<p>Just as there are many different rocks and soils on Earth, so there are many different rocks and soils on Mars. To reproduce a Martian soil, you need to bear two things in mind. Firstly it should have all the vital nutrients plants need to grow, and secondly it should have no component of biological origin. That rules out limestone for a start.</p>

<p>Your soil should contain nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, sulphur and calcium. A volcanic tuff would be the best way to obtain these materials from a non-biological source; volcanic soils are known to be very fertile. If you can't find tuff, basalt and granite will do. Both are found in UK in areas where there were once volcanoes, such as Snowdonia in Wales and in Edinburg and other parts of Scotland. Granite will give a more acidic soil than basalt.</p>

<p>Grind or pound your basalt into a fine powder. Do the same with your granite. If there are some wheat grain sized granules in your granite, it doesn't matter, natural soils have them too. You should prepare a number of pots with different proportions of the two main ingredients. A little silicon dioxide sand might be worth adding to some of your pots, there is plenty of it on Mars. Then sow your seeds and see what happens.</p>

<p>Different plants have different soil requirements, so you should try more than one species. The trickiest ingredient to obtain, and one of the most important, is nitrogen. several sources of nitrogen on Earth, for example lightning discharges and urine, are not available on Mars. I wonder if a sprinkling of potassium nitrate would count as cheating. It occurs as an evaporite on Earth, but I haven't heard that any has been found on Mars. See how well your plants can manage without it. Potassium nitrate (saltpetre) is available from chemists.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T08:20:47.087Z
PS. The nitrogen problem could be overcome by growing a legume (pea family). Legumes are able to fix their own nitrogen, and leave behind an enriched soil. I suggest French beans, which are a bit like runner beans except that they don't climb. As with runner beans, you can eat the pods.
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-22T14:29:51.413Z
The object of simulating Martian soil is to see how things would grow in it when the astronauts tried to supplement their rations. Ultimately it is desirable that a manned base should be as self-sufficient as possible. To simulate one of many possible Martian soils which has no need to grow anything is too easy for words. You could make it pure silicon dioxide sand!
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T17:56:07.563Z
2020-01-19T17:56:07.563Z
Michael Walsby
<p>My son wants to replicate some experiments and try to grow plants in Martian soil for his A-level science project.  I know NASA have managed to produce soil that mimics Martian soil, however I also know how expensive it is.  </p>

<p>My question is, what is the closest proxy to real Martian soil that I can create using readily available supplies from builders merchants, garden suppliers, chemists, and supermarkets?</p>

<p>Many thanks in advance.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T15:24:33.653Z
we either need a price range or what you consider the threshold for "closest proxy" to answer this.
John
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T16:02:20.690Z
Unfortunately, the real martian soil is rather toxic, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_soil
Cornelis
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T16:20:39.267Z
But, there's also mudstone, that you could pulverize. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudstone#Mudstone_mineralogy_at_Mars
Cornelis
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T22:52:16.477Z
Answers to the following questions describe sources for *lunar* regolith simulants. It is possible that some of those links could provide some information on *martian* simulants as well, though it might take some significant amount of clicking-through; [Where can I buy lunar regolith simulant?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/28265/12102) and [Is lunar regolith available for purchase?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/30434/12102)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T11:57:14.267Z
Those of us who have seen the film are waiting for you to mention the missing ingredient...
RedSonja
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-21T07:38:34.663Z
@uhoh but both sites have different expertise and not everyone is on both sites.  Surely better to cross-reference both questions to obtain a more complete answer?
Magic Bullet Dave
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-21T07:43:06.410Z
@MagicBulletDave Stack Exchange has been around a decade and has literally millions of posts. Things like this have been discussed and debated long ago and the consensus is that answer fragmentation is an undesirable situation and we should work hard to avoid it. Have a look at the main meta's [FAQ](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/7931/faq-for-stack-exchange-sites) and look for [Is cross-posting a question on multiple Stack Exchange sites permitted if the question is on-topic for each site?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/64068/303080)
uhoh
<geology><soil><mars><soil-science>
How to make Martian soil
Magic Bullet Dave
# How to make Martian soil

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-19)

My son wants to replicate some experiments and try to grow plants in Martian soil for his A-level science project. I know NASA have managed to produce soil that mimics Martian soil, however I also know how expensive it is.

