First tomatoes, peas harvested on Mars, moon soil simulant

The second experiment on how to grow crops on Mars and moon soil simulant have given a surprising outcome. As a result of what the researchers of Wageningen University & Research centre in the Netherlands learned from their first experiments, they were able to grow ten different crop species. Tomatoes, peas, rye, garden rocket, radish and garden cress were harvested. "The total above ground biomass produced on the Mars soil simulant was not significantly different from the potting compost we used as a control," says researcher Dr Wieger Wamelink. The goal of the experiments is to provide the basis for growing crops on Mars and on the moon, in order to feed the first settlers. Moon soil simulant A few improvements have been made since the first experiment. Wamelink: "We used trays instead of small pots and added organic material (fresh cut grass) to the Mars and moon soil simulant. This solved the problem we had with watering in the first experiment and also added manure to the soils." In particular the crop growth on the moon soil simulant showed improvement. Where in the first moon soil experiment most plants died, in the next round they flourished and the researchers could harvest from the same species as on the Mars soil simulant and Earth potting compost control. Source; Wageningen University and Research Centre (2016).