In the latest entries in Space Zucchini�s diary, Exp. 30 crew member @astro_Pettit introduces us to some of the other plants aboard the #ISS. http://bit.ly/Ie3mnj
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Diary of a Space Zucchini
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February 20
We have two new crewmates, Sunflower and Broccoli.� Sunflower has a long stem for the size of his leaves.� He is standing tall.� Broccoli is small and weak.� His sprout is so small that without the normal gravitational signals, surface tension forces keep his cotyledons from breaking free from the damp pigmat medium.� Effectively, his first two leaves are glued down to a wet layer.� Within a day or two mold takes over and the poor sprout dies.� It grieves me to see them die.� Life can be tough on the frontier.
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February 21
Gardener picked one sprout out from the damp pigmat and stood him up with a piece of Kapton tape.� An experiment he said it was.� After a few days Broccoli was strong enough to stand on his own.� He is still very weak and may not survive.
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February 28
Sunflower is becoming a slackard.� He is lazy.� His stem is now about 40 centimeters long but is so thin and spindly that on Earth he would not be able to stand.� A small breeze would cause his stem to buckle.� But here in weightlessness, his stem does not need support so he is doing very little to strengthen it.� The same thing happens to Gardener.� He has two stems and they are getting spindly as well.� But he is working hard to keep his strength.� I know this because he takes me to the exercise machine when he works out and I get to drink real sunlight from the cupola windows while he pushes against heavy forces that simulate weightlifting on Earth.� My gardener works out on this machine for two hours every day.� Are we exploring the frontier or at health camp?� Maybe a bit of both.� Most of his effort is focused on his stems with exercises called squats and deadlifts.� His stems may be thin but he is keeping them strong.�
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March 5
Broccoli survived the surface tension forces and the mold.� He is now 10 centimeters tall and has deep rich green leaves.� He must like drinking the compost tea.�� I still find it sour and not to my liking.� My gardener also likes to put his nose close to Broccoli.� I am not jealous, he has told me that I am still his favorite.
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Don's blog also appears at airspacemag.com