Poop Potato grow on Mars

Movie: The Maritan
Man stranded on Mars, grows potato in a mixture of his own poop and martian soil.  Mmmm, poop potato.  Of course it is fiction, but stimulated a fun conversation.  I imagine there is much less light on Mars.  So started to wonder.

In a KY winter, I can pull off cold crops in mini sunken green houses.  Not much to brag about.  Small little hot boxes.  Only heat is sun and compost under the soil.  Have not tried to grow anything but cold drops that way.

Now wondering about traditional summer crops.  Would most flat not produce with so little light or do you think they would produce but much slower?  I guess what I am asking is do you think it is useless or just low production?

Wow interesting concept!! Think ill go poop in the yard and grow a potato. Ill get back to you.

If it is too cold  in the soil the potatoes will rot , not sure if spuds are affected by daylight hours , a lot of plants are . I plant  a few rows early in the spring and cover them with straw if it looks like frost, a big pain but worth it for the  very early pickings .. so go ahead ..the worst that can happen is nothing !

Tim, i do potato and onion early and roll black plastic on them at first.  I think the black makes the ground warm up faster.

You know damn well Hauser terraformed Mars back in 1990.

You'd have to choose short season mini crops. As far as peppers- Bulgarian carrot pepper, lettuce-tennis ball maybe, and so on. Me personally I'd cut out the middle man and just eat the dirt. Being stranded on another planet gives meaning to EAT SHIT AND DIE

Kind of strange thread to make my first post in but this really intrigues me as well!
I found a link about space crops.


"'Magic' plant discovery could lead to growing food in space
Scientists have discovered gene that will open the door for space-based food production.

A plant geneticist has discovered the gene in the ancient Australian native tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana, known as Pitjuri to Australian indigenous Aboriginals tribes. The discovery was made while tracing the history of the Pitjuri plant, which for decades has been used by geneticists as a model plant upon which to test viruses and vaccines."

The plant in question seems to have skipped immunity against diseases and instead put all it's eggs in the grow and reproduce basket, I guess staying alive on some obscure tobacco plant in a tent on Mars would be troublesome but with some unholy wizardry in the lab a galactic reaper might not be light years away.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151103100250.htm

When it comes to the poop-potatoes there is some small glitches in the story. Firstly modern potatoes are for the most bred to have quite a long dormancy which makes them store well over winter and thus can be sold for an extended period of time or in this case, over flight to Mars and the time leading up to planting. This should prove the particular potato he grows has long dormancy.
Secondly the fact that potatoes usually go into senescence after tubers and berries are formed isn't touched. Day length wouldn't be a problem as day length sensitivity has been selected against in most North American varieties.
Some of the more land racy South American varieties, most commonly in diploids I think, still retains the ability to start a new growth cycle without any lengthy dormancy and some might even be perennial.
Those short dormancy type potatoes seems to be more likely to be more day length sensitive when it comes to setting tubers but since Mars's days are shorter? that might not be a problem as they'd be fooled into thinking it was forever fall.

One more Martian food, doesn't really qualify as a leafy green but could sure help with soil building and company.

https://vimeo.com/70515034

I've seen real people compost there waste on youtube. It must sit for two years before it's viable.
Utterly true stories.

I believe theirs allot of Iron in the soil their, potatoes tend to suck up toxins if the soil is contaminated if I remember right .

I gotta watch the movie again to figure out what form the seed potato came in.  I would imagine freeze dried and can not believe thsat would grow.  Hmmm...