By Lilian Schaer for AgInnovation Ontario Source: AgInnovationOntario
Ontarians will soon be able to easily grow blueberries on their own balconies or patios.
That’s thanks to an agricultural innovation made possible by Growing Forward 2, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, and the Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance.
Demand for more edible potted plants combined with heightened consumer interest in food production led researchers at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (Vineland) to work on new technology to allow consumers to more easily grow plants in containers.
Dr. Youbin Zheng and his team have developed a new organic growing material – known in the plant-growing world as substrate – that is specifically suited to growing plants like blueberries or other small fruits in containers instead of in gardens.
“Potted blueberries are a new product that provides consumers with opportunities to grow their own fresh blueberries on their balconies or in their gardens,” explains Zheng. “At the same time, this will help Canadian nursery growers broaden their markets by being able to offer a wider selection of plants to garden centres and other retail outlets.”
Dark blue fruits like blueberries are great sources of anthocyanins – or antioxidants – that can boost human health. Those antioxidants are scavengers of free radicals – high energy particles in the human body that can damage cells – which mean they can help combat common health problems like inflammation, diabetes, and cancer.
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