LED Lights Help German Polar Vegetables Grow Successfully

Researchers have successfully planted tomatoes, cucumbers and kohlrabi at a German Arctic science camp. At present, the camp has harvested 183 kilograms of fresh vegetables, including 29 kilograms of tomatoes and 1.6 kilograms of cucumbers. The experiment not only partially addresses the long winter camp worker's need for fresh vegetables, but also provides inspiration for growing vegetables in African deserts or for future human survival on Mars.

The polar winter has a long period of "isolation," and the sea ice is too thick to reach the camp without a supply ship. In the past, the camp staff could only rely on stored vegetables and food, and it was impossible to eat fresh vegetables.

Early February this year, the German Aerospace Center Arctic Science Camp personnel sent by the expedition ship plant containers, substrates and nutrient solution, in the container greenhouse test tomatoes. It's 42 degrees below zero outside, but tomatoes grow stubbornly in plant containers placed in containers 10 centimeters thick. Because there is little sunlight, researchers use LED lights.

Project manager Schubert says tomatoes grown in vegetable containers, though small, contain more vitamins than frozen vegetables. After all, they are fresh vegetables and are enjoyable for salad lovers. Moreover, polar vegetables do not need pesticides.

Schubert believes that for the future agriculture, the project may also be an example. More and more vegetable production around the world will be converted to vertical farms that can optimize the ecological footprint of cities, such as fertilizing vegetables with wastewater from wastewater treatment plants or sending carbon dioxide-containing waste gases to greenhouse greenhouses.

The German Aerospace Center is working with Morocco and Egypt to test vegetables in the desert. They placed some containers in remote villages and used solar energy to spray the lowest-needed water into the vegetable containers inside the containers. This project has been supported by the German Federal Ministry of education and research.

Related to the project is the exploration of human survival on Mars, the future of human flight to Mars, whether on the way or after arrival, during which time they must grow their own fruits and vegetables.