The Ohio State’s comprehensive learning opportunity for greenhouse strawberry production is back! Dr. Chieri Kubota & Mark Kroggel, the North American experts of Controlled Environment Agriculture Strawberry Physiology and Technology, are offering this opportunity online.

The self-paced course will consist of previously recorded lectures covering basics on strawberry physiology and production practices in greenhouses – topics include 1) cultivars, 2) transplants and flowering physiology, 3) crop schedule, 4) nutrient solution and rootzone management, 5) environmental conditions and benchmark yields, and 6) IPM and environmental disorders.Students will be given two weeks (May 1st to 11th) to complete all six lectures, followed by an interactive live 2-hour discussion session with instructors on May 12th, 2023. Multiple live sessions will be scheduled to accommodate your availability and time zone. You will continue to have access to the course materials until May 31st, 2023. Course fee is $85 per person.  Registration site will open on April 1st. Please let us know if you have questions.The course is most suitable for those who are new in controlled environment agriculture and interested in strawberry production under protected cultivation conditions.

Deadline to Enroll: April 30th, 2023

Course Accessibility: May 1st, 2023 – May 31st, 2023

Live Discussion Session: May 12th, 2023 (time TBD)

https://u.osu.edu/indoorberry/

Questions About the Course?

Dr. Chieri Kubota: kubota.10@osu.edu

Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (OHCEAC)

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY – February 23, 2023 – Today, vertical farming leader Oishii launched The Koyo Berry, the newest varietal grown by the beloved strawberry brand. The Koyo Berry will join the coveted Omakase Berry as Oishii’s second strawberry, bringing an entirely new flavor profile to the table. Each tray of Koyo Berries is non-GMO, pesticide free, perfectly ripe, and always-in-season. 

Meaning “elated” in Japanese, The Koyo Berry is a Japanese cultivar, traditionally grown just outside Tokyo during the winter months. The strawberry is marked by its refreshing sweetness, balanced acidity, fragrant aroma, and slightly firm texture. The nutrient-rich berries are grown hyper locally in Oishii’s state-of-the-art indoor vertical farms. Evoking sweet summer memories, The Koyo Berry is always picked at the peak of ripeness to excite even the most discerning fruit-lover.

“When we founded Oishii, we made a promise to set a new standard for how we enjoy produce. The Omakase Berry was an important first step in that journey, and today, we are so proud to introduce The Koyo Berry – which builds on our brand’s legacy for delivering clean, fresh strawberries that are unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before,” said Hiroki Koga, CEO and Co-Founder of Oishii. 

“Every bite of The Koyo Berry immediately transports me to a warm summer day – even though it’s the middle of winter in New York,” added Brendan Somerville, Oishii’s COO and CO-Founder. “I can’t wait for our customers to try these berries.”

Beginning today, The Koyo Berry is available via FreshDirect in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut for $15 MSRP for a tray. It will expand to other markets, including Los Angeles, later this year.

“Known for our valued vendor partnerships and quality fresh food, we’re excited to offer these delicious Koyo berries exclusively to our customers – whether they prefer the balanced brightness of The Koyo Berry or the delicate sweetness of The Omakase Berry.” said Mary Mitchell, Category Merchant, Produce at FreshDirect. “Each bite of The Koyo Berry delivers a refreshing zing and sweet finish which elevates the timeless strawberry flavor.” 

Oishii introduced its first strawberry – The Omakase Berry – in 2018, which quickly caught the attention of Michelin-starred chefs, tastemakers, and consumers for its sweetness, aroma, and creamy texture. Priced between $6-$20 MSRP depending on tray size, The Omakase Berry now retails at Whole Foods Market, among other grocery purveyors. 

The company currently operates three indoor vertical farms – two outside of Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The brand recently opened its flagship Mugen Farm, a 74,000 square foot facility that introduced pioneering technology to make Oishii’s precision growing process even more efficient. Each harvest in the new farm relies on advanced robotics combined with traditional Japanese farming methods, using 60% less energy and 40% less water than first generation farms.

As the first vertical farming company to perfect the strawberry at commercial scale, Oishii harmoniously marries nature, technology, and farming techniques perfected for decades in Japan to grow its prized fruit, which is pollinated naturally with bees. 

The vertical farming innovator is also currently in development on new types of flowering produce.

About Oishii

Oishii (“delicious” in Japanese) is an innovative company transforming agriculture through vertical farming. The company is behind the world’s largest indoor vertical strawberry farm. Harmoniously marrying nature with technology, Oishii has recreated the elements—rain, air, heat, light, and nourishment—to preserve and embrace nature’s finest for the perfect fruit every time, all year round. Oishii is known for their Omakase Berry and Koyo Berry, special Japanese strawberries grown pesticide-free in the company’s vertical farms located just outside of Manhattan and in Culver City, California. Founded in 2016, Oishii’s investors include McWin, Bloom8, SPARX Group, Sony Innovation Fund, PKSHA Technology, and Social Starts. The company was recognized as one of Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies” in 2022. For more information, visit www.oishii.com. 

