Hmmm...looks like I'll have to retool my massive hydroponics operation.



No, kitty, you can't change my mind.

Let me be the first to welcome are GINORMOUS Strawberry Overlords.

FTFA:

Strawberries aren't the only hydroponic produce. The Kennels have dedicated a few stacks to types of lettuce and herbs.

I don't doubt that one bit.

I'm just laughing at the "horde" of berries the article speaks of.

Handfruit?

Diego...sweaty.

Very large strawberries don't tend to be as tasty, alas.

I see no larger than normal strawberries.
WTF?

Picking u-pick strawberries: Elysian Fields of Dreams.

Hydroponics in general tends not to be that tasty. There's just no way to recreate that perfect blend of wierd chemicals that certain areas of soil have. I suppose they could get some pretty big sweet strawberries with hydroponics by spamming the nutrients that lead to sweeter berries, but I doubt they'll ever have the same nuanced flavor as a berry that grew on farm next to a diesel big-rig route.

Hydro gets you quantity, not quality; something often misunderstood in, um, certain contexts. A side effect of being grown indoors is that it's also usually from good genetics, which I guess is why people would think that hydro makes better crop, but it doesn't.

Basically what LowbrowDeluxe said.

No Such Agency - not necessarily true. Most produce produced for consumption or export to our country is bred for size/color/ability to withstand shipping. For instance, baseball bat sized - bananas, that taste like cardboard. Something locally grown and probably not shipped outside of town wouldn't likely be bred for their economics.

D_S_W - That's because like most Americans, you're accustomed to seeing fist sized strawberries at the supermarket. Real, wild strawberries are about the size of a Kennedy Fifty Cent piece, to slightly larger.

I suppose they could get some pretty big sweet strawberries with hydroponics by spamming the nutrients that lead to sweeter berries, but I doubt they'll ever have the same nuanced flavor as a berry that grew on farm next to a diesel big-rig route.

Agreed. You probably won't have the same "earth grown" flavor, but I bet substituting in those minerals/nutrients into the mix, you could find a way to make them damn close. The problem with growing them in soil and getting them to that size is, like the article mentions, having to use massive quantities of pesticides/herbicides.

/Use to have a good sized strawberry patch growing up.
//Our biggest enemy was raccoons....damn raccoons!

Timmy O'Toole: Hydro gets you quantity, not quality; something often misunderstood in, um, certain contexts. A side effect of being grown indoors is that it's also usually from good genetics, which I guess is why people would think that hydro makes better crop, but it doesn't.

Basically what LowbrowDeluxe said.

For whatever reason would you grow something indoors? After all, the sun is free!!!

Because then the five-O can see what you're growing, man.

Somebody break out the dipping chocolate and whipped cream!

I'll stick to raspberry ripples.

iKarl

What's a Kennedy fifty cent piece?

/not American.
//Not that there's anything wrong it.
///Please don't bomb me.

I've got a little 3x3 strawberry patch, and have been eating fresh berries for the last month. Been giving away starter plants to all my friends, too.

/Oregon is great :-)
//Go Beavers!
///Go Blazers!

Wow... that's like an hour from where I live...


/dispatch Fark investigation squad.

I was at that place yesterday, they're good berries.

iKarl: D_S_W - That's because like most Americans, you're accustomed to seeing fist sized strawberries at the supermarket. Real, wild strawberries are about the size of a Kennedy Fifty Cent piece, to slightly larger.

What America do YOU live in?!?

These giant hydroponic strawberries are gonna be really helpful in our manned mission to Mars.

Now if we could just address the propulsion, health, radiation, and the rest of the food/water/air issues...

Chabash: I was at that place yesterday, they're good berries.

freelancer.42: Wow... that's like an hour from where I live...

Hey neighbors!

More Oregon folk... I wonder how many there are.

The future is here, who needs soil?

*chuckle* Hydroponics.

I was not at all surprised to find no pictures of apricot-sized strawberries in the article, but rather a picture of normal-looking strawberries intended to back up the outrageous claim.

It's taken me a long time, but I've finally realized that all reporters lie their asses off, all the time.

Well, maybe "lie their asses off" is a little harsh. How about "dutifully report whatever crap they're told, regardless of whether proof is provided or not."

Aww, I thought it was going to be tomacco like product with pot and strawberries.

/Tastes like a strawberry, farks you up like a blunt in a strawberry wrap.

What America do YOU live in?!?

sarcasm did not transfer well with that...oh well


What's a Kennedy fifty cent piece?

/not American.
//Not that there's anything wrong it.
///Please don't bomb me.

