From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Sun May 28 2000 - 22:40:22 MDT
zeb haradon wrote:
>
> I came across the following link:
> http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=1791
> It is about a student project to grow potatoes in (simulated) Martian soil.
> Is this possible? This is very startling to me. I was under the impression
> that you need some sort of organic material in the soil to grow any kind of
> plant, and surely they will need to at least add water.
> What exactly are the soil requirements for growing various types of plants?
> Could you grow food plants in the dust which coats the moon? If so, this
> drastically simplifies my lunar colonization plans.
>
There are plants which grow in desert sand, and plants which grow on
pure rock. Many plants depend upon heavily organic soil, because most
plants have evolved in such soil, however there are many that can be
grown hydroponically, i.e. with no soil at all. References to 'organic'
material do not necessarily refer to rotting plant material or
microorganisms. Such references refer to the use of organic (i.e. carbon
chemistry) compounds dissolved in water. Most current Martian
terraforming plans involve the development of extremophilic lichens and
microorganisms to begin the process of slowly converting the soil.
Lunar soil brought back to earth has been used in growing experiments,
but you could not grow anything on the moon, as it is a vacuum, no
atmosphere. The moon is not large enough to hold a decent enough
atmosphere to support life, and any atmosphere that may be developed
will quickly be evaporated away into space, through solar radiation and
terran tidal influence. Any agriculture on the moon will have to be
indoors.
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