Plants will be an important component of
off-Earth life support systems for food production
and atmosphere recycling. “Veggie” is a small
vegetable production unit designed for space
flight, with a passive water delivery system.
Plants can be grown in Veggie using small bags
with a wicking surface containing media and
fertilizer, i.e., pillows. Pillows planted with seeds
can be placed on the wicking surface of the
Veggie reservoir and water will wick throughout
the media. Multiple small salad and herb species
were grown in Veggie analog conditions using
both commercial peat-based media and arcillite.