Watering Plants in Space with Mark Weislogel (GotG29)

Prof Mark Weislogel from Portland State University joins Emma the Space Gardener to explore engineering solutions to the challenge of watering plants in space.

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Hello, and welcome to episode 29 of Gardeners of the Galaxy, the podcast for all of the sentient beings in the universe who have a passion for plants! I’m Emma the Space Gardener, and I will be your host as we explore gardening on Earth… and beyond!

Over the past year, Gardeners of the Galaxy has explored many different space plant experiments, from Don Pettit sowing seeds in his underwear to successful space salads and experimental radishes and chillies. And the thing that keeps coming up is the challenge of watering plants in space.

Anyone who has spent any time watching astronauts in space will have seen them playing around with water, which behaves in remarkable ways in microgravity. I’ll put a link to a couple of videos in the show notes – Chris Hadfield wringing out a wet washcloth, Tim Peake playing water ping pong and one about the zero-g coffee cup.

With water behaving in such unexpected ways, it can be tough to give plants enough water without it engulfing their roots. This year, a team of researchers has been exploring how we can use forces other than gravity to control water flows for plants. In a series of experiments called Plant Water Management, they have been developing systems that automatically deliver the right kinds of water flow for plant growth.

Professor Mark