The Growcer is looking for a driven individual with a self-starter attitude as the company enters the next phase of rapid growth and scales in select regions globally. Effective Growcer employees are tenacious, enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, and are comfortable working on big-picture challenges with lots of autonomy. All positions and work responsibilities tie back to our mission of empowering people to feed the world more sustainably, and applicants who are laser-focused on contributing to the creation of a better food system will find a workplace and team that shares their vision for sustainable agriculture.

Why Should You Apply?

• Positive Social Impact: an opportunity to feel good about how your role is helping to change the lives of others through the delivery of sustainable food technologies.

• Benefits & Total Compensation: a competitive salary with full access to our employee health benefits plan.

• Flexible Hours: to create a work/life balance, we offer flex hours for all those appointments and other commitments that may arise.

• Vacation & Life Leave: a minimum of 3 weeks starting vacation plus an additional week to support those personal days needed for moving, sick leave, and/or unexpected emergencies.

• Professional Development: participation in our internal leadership development seminars tailored for managers, and access to a professional development fund to invest in additional personal and professional growth related to your field and desired career objectives.

About the Role

Type of Role: Full-Time, salaried

Growcer is seeking an experienced, detail-oriented Senior Horticultural Engineer to join our growing team. In this position, you will play a key role in the overall success of our organization by planning, managing, and monitoring the development of our fully indoor hydroponic strawberry farm platform.

Predominantly working with members of the Product and R&D departments, you will coordinate the engineering functions associated with component specification, design, manufacturing, validation, deployment, and scalability of Growcer’s strawberry offering. As we are currently in the prototype stage, you will work closely with the scientific team on enabling production system changes as they relate to knowledge transfer from current and future research results. You will be responsible for overseeing all engineering projects, processes, budgets, and schedules associated with strawberry farm development, as well as the regular communication of progress and deliverables to all stakeholders. This role reports directly to the Director of Product Development.

Learn more about the role and apply here.

Interested candidates should submit a concise cover letter and résumé to:
careers@thegrowcer.ca. We look forward to meeting you!

Introduction

Strawberries (genus Fragaria) are one of the most important fruit crops in the world. In North America, California and Florida are the largest producers. In Canada, the Quebec province stands out with a growing production in recent years. In France, half of the strawberries are now produced in soilless culture (Ancay, 2010; Izard, 2017).

In recent years, soilless hydroponic strawberry cultivation in greenhouses has gained popularity. In fact, there are many reasons for this: reduction of root diseases by using sterile soil, increase in yield per unit of production, improvement in working conditions – planting, maintenance, easier harvesting – and fruit quality, better use of spaces unsuitable for agriculture, optimization of water and fertilizers, extension of the growing season, etc. (Izard, 2017).

Nowadays, strawberries are grown all year round in greenhouses to meet the consumers demand outside the summer season.

In this article, we will see a brief description of the vegetal physiology of strawberries and then the ideal growing conditions of the plant. To finish, the article will present the different possible systems of culture and the advantages of producing strawberries in a greenhouse.

Plant description

Strawberries are very low-stemmed plants in the Rosaceae family. The leaves are toothed (serrated) with white flowers composed of five petals and which produces strawberries.

The fruit is formed by the whole fleshy receptacle of the flower. The strawberry has a red or whitish yellow color depending on the variety, and an ovoid stadium shape more or less rounded.

Each strawberry is produced from a single white flower bearing many stamens. The achenes are actually the “real” fruits botanically speaking.

The strawberry plant reproduces naturally by runners (or stolons). These are aerial stems that grow from the “mother” plant and take root at the nodes to give new plants. If the growing conditions are optimal a single plant can produce between 30 and 50 runners, depending on the vigor and qualities of the variety.

Sexual reproduction is possible but not frequent. It is used to create new varieties.

Growing conditions

The climatic conditions in the greenhouse depend on the types and varieties of strawberries. In this section, we will see some general data extracted various scientific publications.

– Temperature

To grow strawberries in greenhouses it is important to have an efficient heating system. Indeed, the strawberry plants will be able to bear fruit all year long. The greenhouse can be operated in optimal conditions even during the winter.

In order to ensure a good balance between the vegetative phase and the production of fruits, it is necessary to be able to manage the temperature between 10°C (50°F) and 22°C (72°F) in the growing area. In fact, a too high temperature (> 25 °C or 77°F) , especially at night, will have a major influence on the emergence of the flowers and the ripening of the fruit.

