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Old 09-24-2018, 12:29 AM   #231
tshiggins
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: [ATE] Farming example

Quote:
Originally Posted by (E) View Post
Cloud cities early thoughts
The stability of the climate is a problem for plants, the plants from Earth that can handle that climatic stability (and the increased pathogens associated with it) are generally tropical species, but they might find it a bit cool at higher altitudes. So higher altitude tropical crops or low altitude tropical crops that can handle shade.
The overlap between these species and New York availability is an issue. (Potatoes, pineapples so far)
Tomatoes require a day night cycle so they are out.
Perhaps larger amounts of chemicals will be required.

False bananas and bananas might do well but are hard to justify.

Space limitations would seem to indicate a gardened, layered approach, mixed cropping at the least.

Rain plus poor soil depth means nitrogen deficiency is going to be a critical issue.

Bamboo looks too useful to pass up.

I could see a widely spaced group of tree trunks supporting vines on frames in the gaps.

Brassica do well under continuous light.
Potatoes kept in darkness 6 hours of so a day should work, maybe with poultry manure to provide nitrogen.

Anyway I'll move this to the front of the queue.
I certainly appreciate it. I'm almost certain that an unusually large percentage of the available calories and proteins will come from deliberate management of floating forests, one way or another, with supplemental vitamins (as well as hydrocarbons) from the vegetation mats (which I think of as similar to seaweed) and algae.

Animal proteins for most people will exclusively come from poultry and insects -- some of the insects quite large, but nearly impossible to domesticate.

I know the utter absence of native grasses is pretty rough, and poses the single largest challenge. There are no grains not imported through New York.

That said, one of the reasons they wait so long to build the platforms is because they know they need a New York that's a center of world trade, for all sorts of reasons, or it doesn't justify the costs.

By the time the hideously expensive arkenstone platforms get built, they've made sure New York has everything, and I mean everything.
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