the 8 have noticeable root growth, which is a good indicator for their future sprouting.
On the side of trying to prevent water leakage out the top, we shifted around and added some clay pellets to try to block the holes better. In one case, we added a bottle cap over a hole that was too wide to effectively plug with the pellets.
With all of this, we refilled the water and added some more nutrients to keep them growing. We will continue to monitor our progress, but we are definitely more optimistic about our prospects than before! Until next time!