In my off-duty time on Expedition 72 to the ISS, I grew potatoes in an amateur microgravity experiment. As noted in “The Martian” they are excellent nutrition sources and will likely be useful in future deep space horticulture. Absent gravity, the roots would grow haphazardly to find soil or water, and were bagged for containment, the closest thing we had for pots. Maybe one day potatoes will grow on Mars! Until then, we learn what we can in Earth orbit.
For those interested, more space photos and plant research can be found on my twitter and Instagram, astro_pettit
SteveLouise
This setup looks interesting. Once I get home from work I’ll have to try it out!
What USDA zone are you in, btw?
Chronicmatt
Were you able to fertilize with anything? How does water interact with the root system in that bag? Ive seen the video of water floating around in a ball before and wonder if roots would struggle
ravendorslytherpuff
Are they in water in the containment bag or is that just condensation?
poboy212
This is awesome! Is the internal growth structure the same? I wonder if nutrient levels will differ?
bkedsmkr
Has anyone ever been caught growing space weed?
honeysprout
Interesting, what do you think the white fuzzy stuff is? Maybe mycelium, mold, or root hairs??
monkee67
“Space Potato” would be an amazing band name
HopelessBearsFan
This has easily been my favorite thing to follow on Reddit this year
NoExternal2732
The original post for people who may have missed it:
This is so cool. Also, it has never been clearer to me that we are aliens.
analogbasset
What zone is space?
Decoy1328
Awesome endeavor! Is that mold at the bottom/ soil level? Just curious what that furry white stuff is.
romanichki
“WHERE’S THE FUCKING SOIL”
RubyDax
I’m more excited for your potatoes than my own! I love my garden, I swear!
Unrulyjeans
I am actually growing my own potatoes right now, this is SO cool to see what they look like in space!!
Darkespurr
Are you going to try and keep growing them when you get back to earth ?
Ps this is so cool
dahimes
You know, I feel bad for the people who can’t seem to keep anything alive on earth and they come across an astronaut growing something space.
Club0utrageous
I have to grow a few this year. They look unkillable. My worm bin has had eye chunks discarded in it TWO MONTHS ago and they’re still sending shoots trying to live.
aw2669
Now these are the updates I actually look forward to 🙌🏼 (this, and tree law)
Thanks for sharing, this is so cool
retawgnob
Very freaking cool. Congrats on the experiment opportunity.
Q: Do you think they will/can use the collected urea from the urine/water filtration setup as fertilizer for future experiments like this?
21 Comments
In my off-duty time on Expedition 72 to the ISS, I grew potatoes in an amateur microgravity experiment. As noted in “The Martian” they are excellent nutrition sources and will likely be useful in future deep space horticulture. Absent gravity, the roots would grow haphazardly to find soil or water, and were bagged for containment, the closest thing we had for pots. Maybe one day potatoes will grow on Mars! Until then, we learn what we can in Earth orbit.
For those interested, more space photos and plant research can be found on my twitter and Instagram, astro_pettit
This setup looks interesting. Once I get home from work I’ll have to try it out!
What USDA zone are you in, btw?
Were you able to fertilize with anything? How does water interact with the root system in that bag? Ive seen the video of water floating around in a ball before and wonder if roots would struggle
Are they in water in the containment bag or is that just condensation?
This is awesome! Is the internal growth structure the same? I wonder if nutrient levels will differ?
Has anyone ever been caught growing space weed?
Interesting, what do you think the white fuzzy stuff is? Maybe mycelium, mold, or root hairs??
“Space Potato” would be an amazing band name
This has easily been my favorite thing to follow on Reddit this year
The original post for people who may have missed it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/space/s/77RcoICNDj
This is so cool. Also, it has never been clearer to me that we are aliens.
What zone is space?
Awesome endeavor! Is that mold at the bottom/ soil level? Just curious what that furry white stuff is.
“WHERE’S THE FUCKING SOIL”
I’m more excited for your potatoes than my own! I love my garden, I swear!
I am actually growing my own potatoes right now, this is SO cool to see what they look like in space!!
Are you going to try and keep growing them when you get back to earth ?
Ps this is so cool
You know, I feel bad for the people who can’t seem to keep anything alive on earth and they come across an astronaut growing something space.
I have to grow a few this year. They look unkillable. My worm bin has had eye chunks discarded in it TWO MONTHS ago and they’re still sending shoots trying to live.
Now these are the updates I actually look forward to 🙌🏼 (this, and tree law)
Thanks for sharing, this is so cool
Very freaking cool. Congrats on the experiment opportunity.
Q: Do you think they will/can use the collected urea from the urine/water filtration setup as fertilizer for future experiments like this?
(I would think 100-400 ppm would do to start.)