Approximating Martian Light

Hello, RF lighting and horticulture aficionados.

For reasons I can go into if people are interested, I'm thinking about growing some plants under similar lighting conditions as would be experienced by a plant being grown in a greenhouse (airtight) on Mars.

Timing is pretty easily done, I've figured that one out. and the spectrum of Martian light is essentially the same as on Earth (which makes sense, I guess, what with sharing a star), with the main difference being intensity (aside from timing differences, of course). On Earth, maximum solar irradiance is about 1000 W/m^2, compared to about 590W/m^2 on Mars. These being maxima, one could use light substantially less intense than this, but it would still need to be pretty high.

What kind of lighting arrangements would I need to replicate these two light intensities? Any ideas among any people experienced in indoor plant growing?

Thanks!

^^^^^^^^^

Ya know, the movie "The Martian" is coming out today. It is based on the novel of the same name by American writer Andy Weir.

I read the book a few months ago, and it is very technical and specific in regards to all the work he had to do to survive his months and months alone on Mars before help arrived.

Included in his survival quest is building a greenhouse and growing his own food. He does this very successfully, once exclaiming, only partly in jest, "I am the greatest botanist on this entire planet!" LOL

So I think if you read the book, or at least skimmed to the parts specific to the greenhouse construction you might find what you'r looking for.

Or---did you see the movie and this is what prompted you to try this yourself? LOL. I have not seen it yet, but I plan to this weekend, so I am not sure if it goes into the same amount of detail as the book did. I very much doubt it though, as movie versions of books rarely do. And the novel for this movie was VERY technical, almost too much for me--and I am a scientist. LOL

Hope this helps.

You should look up methods of growing marijuana. Those guys have mastered the art of getting a plant to reach maximum potential while hiding it in a closet or basement.

Kirran said:

Hello, RF lighting and horticulture aficionados.

For reasons I can go into if people are interested, I'm thinking about growing some plants under similar lighting conditions as would be experienced by a plant being grown in a greenhouse (airtight) on Mars.

Timing is pretty easily done, I've figured that one out. and the spectrum of Martian light is essentially the same as on Earth (which makes sense, I guess, what with sharing a star), with the main difference being intensity (aside from timing differences, of course). On Earth, maximum solar irradiance is about 1000 W/m^2, compared to about 590W/m^2 on Mars. These being maxima, one could use light substantially less intense than this, but it would still need to be pretty high.

What kind of lighting arrangements would I need to replicate these two light intensities? Any ideas among any people experienced in indoor plant growing?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Aside from the sunlight being less intense, it is also less filtered than on Earth because the atmosphere is so much thinner, so that the balance will be different--more UV in relation to the visible spectrum for example. Of course, if there is glass or even plastic over the greenhouse, it might help with such problems. Also, using natural- or grow-light bulbs can help provide better light for plants to grow with.

Saint_of_Me said:

^^^^^^^^^

Ya know, the movie "The Martian" is coming out today. It is based on the novel of the same name by American writer Andy Weir.

I read the book a few months ago, and it is very technical and specific in regards to all the work he had to do to survive his months and months alone on Mars before help arrived.

Included in his survival quest is building a greenhouse and growing his own food. He does this very successfully, once exclaiming, only partly in jest, "I am the greatest botanist on this entire planet!" LOL

So I think if you read the book, or at least skimmed to the parts specific to the greenhouse construction you might find what you'r looking for.

Or---did you see the movie and this is what prompted you to try this yourself? LOL. I have not seen it yet, but I plan to this weekend, so I am not sure if it goes into the same amount of detail as the book did. I very much doubt it though, as movie versions of books rarely do. And the novel for this movie was VERY technical, almost too much for me--and I am a scientist. LOL

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Yup, I've heard about this movie Haven't seen it, or read the book.

But I can't see that it will address this particular issue, seeing as it is one which will only be relevant to somebody on Earth attempting to mimic a certain subset of Martian conditions.

freethinker44 said:

You should look up methods of growing marijuana. Those guys have mastered the art of getting a plant to reach maximum potential while hiding it in a closet or basement.

Click to expand...

I can neither confirm nor deny that I have had some experience in this area during my less 'puritan' days. But in any case, maximum potential isn't what I'm talking about here, I'm talking about mimicking Martian light levels artificially.

beenherebeforeagain said:

Aside from the sunlight being less intense, it is also less filtered than on Earth because the atmosphere is so much thinner, so that the balance will be different--more UV in relation to the visible spectrum for example. Of course, if there is glass or even plastic over the greenhouse, it might help with such problems. Also, using natural- or grow-light bulbs can help provide better light for plants to grow with.

Click to expand...

Yes, this is interesting. Being an attempt at a simulation of what conditions a plant would be in in a greenhouse on Mars, I think a lot of UV would be filtered out.

So basically, there'd be two things running in this experiment - 1) some plants growing under a light intensity equivalent to what they'd be in on Mars, at Martian timings (so about 12.25 hours of light in a 24.5 hour cycle, possibly varied to simulate Martian seasons, and 2) the same species and variety of plant growing under the same bulbs (so the same spectrum) but at higher light intensity to mimic Earth and at 12 hours of light per 24 hr cycle, again possibly varied to simulate Terran seasons. This latter would be the control, of course.

I'm just looking for advice on the specific light intensities and how to best achieve them, and secondly about the feasibility of mimicking Martian and Terran seasons through the lighting regime.