Would plants grow bigger in the 1/6th gravity of the moon, if someone ever builds a moon base?

Answer 1

It's not just a matter of there being 1/6th gravity. The type of soil, the type of light, the type of atmosphere all play into it.

There's no reason to expect that plants would automatically be giants. But it's equally possible that they might grow a little bigger than they do on earth, given the right conditions.

Answer 2

One must take into acount that a day takes a month on the moon, hense the light and dark sides of it. You need a green house, air tight, including below the subsoil. You need water, and bacteria that will break down raw rocky nutrients into organic matter on which fungus and earthworms can feed. Then you can plant. Of course the intense UV light needs to be dealt with. By Gold or polorization, for the gardener, if not the high altitude Earth plants you plant. You need a dehumidifier for transporation to occur. I do think that plants would likely be larger in every sense, perhaps exponenitally big. Like a cluster of grapes, the size of oranges. Really, the best place to study this would be in a manual on indoor growing, hydroponic type stuff, you know, tomatos...

Answer 3

Unlikely, the rate at which they absorb nutrients would remain the same and their size is a function of their genetic code, forged through centuries of evolution to obtain their current height/weight/rigidity ratio.

It might open the possibility of breeding taller plants through artificial or natural selection though. So I wouldn't say plants WOULD grow bigger initially but a few millennia of adaptation (or decades of eugenics) might change that.

Answer 4

There would be the problem of air and soil. Unless we put them in pots, and then there's the problem of erratic sunlight. It is possible they can grow taller, but bigger? I doubt it.

Answer 5

Yes.

Answer 6

If you could add air water and sun. Maybe.

Answer 7

no