Mars Reimagined: Glowing Wall Planter Turns the Red Planet Green
Mars is known for being a dry, red planet seemingly devoid of any life at all (or at least, life that we’re able to recognize). As humans seek to colonize the planet and make it livable, we envision a future in which Mars could somehow become lush and green. Though that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, you can transform Mars into an eerie vegetated paradise through a fun new product currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter. The Mars Green Planter is “an intergalactic way to grow plants in your home.” The wall planter is equipped with a glowing ring of light that also nixes the need to add water for a month at a time.
All-in-One Vertical Wall Planter
Mars Green is made of clay to emulate soil, making it easy to grow vertically. That clay is also capable of absorbing a lot of water — up to 1800 milliliters (60 ounces) at a time. And the LED light ring isn’t just decorative. It actually provides your plants with the light they need to thrive. The grow light has virtually endless programmable configurations, not just in a rainbow of hues, but also strobing, shifting, and flickering patterns (the creators claim there are 16 million options).The idea is to create a miniature self-contained habitat similar to what we might need to turn the real Mars green.
“We discovered that unglazed clay has great water absorption properties, which is how we came up with the idea to make a 3D planter as opposed to a regular pot,” the creators explain. “Many versions and a lot of trial and error led us to the perfect process to create clay that’s as fertile as soil. What makes Mars Green easy to set up and maintain is the special clay mixture and the many pores created during the baking process.”
How It Works
The red ore used as the base is rich in trace elements like iron, manganese, and potassium, which are essential to most plants’ growth. Its porosity also makes it extremely water-permeable. It’s capable of supporting many types of plants, including ferns, lichen, mosses, ivy, creeping Jenny, tillandsia, peperomia, creeping fig, and more.
Exactly how do you plant into a hard surface? There are a few different methods depending on which plants you choose. Gather ferns and spread their spores on the surface, apply powdered moss, or stick bits of lichen and seeds into the tiny cracks. Add water, and they’ll spring to life. If your plants need support growing from the vertical surface, strands of elastic cord are included.
Kickstarter backers get early-bird pricing on the Mars Green vertical wall-hanging planter, just $59 each. You can also snag two planters for $98. Orders will ship this September. When this round of crowdfunding is over, the price of each unit will rise to $99, and the designers will make the product available to the public later this year.
About the Designers
In their own words, “YAT is a team of technology enthusiasts and designers. We specialize in the development and design of highly innovative products. We love to create our space with greenery, and we’re also loyal RGB players, and we love the tech-savvy home atmosphere. In 2019, our studio moved to Dehua, where ceramic products are famous all over the world, and we learned a lot about the possibilities of clay creation. After two years of polishing, Mars Green is finally on the market, hoping that it will bring more fun to your life.”
