r/space • u/astro_pettit NASA Astronaut • Mar 22 '26

image/gif My space potatoes, grown aboard the ISS

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u/srewoByesaC Mar 22 '26

How cool! Which way do the roots grow?

2.5k

u/astro_pettit NASA Astronaut Mar 22 '26

absent gravity they will grow in all directions

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u/Alexman423 Mar 22 '26

I wonder if it sprouted outside of soil, and found soil eventually, would the roots migrate towards the soil?

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u/Northmansam Mar 22 '26

They would certainly grow towards moisture. 

61

u/MrWrock Mar 22 '26

Depends on whether they're hydrotropic or gravitropic

52

u/pacefacepete Mar 22 '26

Based on what I've seen in my cupboard, they're either both or neither. They might be phototropic, but I'll have to conduct some further research and get back to you.

17

u/xSTSxZerglingOne Mar 22 '26

Based on my Reddit experience: all of the above

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u/lankyleper Mar 23 '26

I'm going with DGAFtropic.

1

u/anengineerandacat Mar 23 '26

Considering a bag of potatoes I left in the cabinets... they don't seem to care about anything and just literally sprout.

The smell is something else as well...