Christine Escobar on growing water plants in space: GotG11

Join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores gardening on Earth… and beyond! Emma’s guest on this week’s show is Christine Escobar, VP of Space Lab Technologies. Christine talks about the wonderful microgravity lilypond, and the company’s plans to put a greenhouse on Mars.

Christine explains that Space Lab Technologies are developing sustainable technology for human space exploration, with the wonderful vision of building a completely self-sufficient, Earth-independent space habitat!

The company recently sent their microgravity lilypond on a quick trip into space on the New Shepard NS-13 mission. Chris explains why they’ve chosen duckweed (water lentils) as the perfect space crop and details the challenges of growing an aquatic plant in space. She also offers us a sneak peek at the Mars Oasis project, which aims to put a greenhouse on the red planet!

Gardeners of the Galaxy: episode 11 script

Hello and welcome to episode eleven of Gardeners of the Galaxy, a podcast for all of the sentient beings in the Universe who have a passion for plants. I am Emma the Space Gardener, and I will be your host as we explore gardening on Earth… and beyond!

My guest on this week’s show is Christine Escobar, VP of Space Lab Technologies, who recently sent an exciting plant experiment into space on a New Shepard rocket.

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I also wanted to say a big thank you to Gigi, Christine’s executive assistant, for setting up our interview and for sharing her fantasy space plant with me. If Gigi was joining a colony on the Moon or on Mars, she would take her lemon tree with her! How wonderful would that be, to pick your own lemons in space?

If you’d like to share your fantasy space plant, you can send me an email  – the address is