Science Alive! Terrariums - Space Plants
The team of Plants for Space, Adelaide University and Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium were so excited to see you at Science Alive! today. We hope you learned a lot during the day and enjoyed making your terrarium with us, while learning about space horticulture.
Want to learn more about how we are growing plants for space? You can find a lot of interesting videos on our YouTube Channel, or in our media library. Keen on visiting the Botanic Gardens with school and becoming a futurenaut with Project Space Botany? You can read up about all of that here.
Terrarium Tips & Tricks
After you take your terrarium home and find it a nice spot inside the house with a bit of sunshine, you keep the lid on for about three days. After those first days you can take the lid off and start watering your little seedling: make sure the soil and moss are wet but don't drown the plant!
Once your seedling is growing you can start thinking of giving it a bigger pot at about 10 to 14 days. Which is these annual plants did you plant at Science Alive! with us?
- Plant it out in Sep-Jan, once it is about 10cm tall and has some ‘true’ leaves (not just its first cotyledon ‘baby’ leaves!)
- Ready to harvest in 65-75 days
- It bears a continuous supply of beans when it begins to fruit. Keep on picking it!
- It is a climbing bean – that means it will need a support to let it grow… What could you design and use to support it? (Consider sticks, string…)
- Grows best in damp, not waterlogged soil.
- Best soil temps for growing: 16-30°C
- Plant it out in Sep-Feb, once it is about 10cm tall and has some ‘true’ leaves (not just its first cotyledon ‘baby’ leaves!)
- Ready to harvest in 55-70 days
- It bears a continuous supply of beans when it begins to fruit. Keep on picking it! It’s high in vitamins A, B, and C.
- It is a bush bean, meaning it does not need a support to grow on.
- Grows best in damp, not waterlogged soil.
- Best soil temps for growing: 16-30°C
- Plant it out in late Winter
- Ready to harvest in 90-120 days
- Plants may need support by strings between stakes. What could you design and use to support it? (Consider sticks, string…)
- Eat fresh from pods like peas, or dried seeds are excellent cooked. It’s high in vitamins B and E.
- Grows best in damp, not waterlogged soil.
- Best soil temps for growing: 6-24°C
Lettuce (Looseleaf, Salad Bowl Green)
- Plant it out in any season as a seedling
- Ready to harvest in 60-85 days
- You can pick it leaf by leaf, and let it continue to grow! Start with bigger ‘outside’ leaves to allow the smaller ‘inner’ leaves to grow.
- Grows best in some shade, but doesn’t like very hot conditions.
- Best soil temps for growing: 6-24°C
- Plant it out when all frost in Winter has passed. Will grow well from Spring into Summer.
- Ready to harvest in 90-120 days
- Plants may need support by strings between stakes. What could you design and use to support it? (Consider sticks, string…)
- Water its roots rather than overhead, to reduce the chance of disease.
- Grows best in damp, not waterlogged soil.
- Best soil temps for growing: 16-35°C