Lunar soil, is it good for plants?

(Abdul Ahad) wrote in message . com...
(Bill Carson ) wrote in message . com...
I been pondering what the grey moon soil is really like and whether
you can simply "just add water" to make it suitable for plants!
Seriously, does the soil on the moon need to have organic nutrients to
support plants or can you turn lunar soil into growing soil just by
adding water?

You could argue the same for soil on Mars and the asteroids.

BC

Hi Bill,
I once tried a few "fantasy" experiments myself trying to grow some
vegetables under the electric light... in a true spirit of
astroculture "simulations" of course! Real lunar or extra-terrestrial
soil was obviously priced at a premium and hard to come by, so I had
to settle for the stuff found here on Earth:-

http://uk.geocities.com/aa_spaceagent/astroculture.html

You might find the 1970s movie "Silent Running" of some inspiration,
as Bruce Dern was doing similar growings onboard his space freighter
Valley Forge...
I am assuming you are actually going to start a "sky farming" project
as such of course!

Abdul Ahad
"What do you get when you cross Astronomy with Geometry?"
http://uk.geocities.com/aa_spaceagent/astrometry.html

Mines is just thought experiments right now but thanx anyhow.

BTW your stuff on binary stars at-
http://uk.geocities.com/aa_spaceagent/astrometry.html

is quite good. I might check out some star colors of binaries myself
once the sky clears.

Bill C

In om,
Abdul Ahad typed:
I once tried a few "fantasy" experiments myself trying to grow some
vegetables under the electric light... in a true spirit of
astroculture "simulations" of course!

Of course....where did you get the cannabis seeds from, then?

;-)

Jo

In om,
Abdul Ahad typed:
I once tried a few "fantasy" experiments myself trying to grow some
vegetables under the electric light... in a true spirit of
astroculture "simulations" of course!

Of course....where did you get the cannabis seeds from, then?

;-)

Jo

In message , Abdul Ahad
writes
Jonathan Silverlight
wrote

After the Apollo landings they tried growing seeds in a "soil" sample
and I gather it was successful. There's nothing poisonous in it.
If current theory is right, that might not be true of Martian soil,
which may be highly oxidising.

That's very interesting and encouraging to know that lunar soil is
"growable" in without too much effort. I also read somewhere the
Apollo astronauts took sycamore and other tree seeds with them to the
Moon and back and that they were subsequently germinated and planted
as Moon trees at certain locations around the states.

Thanks for reminding me about that. Looking it up on Google tells me
that there's a lot of interest about them.. Thousands of hits. They were
taken by Stuart Roosa on Apollo 13. Sadly, there seem to be none in the
UK.
Slightly related topic - I wonder if anyone is growing descendants of
the "killer tomatoes" that went up on the LDEF?

In message , Abdul Ahad
writes
Jonathan Silverlight
wrote

After the Apollo landings they tried growing seeds in a "soil" sample
and I gather it was successful. There's nothing poisonous in it.
If current theory is right, that might not be true of Martian soil,
which may be highly oxidising.

That's very interesting and encouraging to know that lunar soil is
"growable" in without too much effort. I also read somewhere the
Apollo astronauts took sycamore and other tree seeds with them to the
Moon and back and that they were subsequently germinated and planted
as Moon trees at certain locations around the states.

Thanks for reminding me about that. Looking it up on Google tells me
that there's a lot of interest about them.. Thousands of hits. They were
taken by Stuart Roosa on Apollo 13. Sadly, there seem to be none in the
UK.
Slightly related topic - I wonder if anyone is growing descendants of
the "killer tomatoes" that went up on the LDEF?

Jonathan Silverlight wrote

They were
taken by Stuart Roosa on Apollo 13.

Roosa was CMP on Apollo 14. Apollo 13 didn't quite make it.

--
Hil

Jonathan Silverlight wrote

They were
taken by Stuart Roosa on Apollo 13.

Roosa was CMP on Apollo 14. Apollo 13 didn't quite make it.

--
Hil

Brilliant work Bill. I feel inspired. I just started
gardening this year, got myself a garden very close
to Martian conditions... near Uppsala, Sweden.

Coincidentally, I am growing Mexican koriander. Please consider
this is also important for Mexican foods, like Salsa Verde. My
land is 10x100 meters and I am putting up a shelter and greenhouse.
My background is molecular medicine, so I have some biology
training. We were just discussing amongst some of the other
gardeners there, some more serious science. You have revitalized
my interests.

I would like to find out what a lunar soil would consist of,
including particle sizes. I am sure it will work fine as a supporting
substrate, but some heavier metals, if present, could accumulate
into leaves and fruits rendering them inedible. The extent of this
could depend on thing like temperature, freeze-thaw cycles, particle
size, moisture content, pH, etc.

I shall be interested to see how your work progresses...

Dominic-Luc Webb

Brilliant work Bill. I feel inspired. I just started
gardening this year, got myself a garden very close
to Martian conditions... near Uppsala, Sweden.

Coincidentally, I am growing Mexican koriander. Please consider
this is also important for Mexican foods, like Salsa Verde. My
land is 10x100 meters and I am putting up a shelter and greenhouse.
My background is molecular medicine, so I have some biology
training. We were just discussing amongst some of the other
gardeners there, some more serious science. You have revitalized
my interests.

I would like to find out what a lunar soil would consist of,
including particle sizes. I am sure it will work fine as a supporting
substrate, but some heavier metals, if present, could accumulate
into leaves and fruits rendering them inedible. The extent of this
could depend on thing like temperature, freeze-thaw cycles, particle
size, moisture content, pH, etc.

I shall be interested to see how your work progresses...

Dominic-Luc Webb

Dominic-Luc Webb wrote:

I would like to find out what a lunar soil would consist of,
including particle sizes. I am sure it will work fine as a supporting
substrate, but some heavier metals, if present, could accumulate
into leaves and fruits rendering them inedible.

My guess would be that power station fly-ash might make a good analogue.

Steve