Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

A few days later, the seeds began to sprout and grow two to three true leaves.

Gu Lang discarded the seeds that failed to germinate and selected the strong individuals from the seedlings, transplanting them to the planting positions in the middle.

Gently compact the surrounding soil to ensure close contact between the roots and the soil.

In the first few days after transplanting, the plants need proper shade, so Gulang only turned on a small portion of the supplemental lighting.

Only after the seedlings have recovered from transplant shock should they be allowed to receive full sunlight.

Under Gu Lang's meticulous care, the newly transplanted seedlings on the planting racks survived the most vulnerable period of seedling establishment and began to grow rapidly.

The leaves of lettuce and bok choy are no longer wilted pale yellow, but have unfolded, showing a healthy, glossy green.

The water spinach is growing taller and taller, and new branches and leaves are beginning to sprout at the nodes.

Every day, Gu Lang would take out a soil moisture meter and insert it into the soil to measure the soil moisture content.

The probe of the instrument is inserted vertically into the soil deep in the middle of the pipe, which is where most roots are active and best reflects the true moisture content of the soil, rather than judging solely by the dryness of the surface.

After recording multiple sets of data, Gu Lang finally determined the optimal conditions based on the current temperature, humidity, light, and ventilation.

Drip irrigation twice a day, once in the early morning and once in the evening, with an optimal watering interval of 5 minutes each time, can keep the soil moisture stable between 60% and 80%.

As the vegetables grew larger, Gu Lang brought a soil nutrient rapid tester and a pH meter to conduct more systematic testing.

He used the excess water seeping from the drain pipe as an extractant, mixing it with a small amount of soil sample.

Then immerse the test strip in the solution and compare the colors to determine the approximate content of different nutrients.

Based on the test results, a small amount of urea and compound fertilizer were manually applied.

Following the golden rule of "frequent application of diluted fertilizer" in container cultivation, we avoid over-fertilizing at one time and causing "seedling burn". Occasionally, we also use milder bio-fertilizers to improve the rhizosphere microecology.

Gu Lang also had plant growth regulators obtained from the agricultural technology station, such as gibberellins and brassinolide.

Given that the vegetables are currently growing well and there is no sign of slow growth, we cautiously refrained from using them.

But he soon discovered a new problem: as large amounts of water were continuously replenished to the soil in the pipes through the drip irrigation system, the total weight of the entire planting area increased significantly.

The empty room originally contained only some light miscellaneous items, but now each pipe is filled with about 15 liters of soil.

With the addition of moisture in the soil and the weight of the plant itself, the total weight increases by nearly 200 kilograms.

This weight is not evenly distributed; it is located on the port side of the ship's centerline and on the lower deck.

This means that there is a continuous unilateral off-center load relative to the ship's center of buoyancy and center of gravity.

In calm waters, a slight tilt may not have much of an impact.

However, once in a sailing state and encountering wind and waves, the yacht's ability to recover from roll will be significantly reduced.

Meanwhile, long-term asymmetrical loads can cause additional stress on the hull structure.

Gu Lang immediately returned to the warehouse and found the materials with high density and high weight per unit volume.

Bags of rice and flour, and bundles of aluminum pipes were moved to the passenger bedrooms directly opposite the planting area.

Using truck straps and cargo bar supports brought back from the truck, these "ballast" items were securely anchored to the anchor points on the ship's deck.

I also organized the various items in the upper cabin and storage area, adhering to the core principles of symmetry, stability, and low placement.

The ship's weight distribution was readjusted, especially to balance the heavy load of the Lynx assault vehicle at the stern.

After the final binding was completed and I stood at the bow to inspect the ship again, the hull had finally returned to a good level position.

Two weeks later, the first lettuce leaf, though not fully ripe, was picked.

That subtle sweetness, a blend of earthy fragrance and plant sap, brought immense spiritual encouragement to Gulang.

Unfortunately, while pipe planting can significantly save space and weight, it is only suitable for vegetables with shallow root systems.

If he wants to eat the potatoes and sweet potatoes he's been longing for, he still needs to find a proper piece of farmland to cultivate them, otherwise the tubers simply won't grow big.

After a period of idyllic life at sea, the end of the month has arrived.

On the morning of September 22, the northwest wind turned into a southwest wind, and the wind force suddenly increased to level eight or above.

At first, Gu Lang thought it was just an ordinary severe convective weather event.

So he reinforced the Lynx assault vehicle on the stern platform and transferred 85 liters of diesel fuel from the fuel tank to the yacht's fuel tank.

However, by noon, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

First, there was an abnormal change in air pressure; the barometer needle on the instrument panel began to drop clockwise at an unprecedented speed.

In just one hour, the air pressure dropped by more than 15 hPa, and there was no sign of it slowing down.

He initially thought it was a problem with the barometer, but after verifying that the barometer on his watch was also malfunctioning, he realized something was wrong.

Next came the clouds; the entire sky was covered by a rapidly churning, low-hanging, gray-black cloud layer.

That was no ordinary rain cloud. The bottom of the cloud layer showed a chaotic, rolling shape and was converging towards the center, which is a typical cloud system characteristic of a rapidly developing low-pressure system.

Further into the sky, lightning began to frequently tear across the horizon.

Instead of vertical, branching lightning, the lightning flashes were almost continuous, a sign of strong convective activity at the storm's center.

As the torrential rain began to fall, the wind changed completely, spinning and howling wildly, pulling at the hull from all directions.

The anemometer reading easily surpassed level 11 and was still climbing.

The torrential rain was no longer just raindrops, but a dense curtain of water torn almost horizontal by the gale, lashing wildly against the portholes and deck, emitting a continuous roar.

"Damn it..." Gu Lang stood in the violently shaking cabin, his face grave.

He knew what he was going through; this was no ordinary storm, but a typhoon that was rapidly approaching.

Quickly put on the inflatable life jacket and get to the deck, then set up a ring of cables along the outer railing.

Next, a safety rope was tied to the life jacket and secured to the cable with a D-locking safety lock.

Make sure that you are not swept into the sea by violent rocking or waves on the deck under any circumstances.

This is the most basic and most important first safety rule for maritime typhoon preparedness.

Gu Lang went outside the cabin, untied the mooring lines and wires on the side of the ship, and discarded the wave energy generator.

At this point, with its own survival in jeopardy, the external device couldn't be of much concern at the moment.

He then returned to the wheelhouse and operated the bow winch to raise the main anchor.

We steered the yacht towards a relatively safer, deeper channel area within the sand ridges, pointing the bow towards the southwest windward side.