My question is, what is the closest proxy to real Martian soil that I can create using readily available supplies from builders merchants, garden suppliers, chemists, and supermarkets?

Many thanks in advance.

**Tags:** geology, soil, mars, soil-science

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: we either need a price range or what you consider the threshold for "closest proxy" to answer this.  
> **username_2**: Unfortunately, the real martian soil is rather toxic, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_soil  
> **username_2**: But, there's also mudstone, that you could pulverize. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudstone#Mudstone_mineralogy_at_Mars  
> **username_3**: Answers to the following questions describe sources for *lunar* regolith simulants. It is possible that some of those links could provide some information on *martian* simulants as well, though it might take some significant amount of clicking-through; [Where can I buy lunar regolith simulant?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/28265/12102) and [Is lunar regolith available for purchase?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/30434/12102)  
> **username_4**: Those of us who have seen the film are waiting for you to mention the missing ingredient...  
> **username_0**: @username_3 but both sites have different expertise and not everyone is on both sites.  Surely better to cross-reference both questions to obtain a more complete answer?  
> **username_3**: @username_0 Stack Exchange has been around a decade and has literally millions of posts. Things like this have been discussed and debated long ago and the consensus is that answer fragmentation is an undesirable situation and we should work hard to avoid it. Have a look at the main meta's [FAQ](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/7931/faq-for-stack-exchange-sites) and look for [Is cross-posting a question on multiple Stack Exchange sites permitted if the question is on-topic for each site?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/64068/303080)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-01-19. Score: 3

Just as there are many different rocks and soils on Earth, so there are many different rocks and soils on Mars. To reproduce a Martian soil, you need to bear two things in mind. Firstly it should have all the vital nutrients plants need to grow, and secondly it should have no component of biological origin. That rules out limestone for a start.

Your soil should contain nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, sulphur and calcium. A volcanic tuff would be the best way to obtain these materials from a non-biological source; volcanic soils are known to be very fertile. If you can't find tuff, basalt and granite will do. Both are found in UK in areas where there were once volcanoes, such as Snowdonia in Wales and in Edinburg and other parts of Scotland. Granite will give a more acidic soil than basalt.

Grind or pound your basalt into a fine powder. Do the same with your granite. If there are some wheat grain sized granules in your granite, it doesn't matter, natural soils have them too. You should prepare a number of pots with different proportions of the two main ingredients. A little silicon dioxide sand might be worth adding to some of your pots, there is plenty of it on Mars. Then sow your seeds and see what happens.

Different plants have different soil requirements, so you should try more than one species. The trickiest ingredient to obtain, and one of the most important, is nitrogen. several sources of nitrogen on Earth, for example lightning discharges and urine, are not available on Mars. I wonder if a sprinkling of potassium nitrate would count as cheating. It occurs as an evaporite on Earth, but I haven't heard that any has been found on Mars. See how well your plants can manage without it. Potassium nitrate (saltpetre) is available from chemists.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: PS. The nitrogen problem could be overcome by growing a legume (pea family). Legumes are able to fix their own nitrogen, and leave behind an enriched soil. I suggest French beans, which are a bit like runner beans except that they don't climb. As with runner beans, you can eat the pods.  
> **username_5**: The object of simulating Martian soil is to see how things would grow in it when the astronauts tried to supplement their rations. Ultimately it is desirable that a manned base should be as self-sufficient as possible. To simulate one of many possible Martian soils which has no need to grow anything is too easy for words. You could make it pure silicon dioxide sand!  

---