Haha, made me laugh. More commonly referred to as Half Dollar. Although most people seem to give me odd looks when I refer to that as well.

/Not going to bomb you, citizen of another country
//Others may bomb you with their gigantic, genetically altered über-fruit.

Purple Sticky Punch?

TheMadDefenestrator: also see if you can read this article without throwing some " " around every mention of "herbs" in it

"catnip bags"...

/*snickerz*
/I growz catnip
//really, it's catnip, honest

Hydroponics in general tends not to be that tasty. There's just no way to recreate that perfect blend of wierd chemicals that certain areas of soil have. I suppose they could get some pretty big sweet strawberries with hydroponics by spamming the nutrients that lead to sweeter berries, but I doubt they'll ever have the same nuanced flavor as a berry that grew on farm next to a diesel big-rig route.

Actually I think it has more to do with the uniform temperature and water more then anything else. It'a been a long time since I've thought about this stuff so I pretty much don't remember anything I learned about plants- but basically water stress provokes a reaction in many fruits kind of like the stress of exercise produces lactic acid in people. Only in the case of fruits these acids make them more flavorful and tasty. Also in other fruits, like tomatoes, less water improves the texture.

The same thing actually happens in many commercial farming operations. The combination of intense water and fertilizer (which is not rich in minerals and micronutrients, only heavy on nitrogen and a few others) makes plants grow fast and water bloated. They have less taste and less nutrition then vegetables grown the 'old fashioned' way.

However, this is easy enough to circumvent with your own hydroponics. Simply expose your plants to temperature fluctuations and water stresses. I used to grow my tomatoes on the porch back when I had an apartment. They were out in the sun and I'd let them get a little stressed before I watered them- so thier feet weren't uniformly wet all of the time. I mixed the perlite with some spongier moss so that the roots could be damp but not bone dry. PLus, the temperature changes of the outdoor air I think added to the stresses. If you do it right you can strike a balance between growing them faster and in small spaces with taste and appropriate texture. Despite being grown techinically hydroponically, my tomatoes ended up in flavor and texture like regular tomatoes. Most commercial places however use lights 24/7 and control temperature and water so that the plant is always maxed out for speed of growth.

I know it might seem kind of pointless to use hydroponics to grow food like that if you're mimicing natural growth like that, but I think it could be used as an alternative to exausting and erroding soils or simply used in places that have poor soils and don't want to import all thier food. If you wanted to, you could also add micronutirients and minerals to the solution you feed them to make your plants better nutritionally.

so what your saying is, i can grow this stuff right in my own closet?

FOOLS!! Why is it that everytime someone mentions, "hydroponics", everyone assumes marijuana?

Grow your own... Ummm... "Herbs":

4 Ever Sun Hydro Systems

/Yes, it works.
//Damn. Does it ever work.
///(COUGH!) 'scuse me...

iKarl:
Real, wild strawberries are about the size of a Kennedy Fifty Cent piece, to slightly larger.
WTF? I'd compare it with a pencil eraser. Smaller than an American penny (or Euro-cent). Obviously smaller than the over-grown UK penny.
Seriously. Yeah, next time maybe do a little research.
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Strawberry.html

That article was useless as it lacked photos of the apricot-sized strawberries!!! WANT!!!

Children, you can grow mushrooms in your basement!

What, no Family Guy reference to the strawberries you can eat like hand fruit? I'm disappointed.

/"Diego! Sweaty..."
//"Ah... thank you."

pivazena:
/Go Ducks?
//Go BEER!
///sorry oregoncat, but ducks over beavers any day of the week. Unless it has to do with baseball.

well, at least we agree on the beer!

"The Kennels need to be complimented on being inovative [sic] and forward-thinking."

WTF? The Israelis have been growing strawberries like this for at least five years. And yes, hydroponic strawberries grown in hot houses are much better (bigger and juicier without the pesticides) than 'naturally' farmed ones.

Close by there is a large hydroponic tomato operation. It's run out of several Quanset hut greenhouses and produces tomatoes year-round.

They've been wildly successful and provide tomatoes to all of the local groceries including Whole Foods. The tomatoes are OK, the best you can get mid-winter certainly. The hydro fruit cannot compare to the ripened-on-the-vine nirvana that is going on in my veggie plot outside, but I'm glad for their existence in January.

I used to pick wild strawberries/blueberries/my nose as a kid. Much sweeter. Now I just pick my nose.

Holy shiat, those are huge strawberries. Think about the weed you could grow with that kind of stuff, man...

Wow, a strawberry article from Oregon right after an article from Plant City, Florida's strawberry capital? Trippy, Man, just trippy.

Polk County, too.