In a greenhouse, one of the important principles is to have a gradual increase in temperature when dormancy is lifted. In general, the temperature is increased from 8°C (46°F) and 16°C (61°F) over a period of about four weeks in order to develop a minimum leaf mass before stimulating a flowering.

At the time of flowering, the temperature must be maintained between 16°C (61°F) and 20°C (68°F) to ensure a good viability of the pollen keeping a level of humidity favorable to pollination.

After the fruits appear, the temperatures must be lowered around 15°C (59°F) to ensure a slow and uniform maturation of the fruits.

– Humidity (RH) %

Relative humidity (RH) management plays a major role in the production of strawberries in greenhouses. The relative humidity must be high (>90%) at certain stages of cultivation such as he vegetative phase especially at night to avoid marginal necrosis (browning on the edges).

However, during the day the RH must be maintained at about 70-75% to avoid the appearance of fungal diseases such as botrytis or insects and allow the plant to grow (plant transpiration during photosynthesis).

Passive and active ventilation as well as fogging will ensure optimal conditions in the greenhouse.

– Light

Light is essential for the cultivation of strawberries, especially for the vegetative phase and the initiation of flowering (floral induction). Indeed, the change of photoperiod will be a signal for the plant to start producing flowers.

More and more strawberry growers are talking about an average light intensity of 200 µmol/m-2/s-1 (instead f 160-180 µmol/m-2/s-1). Those light levels are closer to more demanding crops like tomatoes and peppers.

In order to reach the new light intensity targets, part of the of growers “new generation” are also using LED (spectrum specific) to be able to have complementary light helping during the vegetative phase and floral induction.

– Irrigation

If we take as an example a system with fixed suspended gutter spaced 1.14m (3’8″) apart :

• 6 to 8 plants / bag of 8 liters (or 2,1 gal)→ 1 to 1.25 liters (0,26 to 0,33 gal) of substrate / bag

• Crop density of 12 to 14 plants / m2

• 2 drippers / bag → 2 liters (0,53 gal) / hour / drip

• So 4 drippers/ linear m

• Standard irrigation: 100 ml (3,38 floz) /irrigation

Types of hydroponic system

We will focus on this section on the different suspended gutter systems which can be install in a modern greenhouses to grow soilless strawberry year-round.

– Fixed suspended gutter system

(Video in French)https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nx_3lJp5cNI?start=41&feature=oembed

– Swinging suspended gutter system

(Video in English)https://www.youtube.com/embed/q1U7FS2xif8?start=5&feature=oembed

– Lifting suspended gutter system

(Video in English)https://www.youtube.com/embed/q3XUXH76YBE?start=28&feature=oembed

Advantages of growing strawberries in greenhouses

Below is a summary of the advantages of producing strawberries in greenhouses compared to conventional open field cultivation.

• Possibility to produce without pesticides thanks to the protection of nets and biological integrated control in the greenhouse (better efficiency)

• Superior yield (crop density, up to 15 kg / m2) and quality (insect and disease control + accurate climate management)

• Optimization of labor and reduction of effort (during pruning and harvesting) with cultivation gutters at workers’ height

• Reduction and recycling of inputs and limitation of environmental impact

• Water consumption decrease

• Extension of the production season (year-round)

• Local production close to the consumers (no need to import from oversea during the winter in some locations)

Conclusion

Strawberry production is not simple, it is a demanding crop that requires specific technical support.

However, the growth perspectives are important for this crop. Demand for strawberries is growing worldwide at all times of the year. In addition, consumers are increasingly sensitive to transparency and traceability in order to consume organic products without pesticides.

For these reasons, the production of strawberries in greenhouses with modern technologies is a real solution and should have a bright future.

Sources:

Ancay, A., F. Fremin, et P. Sigg. (2010). Fraisiers sur substrat : quelles alternatives à la tourbe ?
Revue suisse Viticulture, Arboriculture, Horticulture, 42(2) :106–113.

Growing strawberries in greenhouses (OMAFRA):
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/hort/news/allontario/ao0513a1.htm

Izard, D. (2017). La fraise hors sol sous abris froids. Récupéré de à http://gfol1.fruitsplus.net/
download/5-La_fraise_hors_sol_froid_ws1037484763.pdf

La culture des fraises en serre (CIDES, 2000):
http://www.cawjijel.org/images/guide_deculture_fraise.pdf

La production de fraises hors-sol est-elle faite pour vous ?
https://www.agrireseau.net/documents/92133/la-production-de-fraises-hors-sol-est-ce-pour-vous?a=1&r=fraises+serre

Optimisation de la production hors-sol de fraise à jours neutres sous abris (Université Laval, 2017):
https://corpus.ulaval.ca/jspui/bitstream/20.500.11794/27643/1/33157.pdf

Profil de la culture de la fraise au Canada (Agri-Food Canda, 2005) :
https://www.agrireseau.net/petitsfruits/documents/Profil_culture_fraise_Canada_2005F.pdf

“Strawberries have a range of flavors that have been lost in modern varieties, but these flavor profiles still exist in nature,” said FFAR Scientific Program Director Dr. John Reich, director of PIP. “By understanding genetic and environmental influences on flavor, we can not only recover these flavors, but also expand our abilities to adapt crops to controlled environment agriculture.”

