On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 20:13:18 +0000, Pascal Bourguignon wrote:

"Gordon Couger" writes:

"Pascal Bourguignon" wrote in message
...

Has the experiment of growing plants under the light conditions of the
Moon surface ever been done? What would happen if you tried to grow
normal plants with lights on for 14 days and off for 14 days?

The ultraviolet light in the sun light on the moon would kill most
plants.

I assume that UV filters would be integrated to the green-house...


Some will adapt to the 14 day of sun an night but most higher plants
would not do well. Lichens would do fine. They might even stand the UV.

What about genetic modifications to help tomatoes and potatoes adapt to
that schedule?


It would seem to be alot of work to modify plants to produce on an alien
enviroment. It would seem to me that the major benifts of plant growth in
space would be for the recycling of co2 and waste water. We would be
looking at the most cost effective way for living on the moon and growing
our own food on the moon would very likely not be cost effective (IMHO).

It seems the best set up would be a system where the green house was
shaded every 12 to 14 hours to give the plants a dark photo period. During
the dark period on the moon, they would suppliment the light photo period
with good old lights. Hid or even sulpher (why not we're on the moon
eh..?) lights running off a battery bank or fuel cell.