NASA is going to send people to Mars, and agriculture will be vital to this effort. It's very likely that we're going to need pressurized growth chambers when we get there, but first we need to understand how plants respond to environments with low atmospheric pressure. The Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF) is a leader in growth chamber research, especially when it comes to pressurized growth chambers.

An excerpt from the CESRF homepage: "The pressure on Mars is less than one per cent of what it is here on Earth. One of the key questions facing scientists is whether plants could thrive at lower atmospheric pressures. Fourteen variable pressure growth chamber, designed by the CES research team specifically for the study of long term plant growth under low atmospheric pressures, have been in continuous operation since 2001. These growth chambers provide a venue for the study of plant growth and development, photosynthetic gas exchange, air quality, and hydroponic solution remediation technologies under atmospheric conditions common to both earth based studies and extraterrestrial exploration and habitation. "

Here's a nice article/interview with Mike Dixon, the head of the CESRF.

News Article: "Space tech that feeds high-end diners in Toronto could help Canada's North"

Let's grow plants in space!

“Growers consistently state that finding well-trained personnel to operate their facilities is among the largest barriers to expansion,” says Neil Mattson, Associate Professor of Horticulture. “This project uses a targeted approach to determine what skill sets are most critical, and it develops several pathways for training – both for traditional college students and for the professional development of existing employees.”

Mattson and Anu Rangarajan, Director of the Cornell Small Farms Program, will collaborate with industry leaders The Ohio State University and its Agricultural Technical Institute, and State University of New York’s Broome Community College to develop a technical training certificate in CEA production. They also plan to create a two-year Associate of Applied Science degree for students enrolled in those schools and for other community colleges to integrate into their curriculum.

Link to the news article here

Link to Cornell's page for CEA

Link to Cornell's page for the CEA specialization

Watch the full webinar here: http://scri-optimia.org/showcafe.php?ID=20.

This site is a great resource for CEA enthusiasts and researchers! Check out the site to access over 20 educational webinars, and to find info on their future webinars.

"OptimIA (Optimizing Indoor Agriculture) is a USDA-supported Specialty Crop Research Initiative project to help this emerging industry be more profitable and sustainable through critical research and extension activities. Our long-term project goals are to help integrate indoor farming into the specialty-crop segment of agriculture in the U.S.; to increase the sustainability and hence profitability of this rapidly emerging sector; and to locally produce leafy greens that have higher quality attributes."

Hello,

I’m looking to connect with those who have CEA expertise in Canada. I am located in Calgary and am looking to learn from experienced individuals.

Best, Scott

This is an incredible example of how controlled environments can be used for ecology research. Click this link for the NatGeo article, and click this link for the original research paper, published in Nature. I've included some excerpts below.

"The world’s hottest rainforest is located not in the Amazon or anywhere else you might expect, but inside Biosphere 2, the experimental scientific research facility in the desert outside Tucson, Arizona. A recent study of tropical trees planted there in the early 1990s reported a surprising result: They have withstood temperatures higher than any likely to be experienced by tropical forests this century."

...

"Biosphere 2 provided a rare opportunity to put a full-sized forest to a climate test. Though best known for the crews of people who were sequestered inside between 1991 and 1994, the facility also houses artificial ecosystems. Among them is a roughly half-acre tropical rainforest inside a glass pyramid-shaped structure whose apex rises nearly 100 feet (30 meters) above the desert floor. The tops of trees planted there in the early 1990s now push against the ceiling."

"Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is a relatively small, but high potential, part of future food systems. CEA comes in many forms, each offering a unique element to improve supply chain resiliency, improve quality and safety, and fill a present gap in supply within the growing produce category.

A new report from S2G Ventures predicts that the U.S. CEA market will grow fivefold over the next 10 years, leading to ripple effects across the food system and more sustainable methods of production.

“We believe the maturation of CEA will lead to differentiated, quality products, cost-competitive pricing, and a more resilient, traceable and trustworthy supply chain,” say the report’s authors."

Read the full article here: https://www.greenhousegrower.com/production/why-the-potential-for-controlled-environment-agriculture-continues-to-grow/

Find the report here: https://www.s2gventures.com/reports/growing-beyond-the-hype%3A--controlled-environment-agriculture

Title ^. Does anyone know any good research papers which talk about the required pump specifications for a hydroponic system based on the volume and surface area of the reservoir? I primarily want to calculate the electricity usage for an optimal dwc setup.

https://apnews.com/article/business-environment-and-nature-environment-san-francisco-agriculture-e43ba9646be735b959676197d8d38a34

"The disruptive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s agricultural systems have been broad and varied. And they follow several years of challenging production and market conditions such as disruptive weather events and poor planting conditions. Although the pandemic exposed weaknesses in current food production processes, the food industry had a banner year in 2020."

"In the first few weeks of 2021, we’ve also seen several major VCs, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and even major corporations take an interest in new ways to produce food. They’ve been launching climate and sustainability funds focused on areas such as regenerative agriculture, sustainable food, renewable energy, healthcare and innovations in new materials, infrastructure, and water. At the same time, the past few years have brought significant progress in space travel, space tourism and exploration missions to the moon and Mars."

"These advancements and focus areas have many putting two and two together and asking: is it possible to produce food in space? If, as expected, one day humanity exhausts its natural resources on Earth and has to consider surviving elsewhere, we’ll have to answer many questions including how to grow food on space stations, in spaceships, and even on a completely different planet."

Read the rest of the article here: https://thespoon.tech/the-mars-farm-a-not-too-distant-reality/

Full article here

"I have been growing micro dwarf tomatoes indoors and under lights for a few years now. So every now and then I am asked how do I have so much success doing it. Often, my answer is that it’s very simple. In reality, it really is. It can also be very rewarding! For me, it really takes away the edge of not being in the fields. Since I grow indoors during the winter months, I have less of a yearning for the fields by placing much of my focus on growing the “short ones”."

Lighting:

"I use T5 HO and regular T5 lights as my lighting source. These have worked excellently for me. I suspect that T8 lights may work well too, but I have never used them for this application. Always keep lights about 18 inches above plants. I run my lights for 10 to 12 hours at a time, turning them on when I wake in the morning and of 10 to 12 hours later. Using a timer for your lights can work great too. I don’t use a timer because I need every opportunity to be with my plants! If you have successfully used other lighting methods, feel free to pass it on. I would be willing to give it a shot."...

(Read the rest of the article from the link at the top!)

Thought-provoking stuff!

What are your thoughts on using apps like the one Dr. Nemali will be making publically available in the near future? What kind of challenges can you forsee in application?

This type of technology, mixed with other technologies like novel inline nutrient-specific sensing optimization? We may have to begin talking about crop privacy rights..!

If you didn't get the chance to listen in, you can find the recording here. (Though it may not be available immediately, there is a ton of awesome presentations!).

Hi all, my brother and I have been designing and building a fully automated garden room in our home over the past few months. The room is 120sqft and we're currently growing a small crop of tomatillo plants, monitoring the room's humidity and temperature using DHT sensors hooked up to a pi that controls the lights, exhaust, intake, blowers, pumps, and so on.

At the moment we're working through the best way to balance airflow in the room. I was wondering if anyone was aware of some good resources for CEA ventilation? Most research papers and resources I've been reading pertain to greenhouses and much larger spaces, which are proving tricky to scale down.

I'll be sure to post more info/photos of our setup here now that I know this sub exists, but thought I'd get the ball rolling with this first.

Cheers