This funding opportunity aims to build on existing strawberry research, including flavor research, to increase scientific understanding of premium flavors in strawberry and how flavorful strawberries can impact the controlled environment agriculture sector. Premium flavors, in this context, are novel flavors with potential commercial value that are largely absent in modern commercial varieties, not the enhancement of existing flavor varieties. 

Eligible projects must identify genetic elements responsible for premium flavors, the chemical constituents responsible for those flavors, and environmental inputs that lead to the growing premium-flavored strawberries in controlled environment production systems.

Applicants from institutions of higher education, non-profit and for-profit organizations, government-affiliated researchers and domestic and international organizations are eligible for this opportunity. FFAR further highly encourages applications from Hispanic-serving institutions, 1890s Land Grant Institutions and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions.

According to Reich “Controlled environment agriculture could solve a myriad of food and agriculture challenges. This type of agriculture system can be housed in non-traditional spaces, including abandoned buildings, old warehouse and garages. As these spaces are often in or near urban areas, the foods grown there are closer to their intended consumers, reducing transportation costs and potential bringing new economic opportunities into communities.”

From a scientific standpoint, controlled environments offer unprecedented opportunities to improve nutritional content, flavor and crop quality. PIP leverages private-sector investments to develop crops specifically for controlled environment agriculture. 

As the consortium is fully funded by FFAR and its participants, there is no matching funds requirement for this funding opportunity. However, if a for-profit institution is part of the proposal, the project must have contributions from that organization.

PIP is accepting pre-applications until November 10, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. EST. Approved pre-applications will receive an invitation on January 4, 2022, to submit a full application. Specific information about nominations, eligibility and the application process can be found on FFAR’s website.

_______

Precision Indoor Plants Consortium

Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) is a public-private partnership created by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) to produce new flavorful, nutritious crops specially intended for indoor agriculture. By focusing on innovative science and technology, the consortium’s research efforts will increase our ability to produce crops that are high value, of consistent quality and desired by consumers. Ultimately, PIP can help food producers grow flavorful, nutritious food indoors. 
FFAR’s initial $7.5 million investment is matched by the PIP participants for a total investment of $15 million to develop flavorful, nutritious crops for indoor agriculture. PIP’s participants include AeroFarms, BASF, Benson Hill, Fluence by OSRAM, GreenVenus and Priva.

Read the full article by e-Gro below:

Hort Americas continues to show its industry leading knowledge in controlled environment agriculture with its series of Online Short Courses. Look for a new one each month. In June, they will tackle fertilizers and nutrients.

You can register now for the next one on Saturday, May 22, 2021!

Learn all the important aspects of growing strawberries successfully.

From hydroponic growing system selection, best substrate options, nutrient requirement and how to create the proper rootzone and air environment to promote growth and development in greenhouse production.

Instructor: M.S. Karla Garcia
– Hort Americas Technical Service
– Master in Plant Sciences from The University of Arizona
– Recognition by ISHS in strawberry hydroponic research
– Editor: Book Roadmap to Growing Leafy Greens and Herbs
– CEO at Microgreens FLN

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Schedule: 10:00 AM TO 12:00 PM (Central Time)
Platform: ZOOM US
Price: $50 US

Once you have registered, we will make contact to provide access to our LIVE session!

Course Content

– Strawberry hydroponics growing systems

– Nutrient requirement

– Irrigation

– Environmental requirements for strawberry
a) Light
b) Temperature
c) Humidity
d) Air flow
e) Rootzone environmental conditions (Substrate options)

– Cultivar selection
a) June- Bearing
b) Ever-bearing

– Planting material

– Crop management

Send us an email at technicalservice@hortamericas.com if you have any further questions!

WATSONVILLE, Calif. — Driscoll’s, the leading consumer brand in fresh berries, today announced a partnership with the Israel-based, technology solutions company Consumer Physics to leverage its SCiO technology to innovate Driscoll’s quality measurement process.

The Near Infrared (NIR) technology and breakthrough design offered through the Consumer Physics SCiO Cup will allow Driscoll’s to measure the Brix, or sweetness of its berries, more effectively and enables its Quality Rewards System, which measures and rewards its independent growers who consistently bring great tasting berries from harvest to the consumer.

