Here is a list of plants that have been grown in space. We’ve divided the plants into three categories. Research plants are plants that have been grown in space that are primarily for research and not typically grown for sustenance. Sustenance plants are plants that could serve as viable crops in the future. Ornamental plants are plants that serve as decoration and general foliage.
RESEARCH PLANTS
Arabidopsis thaliana
A. thaliana is the model organism for plant biology due to its short lifecycle, small size, and useful genomic data. A. Thaliana was the first plant to ever flower in space, in 1982 aboard Soviet Salyut 7. This plant has been grown on many space missions due to its immense research value. It is not a viable source of food for astronauts, but the discoveries made using A. thaliana provide insight that can be applied to all varieties of plants.
Learn more: Arabidopsis thaliana
Year: 1982
Spacecraft: Soviet Salyut 7
Brachypodium distachyon
Brachypodium distachyon is a research grass species most recently grown on the International Space Station under the management of Dr. Patrick Masson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Year: 2018
Spacecraft: International Space Station
Brassica rapa
Brassica rapa is a plant with tasty subspecies such as Bok Choy and Napa Cabbage. The educational tool Wisconsin Fast Plants is a selected species of B. rapa. It was grown on the Russian space station MIR in 1997 and was a joint venture between NASA and the Russian Space Agency. Literature
Year: 1997
Plant Habitat: SVET
Spacecraft: MIR
Ceratopteris richardii
Ceratopteris richardii (also known as Triangle Water Fern) spores were germinated on STS-93 in 1999.
Year: 1999
Spacecraft: Columbia
Cotton
In an amazing first, China successfully grew cotton on the surface of the moon in 2019.
Year: 2019
Spacecraft: Chang’e-4 (on the surface of the moon)
SUSTENANCE PLANTS
Mizuna Lettuce
Mizuna lettuce has been grown on the International Space Station. This Japanese lettuce was involved in an experiment with water uptake and fertilizer. You can read about it here:
Year: 2010
Spacecraft: International Space Station
Zucchini
Zucchini was officially grown in space in 2012 during Expedition 30/31 on the International Space Station. The zucchini was grown in a plastic bag and nutrient solution, using aeroponics. The medium of transfer was still water, but was in the form of a fine mist, and therefore basically air. This was to reduce a large volume of water from being used. Astronaut Donald Pettit created a blog about growing a space zucchini, which you can read here.
Year: 2012
Plant Habitat: Ziploc Plastic Sandwich Baggie
Spacecraft: International Space Station
Wheat
Super-dwarf wheat was planted in 1995 on MIR. Super-dwarf is a variety of wheat with poor agronomic traits but small size for growth in a confined area such as a spacecraft. Literature
Additional Literature- courtesy of Dr. Oscar Monje
Microgravity effects on thylakoid, single leaf, and whole canopy photosynthesis of dwarf wheat
CANOPY PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND TRANSPIRATION IN MICRO- GRAVITY: GAS EXCHANGE MEASUREMENTS ABOARD MIR
Year: 1995, 2002
Plant Habitat: SVET, PGBA
Spacecraft: MIR, ISS
Red Romaine Lettuce
The “outredgeous” variety of red romaine lettuce was grown and eaten by astronauts on the International Space Station in 2015 on ISS Expedition 44. It was grown in the VEGGIE plant growth system.
Year: 2015
Plant Habitat: VEGGIE
Spacecraft: International Space Station
Rice
Rice germinated in space as part of an experiment designed by students from Nebraska on Skylab, NASA’s repurposed Saturn V that served as a space station. Gravitropism and root orientation were examined.
Year: 1973
Plant Habitat: Unnamed Skylab Growth Chamber
Spacecraft: Skylab
Tomato
Year: 2002
Plant Habitat: PGBA
Spacecraft: International Space Station
Spinach
Year: 2002
Plant Habitat: PGBA
Spacecraft: International Space Station
Pepper
Year: 2002
Plant Habitat: PGBA
Spacecraft: International Space Station
Broccoli
Broccoli was flown to the International Space Station in 2018 as part of a microbial study.
Year: 2018
Spacecraft: International Space Station
ORNAMENTAL PLANTS
Zinnia
Zinnia bloomed under the care of Scott Kelly in 2016 in the VEGGIE plant production unit.
Year: 2016
Plant Habitat: VEGGIE
Spacecraft: International Space Station
Sunflower
this list is currently being expanded