Emma the Space Gardener 🌿🚀A quick update for Spudnik-1 fans.
The latest cargo delivery to the ISS contained several space plant experiments, including one on seed ageing from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/kew-gardens-has-sent-seeds-to-space-to-find-out-how-well-they-age/
In Don Pettit's latest photo of Spudnik-1, the space spud is growing with its bottom in an old drink bag.
(I blogged what I have discovered about Pettit's latest space gardening adventures last month: https://spacebotany.uk/blog/spudnik-1-don-pettit-reveals-his-iss-potato-experiment/)
The latest on the blog is an update on the mission to send Argentinian quinoa seeds into space - which has more concrete plans now.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/argentine-quinoas-space-mission-gets-real/
Details on the Canadian seeds that are on a trip round the Moon with Artemis II:
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/canadian-seeds-join-artemis-ii-for-round-the-moon-mission/
Don Pettit has shared some photos of his latest (2025) unorthodox space plant experiment - Spudnik-1! It has provoked some unhinged reactions from people who don't know what a sprouting potato looks like!!!
Image credits: Don Pettit/NASA. More details on the blog: https://spacebotany.uk/blog/spudnik-1-don-pettit-reveals-his-iss-potato-experiment/
This is an interesting one - a small-scale, student-led series of high-altitude balloon experiments to build a functioning greenhouse system for space plants. The CO2 needed is provided by fungal mycelium.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/can-high-flying-fungi-help-plants-breathe-in-space/
Researchers have done some interesting work exploring how well tardigrades can survive in Martian regolith simulants - and found a simple trick can improve its livability.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/what-water-bears-tell-us-about-growing-plants-on-mars/
An update on the Hungarian VITAPRIC experiment to grow microgreens in space - the plant samples have finally made it back home!
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/hungarys-space-grown-microgreens-return-to-earth/
Women-led research has just grown chickpeas from seed to seed in simulated lunar regolith. The trick is to think like a gardener, and let composting worms and friendly fungi lend a hand.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/fungi-worms-and-chickpeas-growing-food-in-lunar-regolith/