“We are constantly looking for ways to improve the flavor of our berries,” said Brie Reiter Smith, Driscoll’s Director of Quality Systems Design and Technology, Supply Chain. “Investing in technology that ensures more flavor consistency within our proprietary berry varieties is important to our continued efforts to elevate our berry consumers’ experience. Partnering with Consumer Physics was an easy decision. Their impressive and novel brix measurement device allows us to reward the independent growers across our network who provide the ripest and best tasting berries.”

The Consumer Physics SCiO Cup supports cloud-based software to deliver lab-grade analyses to mobile devices in seconds. An entire clamshell of strawberries is able to fit in each SCiO Cup and be scanned at one time, which eliminates the need for inspectors to select which berries to measure for Brix. For raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, more than two six ounce clamshells can be measured in a single reading.

Driscoll’s will begin integrating SCiO Cup devices within its quality measurement process this month in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. By the end of 2021, Driscoll’s will rely exclusively on the SCiO Cup device for Brix measurements in the approximately two million quality inspections conducted annually in North America.

“We are excited to see our technology adopted by Driscoll’s,” said Damian Goldring, Co-founder and CTO at Consumer Physics. “It fits perfectly with Driscoll’s innovative use case. The SCiO Cup delivers within seconds, accurate, consistent and non-destructive Brix analysis in berries. We have been developing this solution closely with Driscoll’s over the past couple of years and already see additional opportunities to implement this solution across the Driscoll’s supply chain in the future.”

From sensors, smart systems, data warehouse and proprietary analytics to monitor and improve product quality, innovation is embedded across the Driscoll’s supply chain. Over the years, Driscoll’s Quality Assurance team also developed analytical models and other tools that help the company proactively drive change and manage risk. The art and science of growing Only the Finest Berries also includes a dedicated commitment to a Delight Platform that measures and rewards delivering consistently great tasting berries from harvest to the consumer.

Introduced more than a decade ago, a Quality Rewards System was designed to further reward independent growers that harvest the ripest, most attractive fruit while meeting key quality elements of freshness. As part of this quality measurement system, Driscoll’s family of independent growers are rewarded based on their ripeness performance relative to growers with the same crop in the same geography. The Consumer Physics technology directly supports this undertaking by enabling the non-destructive measure of degrees Brix that is fast, simple, highly accurate, scalable and provides real-time data without waste.

About Driscoll’s

Driscoll’s is the global market leader of fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage, Driscoll’s is a pioneer of berry flavor innovation and the trusted consumer brand of Only the Finest Berries. With more than 900 independent growers around the world, Driscoll’s develops exclusive patented berry varieties using only natural breeding methods that focus on growing great tasting berries. A dedicated team of agronomists, breeders, sensory analysts, plant pathologists and entomologists help grow baby seedlings that are then grown on local family farms. Driscoll’s now serves consumers year-round across North America, Australia, Europe and China in over twenty-two countries. As a fourth-generation grower and the son of one of Driscoll’s founders, J. Miles Reiter serves as Chairman and CEO.

About Consumer Physics

Consumer Physics provides innovative solutions to the food and ag industries. The company leverages its proprietary Near Infrared spectrometers and its cloud-based software infrastructure to develop solutions that are affordable, easy-to-operate, quick and accurate taking material analyses from the lab and placing it in the hands of farmers, advisors, inspectors and other users throughout the supply chain.

They have had three short courses so far, but if you missed them you can request them on-demand!

You can register now for the next one on Saturday, September 19, 2020 on hydroponic strawberry production.

Learn all the important aspects of growing strawberries successfully.

From hydroponic growing system selection, best substrate options, nutrient requirement and how to create the proper rootzone and air environment to promote growth and development in greenhouse production.

Instructor: M.S. Karla Garcia
– Hort Americas Technical Service
– Master in Plant Sciences from The University of Arizona
– Recognition by ISHS in strawberry hydroponic research
– Editor: Book Roadmap to Growing Leafy Greens and Herbs
– CEO at Microgreens FLN

Saturday, September 19, 2020

Schedule: 10:00 AM TO 12:00 PM (Central Time)
Platform: ZOOM US
Price: $50 US

Once you have registered, we will make contact to provide access to our LIVE session!

Course Content

– Strawberry hydroponics growing systems

– Nutrient requirement

– Irrigation

– Environmental requirements for strawberry

a) Light

b) Temperature

c) Humidity

d) Air flow

e) Rootzone environmental conditions (Substrate options)

– Cultivar selection

a) June- Bearing

b) Ever-bearing

– Planting material

– Crop management

Send us an email at technicalservice@hortamericas.com if you have any further questions!

