Corrected entry: When the HAB breached, killing all the live plants and bacteria in the soil they could have been replaced. He had plenty of potatoes to use as starters, and he had his human waste from the time of the first planting to replace the biomatter and bacteria. It may have been a smaller "garden" but he still would have been able to replant. (01:07:00)
Aerinah
28th Oct 2021
The Martian (2015)
11th Oct 2015
The Martian (2015)
Corrected entry: After being rescued on Sol 561, Watney tells his crewmates he hasn't showered for "a year and a half." But the day he leaves the Hab, Sol 461, Watney steps out of what is the shower, naked and toweling off his wet body and hair. So it has only been 100 Sols since he last showered. Even in Earth time that's less than 4 months - nowhere near a year and a half.
Correction: He took baths, but those aren't exactly the same, and regardless I'm pretty sure he meant a proper bath/shower, one that involved soap.
Then why he couldn't grow more potatoes if he had water?
Lack of water is not the reason Watney can't grow more potatoes after the blowout. He can't grow more potatoes because the potatoes and potato plants were all killed by the cold-there is nothing left to grow. Also, if he had lost his entire water supply...what would he drink?
He would not be able to make that amount of water again, the whole machinery got blown out. And he did not have enough fertilizer (aka poop) at that point.
No we saw him take multiple showers. I came to this site specifically for this error. He took showers. Naked with a towel drying off his very wet hair. So for him to say he hadn't taken a shower the whole time he was there, is a straight error.
Correction: He would not be able to make that amount of water again, the whole machinery got blown out. And he did not have enough fertilizer (aka poop) at that point.
Correction: This issue isn't the water. As stated in the NASA conference room on Earth after the HAB blowout, the freezing temperatures killed the bacterial microbes in the soil which would be required for the plants to grow.
I didn't review the movie, but if NASA said that, it's wrong. Many, probably most, soil bacteria would survive freezing, the colder and dryer the conditions the better. Maybe this is a new mistake?
NASA did say they thought all the bacteria had died. (In the book Watney figures out some survived, as you indicate, but they don't go into this in the movie.) However, the bigger issue is that all the potatoes and potato plants were killed when the Hab blew out and everything inside it was instantly depressurized and frozen. So there is nothing left alive for Watney to grow.
The problem was the potatoes. After being frozen they were no longer able to grow a plant. He had plenty of water and could have got more bacteria from his own feces, so it was the potatoes.
The real problem regarding not being able to grow more food is that all the potatoes and potato plants were killed when the Hab blew out. Watney figures out in the book that some bacteria did indeed survive, as you suggest, and he could indeed make more water (and more poop!). But it doesn't matter because now he has nothing to grow.
21st Dec 2015
The Martian (2015)
Corrected entry: Near the end while inside the Rover, Watney is leaving a note to future astronauts: "Take good care of this Rover it saved my life," signed Watnay instead of Watney. (02:00:00)
Correction: You're right that it kind of looks like an "a", but that's only because Watney made the loop so round it mostly obscures the bottom tail. If you look closely you can see it is indeed an "e".
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Correction: He can't use the potatoes, he has to grow more. They were all flash frozen and killed, like the plants. He can still use them as food, but they won't sprout. The potatoes he uses to start the crop initially were never frozen; they were fresh potatoes sealed in plastic, brought on the ship with the crew.
Aerinah