Ahhh, this time of year the zinnia’s love the warm Melbourne weather. If its cold and wet, they very quickly succumb to some bacterial spots on the leaves. Warm days and enough water however and zinnias thrive.
But now, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has tweeted images of the first flower to be grown in space – and its an orange zinnia !
“First ever flower grown in space makes its debut,” he tweeted.
However, growing the plants were not without their problems. On December 28, Mr Kelly tweeted a picture of the flowers in distress.
After tending to the plants over the holiday period, two zinnia plants died, and the remaining two continued to thrive.
On January 8, Mr Kelly posted an image of the impressive turnaround and tiny buds beginning to sprout. He tweeted, Some of my space flowers are on the rebound! No longer looking sad! #YearInSpace
NASA said the zinnia flower was chosen because it can help scientists understand how plants flower and grow in microgravity, not for its beauty.
The space agency said growing flowering crop is more challenging than vegetative crop, and the issues faced by Mr Kelly presented a good learning opportunity for scientists.