Coronavirus is the first global pandemic of most of our lives and so far the virus has predominantly affected the elderly and those with decreased immunity to disease. As we start to come out of lock down there is more fear for healthy individuals, in particular with regard to the ability to fight off COVID-19, should we or our loved ones contract it. Many people are now turning to increased personal health and well-being to build resilience for the future.

Remember!
The CDC recommends the following measures in regard to COVID-19.
How to protect yourself • What to do if you are sick
Disclaimer: We are not doctors and do not prescribe this blog as a medicinal alternative to bona fide medical advice should you contract seasonal flu or Coronavirus.

Strawberries and Blueberries

Strawberries are the most widely grown fruit crop in the U.S., closely followed by blueberries [1].  Their popularity in the diet of health conscious Americans has grown in recent years because they have powerful nutritional and medicinal properties.

The effect of a poor diet leads to chronic disease

A poor diet can lead to obesity, and subsequent chronic, low-grade inflammation, resulting in vascular damage, thrombosis, insulin resistance and high blood pressure [2]. This can lead to cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes, in addition to some forms of cancer, arthritis and neurodegenerative diseases [3].

Anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, vascular protectant, neuroprotectant

Strawberries (Fragaria) and blueberries (Vaccinium) are well known to be high in antioxidants and a great source of minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, and dietary fibre. They contain a wide array of bioactive phytochemicals, such as phenolic compounds and organic acids that boost the immune system [4]. Both strawberries and blueberries contain high levels of these bioactive compounds known to prevent the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and cancer [5] [6]. Consumption of flavonoids is also associated with a decreased risk of developing depression [7], something to bear in mind as anxiety is heightened at this time during the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

Boosting the immune system with berries to provide cardiovascular protection and fight off viruses

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of mortality in the U.S. [8] and as with type II diabetes, people with either of these conditions are at higher risk of complications due to COVID-19 [9]. Current CDC guidelines for prevention of heart disease state, “be sure to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods” [10]. With no known cure or vaccine, there is an opportunity for individuals to use plant sources that have been shown to alleviate symptoms of both these diseases making the body more resilient to the virus.

Strawberries and blueberries are amongst the most studied berries, in particular for their cardiovascular protective effects. Regular consumption of strawberries is well known to reduce risk factors associated with heart disease by reducing blood cholesterol and oxidative stress [11] [12] [13] [14]. In separate studies, just three portions of strawberries and blueberries a week may reduce the risk of having a heart attack by more than 30% [15]. Strawberries also reduce the risk of type II diabetes by controlling blood sugar levels in diabetic patients [16].

Men are more seriously affected by COVID-19 and this can be compounded by underlying disease [17]. In a randomized study of men with type II diabetes, researchers found that just one cup of freeze-dried blueberries a day for 8 weeks could have a significant effect by reducing both cumulative and average glucose levels [18]. The same study also revealed a significant reduction in serum triglycerides after blueberry consumption suggesting a cardiovascular protection.

Wild Varieties

In Europe, the denser woodland bilberry or blaeberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) is equivalent to blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) native to North America. All are vaccinium genus and display similar medicinal qualities although some scientific evidence suggests the wild bilberry has much higher antioxidant activity [19].  That is, if you can pick them before the wild deer eat them! A recent study following 110 women consuming bilberries as part of a routine diet, showed a reversal of dangerous vascular changes in under a month [20].

Growing Strawberries

Strawberries are fairly easy to grow and should be placed in a sunny position with good nutritious soil mixed with perlite and bedded with straw or a dry mulch.  A little fertilizer during the fruiting season is all they require to keep producing a continuous crop. Hydroponic growing may require more knowledge but they do well in a raised bench dripper system in a perlite substrate that drains easily. They need a lot of growing space and soluble fertilizer should be supplemented during fruiting with higher levels of phosphate/potassium. If you don’t have space to grow like the pros why not try a more compact wild alpine strawberry. 

Much more information is available from the technical resources provided by Hort Americas. 

If you want to try these in hydroponics, take a look at these resources:

Essentials for growing hydroponic strawberries successfully

https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainablehydro

Growing Blueberries

Blueberries that are commonly grown in high bushes and dwarf varieties tend to do better in hydroponics. 

Blueberries grow best in a well-draining substrate with pH 4.0-5.5 which should be checked and adjusted daily. In hydroponics they are usually  grown in pots with a dripper system. Balanced irrigation/fertigation should be maintained at EC 2mS/cm with an ideal 15-25% run off. 

Blueberries require increased sulphur to produce the best quality crop. An average daily temperature of 72-76 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal with optimal lighting ranging between 12-16hrs and 65-75% relative humidity. Growing blueberries successful on a commercial scale requires skilled monitoring and automated adjustments.

Janet Colston PhD is a pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.

