Flexi Says: Plants in Space! For humans to travel to the Moon and Mars, astronauts will need to understand how to grow plants in extreme climates in order to help them stay alive. In 2014, Expedition 39 installed the Veggie plant growth system, also known as Veg-01. The Veggie system works by placing one seed in ‘plant pillows’. These are special bags with ‘space dirt’ that controls and releases fertilizer. A plant wick is inserted and a seed is placed inside the oriented so that the roots grow into the bag and the stem emerges up and out of the bag. Blue and Red LED lights are set for photosynthesis and give the plants a sense or directions so the keep growing upward. The walls of the Veggie chamber expand to fit the size of the growing crop.
