Maximum Yield USA December 2019 / January 2020 | Page 19

Tomato Roots Can Remove Phosphate from Water
A PhD student from the University of Windsor has discovered that old
greenhouse tomato roots are better than garlic, cannabis, and leek
roots when it comes to cheaply removing phosphate from contaminated
water. David Ure, who earned his undergraduate degree from Western
University, says a field test in manure-contaminated water showed
tomato roots could remove 71 per cent of the phosphate. Phosphates
are used as plant fertilizer, but runoff can cause the water body to
become choked with algae and other plants. Eutrophication deprives
the water of available oxygen, causing the death of other organisms.
Ure wasn’t expecting much from the roots. Past research had used
processed shrimp shells, but they were expensive, so he was looking
for cheap material to chemically modify as a filter to capture phosphate.
Tomato plants that grow hydroponically in recirculated, fertilized water
are periodically cleared out of greenhouses to start a fresh crop.
— windsorstar.com
Wendy’s Using Greenhouse-Grown Tomatoes
All Wendy’s North American outlets are now using tomatoes grown in
greenhouses. The fast-food chain, which includes more than 6,000 locations,
shifted from field to indoor grown tomatoes in order to give customers
fresher fruit in their burgers and salads. “We are excited about the superior
flavors we can achieve with this change,” says Dennis Hecker, senior
vice-president of quality assurance for Wendy’s. Wendy’s uses a dozen
greenhouse companies and hydroponic farms throughout North America,
including the West Coast, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and Great Lakes
regions of the United States; eastern and western Canada; and Mexico
as the fast food industry shifts to fresh ingredients. Tomatoes grown
in a field are usually picked while still green and kept cool as they are
transported across the country to protect them from spoiling and bruising.
As a result, they often don’t reach maximum ripeness.
— hortdaily.com
Snow White Strawberry Costs a Pretty Penny
Strawberries can be expensive but the Snow White strawberry
will set you back a dollar… for one berry. The berry hails from
Japan and when it matures, the surface seeds are round and
turn red. It also has a white peel with white flesh. Over the past
two years, the strawberry industry has been introduced to the
Snow White variety, which is sweeter than regular berries. The
reason for this is it’s a winter variety and the cold makes for a
longer ripening time, so it has more time to accumulate sugar,
hence the sweetness. It gets its white appearance because the
red strawberry pigment, anthocyanin, is absent in the white
strawberry peel. Snow White strawberries cost more because of
low production, about 698 pounds per acre, while high-yielding
strawberry varieties can reach 1,466 pounds per acre.
— freshplaza.com
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