Webinar title: Off-season strawberry production under controlled environments

Date: November 21, 2019

Time: 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. EST

Presented by: Dr. Chieri Kubota

Register now at https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BW_p9oDyS7Cmx1DllSCLbA

Date: October 25, 2019
Time: 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. EDT
Presented by: Neil Mattson and Jonathan Allred

Click here to register!

Carbon dioxide enrichment has long been known as a tool to boost greenhouse crop yield but the benefits depend on the crop and production environment especially light. In this webinar, Cornell University researchers will discuss:

• The basics of greenhouse CO2 enrichment.
• Current research underway to determine response of tomatoes and strawberries on light and CO2.
• Experimental results from two years of studies on day-neutral strawberry cultivar selection and response to HPS and LED supplemental lighting.

Alongside the conference, we are also organizing a soft fruit/horticultural exhibition. The conference program will include plenty of time for a visit to the exhibition. The exhibition will also be open during the presentations.

Exhibiting at the ISFC
The fair offers you the opportunity to bring your company and your products and services to the visitors attention. The standard area available for a stand is 8m2 (4 x 2 meters), which costs € 850,- if you register by 15th October the latest. You are granted a €100,- discount when you are also attending as exhibitor at the Dutch strawberry day. Registration after the 15th October will cost €950,-. If you need more space, please indicate this on your registration form. Extra space will cost extra of course. For more information on the stand area, contact Eric Boot. If you would like to register as an exhibitor, go to https://www.softfruitconference.com/exhibitors

Advertizing in Reader
The reader that is handed out to all participants contains summaries of the Dutch Strawberry Day, in Dutch language and the summaries of the ISFC in English.

You are invited to place an advertisement in this reader. If you follow the Exhibitor registration link, you will find the option for advertising. If you decide to advertise in both the Dutch and in the English section, you will be granted a 50% discount on the second advert.

The reader has a magazine format and allows following sizes:
Whole page advert : 297 x 210 mm (portrait)
Half page advert : 190 x 130 mm (landscape)
Quarter page advert : 130 x 93 mm (portrait)
Full color print CMYK
Minimal 254 dpi (preferably 300dpi or more)
Please send in PDF format.

* Adverts need to be sent to m.vanwerven@delphy.nl before 1st November 2019. Adverts that are send after this date and adverts with incorrect specifications can not be published

Sponsoring
We have a wide range of sponsoring options. If you are interested in extensive sponsoring and the privileges it involves, please contact us or visit our website. You can register as sponsor at https://www.softfruitconference.com/exhibitors

Dutch Strawberry Day
On Wednesday 8th January, the day before the International Soft Fruit Conference, the Dutch Strawberry Day will take place. The presentations given on this day will be in Dutch. The organization of this event is independent of the International Soft Fruit Conference, but as an exhibitor you will of course also be able to participate in the Strawberry Day. We have combined the exhibitor registration for the Strawberry Day and the ISFC into one registration form. Participation at both days as exhibitor gives you a € 100,- discount per day.At the Strawberry Day on Wednesday, we have added to options to participate at the Exhibition tour and/or to buy discount vouchers for your grower-relation. Please visit our website for more information.

Trying to produce vegetables in hot, humid conditions can be difficult for controlled environment growers whether growing in a greenhouse or a warehouse.

“The challenges of greenhouse growing in Ohio and the Midwest are different than the challenges faced by growers in Arizona,” said Ohio State University horticulture professor Chieri Kubota. Kubota, who joined the faculty at Ohio State this past June will continue the controlled environment agriculture research she was doing while at the University of Arizona.

“Some people think I’m an expert at dealing with heat stress because I was doing my research in an Arizona greenhouse,” she said. “But in Arizona growers don’t really have to worry about the heat inside a greenhouse if they are using an evaporative cooling system to lower the temperature. In Arizona the outside temperature can be 110ºF, but the temperature in the greenhouse can be lowered to 75ºF-80ºF (25ºC-27ºC) as long as the air is dry enough and water is available. In Arizona the dryness can be a challenge, causing tip burn on sensitive crops such as lettuce and strawberry.

“I really didn’t have to deal with heat stress much in Arizona. But there are other parts of the country like the Midwest and East Coast that have to deal with hot, humid summer conditions and very cold winters. I would like to work on those issues and develop technologies, including climate control strategies that can mitigate the issues of growing crops year-round. In Ohio and the Midwest summer heat stress is a major issue for crops causing all kinds of physiological disorders including incomplete pollination and fruit ripening disorders. During the winter, heating and humidity can also be an issue. There is also an issue with low light levels so supplemental lighting is more important.”

Because of the limited optimum growing season in greenhouses in the Midwest, Kubota said using indoor productions systems makes more sense compared to Arizona.

“In this part of the country it is very difficult to maintain the optimum temperature range year round,” she said. “And because of the increased interest in vertical farming, I expect to put more effort in warehouse production systems, including the use of LED lighting.”

