Diatoms are Out of this World!
Yesterday’s Artemis II launch puts humanity one step closer to using the moon as a base camp for deep space exploration. But with any interplanetary fantasy, there is always one glaring problem; you must bring everything with you!
To sustain a colony of support staff on the moon, humanity would need to reuse and regenerate water and oxygen as much as possible, and having a way to grow some food would be a huge bonus.
Enter the tiny diatom! They can do it all! Most already know that they are the lungs of our planet, converting CO2 to breathable oxygen through photosynthesis at a global scale, and that they can thrive on nitrogen and phosphorus (think human waste), but did you know they can modify soils for the better?
Researchers in China published research in Biogeotechnics where the researchers looked at how diatoms could be helpful in making the lunar soils acceptable for agriculture.
The issue with the lunar soil is that it consists of a fine regolith powder made of mostly plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, olivine, and ilmenite. This material does not get exposed to biological degradation like our materials on Earth. This leaves the particulates sharp and angular that will scratch and damage seeds and seedlings. There also is little to no organic matter, poor water retention, limited bioavailable nutrients, and a very high alkaline pH creating a difficult environment for other soil microbes to take hold.
The researchers used a simulated lunar soil and compared the growth of rice in soils with and without added diatoms. They found that the diatoms eroded and rounded the sharp mineral edges (reducing seed/root damage), bioleached minerals releasing silicon and other nutrients in plant available forms, promoted particle aggregation (improving structure), increasing water retention capacity, lowered soil pH toward more plant and microbe-friendly levels, and added organic matter through biomass accumulation.
Electron Microscope images of lunar soil simulant from Diatom-driven activation of in-situ lunar resource utilization for space farming
If diatoms can help the lunar soils become viable (move over Mesopotamia, there’s a new Fertile Crescent in town!), then they surely can help improve any soil on Earth!
Fish Brew Bold and Fish Brew Rise & Thrive both contain a diverse array of freshwater diatoms that get to work right away improving your soil.