Hello again, mccook!
What a great question! Much to my surprise, I've found several sources
that say Martian dirt would make fine potting-soil for the right sorts
of plants. The fact that the soil is sterile does not mean it cannot
become fertile under controlled circumstances.
"The Martian 'soil' is about 40% SiO2 (silicon dioxide), a fine
sand-like material and about 20% Fe2O3 (iron oxide) "dust". This dust
is very fine, its texture is similar to that of talcum powder.
The remainder of the Martian soil consists of clays, dust, gravel,
pebbles, stones and rocks of both simple and complex minerals similar
to those found on Earth.
As far as we know, the Martian soil is sterile.
How fertile is the Martian soil? It's hard to say, but based on the
results of both Viking landers and the recent Mars Pathfinder
missions, the soil appears to be a much better medium for plant growth
than most soils on the Earth, although Martian soils appear to be
somewhat deficient in potassium."
Tomatosphere: A Martian Greenhouse
http://www.tomatosphere.org/EngManual/activity9b.html
"The soil and surface of Mars is covered with rust, which contains
vast amount of iron. This soil would be very fertile for agriculture
because of the high concentrations of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium,
sulphur, iron, manganese, zinc, copper and even a minute amount of
water."
Destination Mars: THE PLANET MARS
http://destinationmars.tripod.com/kyle/mars.htm
"With adequate water, sunlight, and warmth, plants might be able to
grow in martian soil. There is a lack of organic molecules in the soil
which a plant will need to grow (fertilizer may be required). In
addition, there may be limited fixed-nitrogen molecules which planets
need. Some plants make their own from gaseous nitrogen (nitrogen
fixing plants, such as clovers). A carefully chosen mixture of plants
types growing together in the same soil may be the most successful
approach to cultivating martian soil."
National Space Biomedical Research Institute: Ask - A - Scientist
http://www.nsbri.org/wwwboard/tasp3/messages/939.html
"Scientists have successfully raised a crop of fresh greens on Martian
soil, significantly boosting the possibility that there is, or at
least could be, life on the Red Planet.
The experiment has not taken place on Mars itself - where the
temperature is rarely warmer than an inclement minus 60 C - but in a
laboratory in New Zealand. Taking soil samples scraped from meteorites
which fell to earth from the planet thousands of years ago, a team of
researchers have grown tiny asparagus and potato plants.
In comparison with soils from other planets, the samples show high
levels of phosphates - necessary for growing good vegetables. The best
results came from scrapings from a meteorite that landed in Australia
in 1969 which soil fertility indicators showed had similar properties
to the soil on earth...
It took... only a few weeks to grow shoots several millimetres high...
Professor Colin Pillinger of the Open University said the new research
confirms previous work with Martian soil.
Pillinger himself has replicated the red planet's soil on earth and
planted seeds in it. 'We grew some lovely vegetables; peppers,
cucumbers, tomatoes and so on. We exhibited them at Chelsea Flower
show and won a gold medal,' he said."
Guardian: Little green shoots on Mars
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,415321,00.html
This was the search string that gave me the best results:
Google Web Search: "martian soil" + "fertile"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22martian+soil%22+fertile
Thanks for a fascinating research project. If anything is unclear,
please request clarification.
Best,
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