Freakishly Huge Strawberries

[gorb.gorb]

I suspect these strawberries to be GMO or something. I have never seen such ENORMOUS berries - I bought a 1lb. clamshell and there were 6 berries total in there. That's it! Or maybe it's just crazy fertilization? I don't know much about farming, other than my container gardens on the deck ;)

I know strawberries are a heavily sprayed crop and would love to buy organic but there aren't any. My plants are just breaking forth into flowers so I have awhile to wait for homegrowns...

I know that GM foods are designated as such by the PLU codes, but in these plastic clamshells I didn't see any numbers at all. Anyone know if GM strawberries are on the market? I've actually never seen any GM PLU's before.

Anyway, I just couldn't believe how massive these strawberries are. Flavour wise they are pretty good though! So no complaints there :)

[Veganforlife]

My dd bought some the other week and a few were literally the size of a grapefruit. I'm not kidding. We measured it. It was 4 inches wide by 3 inches tall. GMO food for sure - gotta be!!!
I did just find this quick:
http://www.gardenerschoice.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=27

[babyphat1989]

omg that is funny bc my mom bought some organic ones the other day and i made a comment about how huge they were! maybe theres different types of strawberries that grow bigger than others??

[Elle_Murphy]

but how do they TASTE? I know from experience that it doesn't necc mean they are sweeter & juicier? If you got some that big that ARE.. WOOOWEEEE, AWESOME!!

[sport]

If you follow that link it says that they have just been developed.
This does not necessarly mean that they are GM but it is likely.

[gorb.gorb]

I don't know much about horticulture... like breeding plants for desirable characteristics, eg. size/colour Can this method be used to create larger fruit? I would think so... And since there are different 'strains' of strawberries, some fruit all season, some only once etc.. there could be just different types with abnormally huge berries, like babyphat mentions.

And as for GM produce, I don't know what they would modify to create larger fruit - my limited knowledge includes genetically modifying thing for pest resistance or those tomatoes with the frog genes for glossy firm skin and shelf life ... I found out the strawberries are from Pacific Gold Farms in Cali, and attempted to go online to their website but it's down / inaccessible.



These berries have brought up the fact, abundantly clear now, that I need to do some reading & research into agricultural practices, GM produce, breeding plants and on and on. I'm pretty ignorant about these things :p

[RowanC]

King Kong, was just recently developed by plant scientists at the government Agricultural Research Station

That pretty much tell me I will NOT be eating them!

[dreamrawalwz]

The organic strawberries I have been buying have been huge as well. Same with some other organic produce. The pears were at tall as my hand and very plump! I had a peach like that last year too. Maybe orgnic produce has more natural fertalizer so it absorbs nutrients more/better?