Sunflower slackard

Sunflower is becoming a slackard. Not stressed by gravity, he is putting little effort into building his stalk. His stalk is now half a meter long but is so crooked and spindly that on Earth he would not be able to stand. A small breeze would cause him to buckle. By this time his kind on Earth would have a thick, arrow-straight stalk. But here in weightlessness, his stem does not need to provide any support; it only needs to conduct water and nutrients from his roots to his leaves. Being a slackard, sunflower invests no effort into growing a strong stalk. Something similar happens to Gardener. He has two stems and they are getting rather spindly as well. But he is working hard to keep his strength. I know this because he takes me to the exercise machine he calls “the beast” when he works out while he pushes against heavy forces that simulate weightlifting in this weightless environment. The exercise machine is located above the room of windows so when he works out I get to take in the view and drink real sunlight. My gardener works out on this machine for two hours every day. Are we exploring the frontier or at health camp? Maybe a bit of both. Most of his effort is focused on his stems with exercises called squats and deadlifts. His stems may be thin but he is keeping them strong. He says this is necessary if we want to return to Earth.