Can trees grow in space?

Trees can grow in orbit, but good luck finding a pot big enough on the Space Station…


Asked by: Sam Tree, Shoreham

Experiments on the ISS have shown that young spruce tree seedlings do grow in microgravity, but they don’t look quite the same. The seedlings grow faster, and the pine needles don’t point downward so much. DNA analysis shows that several plant genes are more active in space, but we’re still waiting to find out the long-term effects on larger plants.

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