Improving vegetable grafting

Some of the projects Kubota started at the University of Arizona that she will continue to work on are vegetable grafting and hydroponic strawberry production. She is a member of a research team lead by North Carolina State University plant pathologist Frank Louws that is working on vegetable grafting.

“I am continuing my research on improving grafting methods and the handling of grafted plants so that they can be shipped long distances,” Kubota said. “I am also creating a simple tool for growers to schedule grafted plant production. Having the grafted plants ready at exactly the same size is always a challenge for growers. The research group is working to develop a simple plant growth model based on environmental conditions to predict how many days are needed to finish a grafted crop.”

Kubota said the grafting research team is looking at a variety of plants, including tomato, watermelon, cucumber, eggplant, pepper and muskmelon.

“Growers are commercially producing grafted tomato and watermelon plants, but there are many more crops that can use grafting technology to reduce loss from soil-borne diseases and to increase yields. My program is looking at all of these potential crops.”

Kubota said the grafting research also has application to greenhouse crops.

“The grafting technology was originally developed for soil-based production, but greenhouse vegetable growers discovered that even though they are doing soilless production, using grafted plants can increase crop yields,” she said. “In North America, greenhouse growers were the first group who started using grafting technology. The field growers are now more interested since they have fewer means to control disease. In terms of potential market, field production in the U.S. is much larger in terms of number of plants.

“Currently tomato accounts for the majority of grafted plants in greenhouses. Increased tomato yields have been the driver for greenhouse growers to use grafted plants. Some greenhouse growers have been trialing grafted cucumbers and some research has shown that grafted eggplants can increase yields.”

Improving strawberry production

Kubota who has been working on greenhouse strawberry production for nine years will continue working on this crop with an interest in the use of LEDs.

“Strawberry fruit production is not as productive as leafy greens or tomatoes in terms of dollars of return relative to the input of light,” she said. “I’m interested in studying the increase in yields relative to the increase in light. What is the dollar value of that increase of yield by adding for example, 1 mole of light? Unless there is an improvement in lighting technology, it may not make sense to grow strawberries under supplemental lighting.

“I would like to come up with a smart lighting system to reduce the lighting cost based on the understanding of strawberry physiology and how plants are grown in a greenhouse. I think we could reduce lighting energy use and costs quite a bit by doing that. Strawberries are physiologically unique in terms of light saturation and also in terms of the sink-and-source relationship of how much sugar can be translocated from the leaves so that the photosynthetic rate can be maximized.”

Developing new crops

Another area that Kubota would like to expand for CEA production is the development of new crops.

“Controlled environment growers whether they are growing in greenhouses or warehouses need to diversify and increase the number of crops they are producing,” she said. “Although I don’t have any new crop projects coming up, I am particularly interested in small fruits. Since Ohio and the Midwest have a cold climate, there may be an opportunity to do more with small fruit crops like raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and other berry crops for greenhouse production.”

Kubota is also interested in revisiting the study of spinach production in greenhouse and warehouses.

“Controlled environment growers seem to have a particularly difficult time managing diseases including Pythium on spinach,” she said. “I am interested in determining if there is a practical way to manage these diseases. Cornell University researchers had previously done a lot of studies on this issue years ago. I wanted to see what the difference was between the successful hydroponic growing of spinach in Asia and other countries and why U.S. growers can’t do that too.”

Expanding professional training, research programs

As part of her extension efforts at Ohio State, Kubota wants to expand the opportunities for growers to receive professional training.

“I want this training to go beyond Ohio and to go nationwide and even international,” she said. “I’m interested in training professionals with online courses and other programs at a reasonable cost.

“The heart of the horticulture industry is in this part of the country. There are many different types of growers, supporting vendors and technology providers here. They are well connected.”

Kubota said at the University of Arizona research in the plant science department was focused more on basic science such as how a particular gene functions in plants, but not necessarily horticultural plants.

“Here at Ohio State I am in the horticulture and crop science department so the other faculty members understand what horticulture is,” she said. “There are a number of people here working on controlled environment agriculture including horticulture, which covers floriculture, hydroponics and high tunnels, and ag engineering, entomology, plant pathology and food safety. There is a complete set of researchers and extension specialists who can work on a variety of controlled environment agriculture issues related to horticulture crops. This makes it advantageous for not only developing research projects together, but also professional training for commercial growers.”

For more: Chieri Kubota, The Ohio State University, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, kubota.10@osu.edu; http://u.osu.edu/cepptlab; https://hcs.osu.edu/our-people/dr-chieri-kubota; https://www.facebook.com/CEPPTLAB.

This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written by David Kuack, a freelance writer from Fort Worth, TX.