As a person who grew up in the city, Tang Yue had never grown vegetables when he was so old, he had seen tomatoes in supermarkets and vegetable markets, but those red fruits were all picked and placed in baskets - Tang Yue knew that tomatoes were planted in the ground, but he didn't know how to grow them.

There is no doubt that tomatoes are grown in the soil.

But what kind of soil should I use?

Tomatoes also have to be watered and fertilized.

But how to fertilize and water?

And how can plant diseases be prevented? How long does it take to germinate? How long does it take to bloom? How long does it take to get results? A lot of questions popped out of Tang Yue's mind, and if it was really interlaced, it was like a mountain, for a person from science and engineering, growing a tomato was a problem.

The old cat asked the most crucial question: "Where are the seeds?"

If there is no seed, what seed will they take?

Mai Dong recalled slightly, "I still have seeds in my single room, which were originally used for experiments, but then they were not used, so I left them in Kunlun Station...... Don't you see? ”

Tang Yue suddenly recalled that he had indeed seen those things, and when he and the old cat rummaged through the cabinets to find food, they almost turned the entire Kunlun Station upside down. He had seen those small glass jars in Mai Dong's cabinet, which were filled with black particles, and because they were experimental samples, Tang Yue didn't pay much attention to them—although he was very short of food, he was not bold enough to dare to eat the things in the laboratory.

Otherwise, he is likely to burp from poisoning.

The old cat got into Mai Dong's room, took out all the seeds, and put them on the table.

There are six small glass bottles, each the size of a perfume bottle, filled with plant seeds of different colors and sizes.

"That jar of dark brown, oblate seeds is a tomato." Mai Dong pointed to the bottle on the table, "Next to it is Arabidopsis, Arabidopsis thaliana is used to study plant genetics and mutations, it can't be eaten, but it's not toxic and harmless...... The black elongated seeds on the side of Arabidopsis thaliana are lettuce, lettuce on the side of lettuce, carrots and chrysanthemum on the side of lettuce, all of which are carefully selected by me for seeds with high survival rate and reproduction. ”

The old cat was surprised to find that most of the plants brought by the girl were vegetables, didn't she really come to grow vegetables?

"Also...... It's not a special vegetable grower, I select samples in the cruciferous family, Asteraceae, and Solanaceae families, but there are just a lot of food in these families......" The girl scratched her head.

The old cat suddenly remembered that she was a Cantonese girl.

Tang Yue poured out all the tomato seeds in the bottle and counted them carefully, there were fifty-six in total.

The seeds in other bottles are about the same number.

Mai Dong's keeping the seeds here at that time was probably an unintentional move, but this unconscious act would save Tang Yue's life next.

On this barren Mars, seeing fresh vegetable seeds is really as intimate as seeing your parents.

Tang Yue almost burst into tears.

"You can grow not only tomatoes, but also carrots, lettuce and lettuce." Mai Dongmei's eyebrows danced, "Carrots are delicious, very crisp and sweet, lettuce and lettuce are also delicious, they can all be eaten raw, you can also make vegetable salad, Tang Yue, do you know, I picked the large-fruited red fruit tomato variety Zhongshu No. 11, the color is bright, the taste is sweet and sour, tender and juicy......"

Old Cat and Tang Yue: ......

"It's really delicious." The girl said.

Old Tang Yue nodded silently.

"I don't lie to you."

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To grow vegetables, you need substrate, water and nutrients.

The cultivation on the space station uses microgravity soilless cultivation technology, but there is no such condition on the surface of Mars, and if soilless cultivation is used on Mars, then the consumption of water is too great for the Kunlun station to afford.

The old cat checked the amount of fresh water left in the tank and felt that the situation was not very optimistic.

The Kunlun station has a water storage capacity of 1,200 liters, Tang Yue consumes an average of 3.68 kilograms of fresh water a day, and the circulation system recovers 3.4 kilograms, which, according to the ideal scenario, the water stored in the tank can support 4,000 Martian days.

But ideals are ideals, real life can never achieve ideal conditions, and now three months have passed, there are still 1,150 liters of fresh water left in Kunlun Station, and a full 50 liters of fresh water have been lost.

Water consumption is much greater than they thought, and if this trend continues, there will only be enough fresh water left for 2,000 Martian days. Tang Yue is not the only one who needs water in Kunlun Station, and the loss of 50 liters of fresh water may come from various places, and this unintentional consumption is inevitable.

If you use the little fresh water you have left to grow vegetables, it will be consumed faster.

"We don't have enough water." "If we're going to consume water to grow tomatoes, then I think the fresh water in Kunlun Station will only last a thousand Martian days at most...... The more vegetables you grow, the greater the loss of fresh water. ”

Tang Yue sat on the chair and fell into thought.

The worst thing is water.

It's really a drop of water that stumps the hero.

"Is there any other place where you can find water besides Kunlun Station?" Tang Yue asked.

"Yes, there is water at the poles of Mars, and it's so big that you won't be able to use it up in your lifetime." The old cat replied, "But it's thousands of kilometers away from us." ”

Tang Yue got up slowly, walked over and pressed his hands on the old cat's shoulders.

"Old cat." Tang Yue's face was serious.

The old cat was stunned, "What are you doing?" ”

"Don't you have to eat, drink, breathe, and be afraid of radiation?" Tang Yue asked.

"yes."

"Now the organization has given you a glorious task, which is extremely arduous, but the party and the people believe that you will definitely be able to accomplish it!" Tang Yue was serious, "Please go to the North Pole to get some ice and come back, you can drive away the Martian stray dogs, you can also take away the solar panels, what you want will be given to you, I hope you will not disappoint the ardent hopes of the country and the people for you!" ”

"Okay, I'll go to the North Pole and pull ice for you." The old cat shrugged, turned around and left, "But the Martian stray dog runs a maximum of sixty kilometers a day, and this goes to the North Pole for five or six thousand kilometers, and it will take at least six months to come back and forth, and I hope that when I come back, you will not be sanctified in the flesh and become a great survival bodhisattva." ”

"Brother Cat, stay here." Tang Yue grabbed it, "This matter can be discussed in the long run." ”

Freshwater or tomatoes, which is important?

The answer is that both are important.

Tomatoes must be grown, but Tang Yue and Lao Mao hope to minimize the loss of fresh water, or find other sources of water to supplement the loss in Kunlun Station.

Tang Yue put on the Mingguang armor and began his afternoon work.

He continued to think about the problem of fresh water, Tang Yue walked past the battery farm, through the neat solar panels, turned around, and unconsciously walked in front of the Eagle spaceship.

He's used to it.

Tang Yue stood under the Eagle spaceship, one hand caressing the outer wall of the lander.

"Old man, old man, where do you say you can find ......"

Tang Yue was suddenly stunned.

"Old cat."

"Huh?"

"I ...... Know where the water is. ”