Crew 290 GreenHab Report 12-01-2024 (Sol 5)
Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer
Heater on (Shifted to 65⁰F), fan off, door closed
Average temperatures: 0845: 70.7⁰F, 15%, 1158: 86.7⁰F, 10%, 1655: 68.7⁰F, 44%
Hours of supplemental light: Nominal 4 hours overnight
Daily water usage for crops: 5.25 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: None!
Water in Blue Tank 163.3 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops:
0845: 3 gallons watering, ¾ gallon misting, 1158: ½ gallon misting, 1639: ½ gallon watering, ½ gal misting
Changes to crops: Rearranged positioning of tomatoes and moved them slightly away from the greenhab wall. Pruned all stressed/discoloring leaves on tomatoes and cucumbers
Narrative:
Today was a good sol in the world of the greenhouse. The plants got a healthy dose of water for breakfast and several mistings throughout the day. I noticed the tomatoes on the back of the main platform, closest to the outside wall, were slightly wilting and looking rather somber. I took matters into my own hands (even though I guess they’re the only hands available) and rearranged the positioning of all the tomato plants, to be further away from the wall and swapped the arrangement to alternate who’s getting the cold side of the bed (Tomato No. 9 stayed put mainly as I didn’t want to interrupt his flow and partially due to favorite child actions). If it’s not the cold, it could also be over exposure to the sun as they are closely in line with the sun’s trajectory. While the plants were doing the Martian Shuffle, I also trimmed off all the dead leaves. They received a good diversity of sonic vibrations today, the highlight being a double dose of Billy Strings! In preparation for the long-awaited Chana Aloo dinner, I was able to harvest some fresh cilantro for garnish. I clipped the herbs radially working inward as to prevent overlap with other herbs in the garden, the neighboring kale and dill appreciated this. I’m not sure if it’s because our Martian kitchen is devoid of fresh spices, but this cilantro tasted just as great as the arugula did yestersol. The rest of the crew shared this sentiment as the curry with garnish was a hit!
Harvest: 29 grams cilantro
Support/supplies needed: Just food for thought in terms of future greenhab upgrades, an automatic misting system or at least electrically driven handheld device would be great! It is tedious to deliver the misting (for managing humidity levels) with a spray bottle, but still manageable. Also, an upgrade to the environmental sensor would make a big difference, for more accurate data and possibly even a timelog. Knowing what’s going on overnight would be great!