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It's not even about optimizing for looks so much as size. A given blueberry bush will grow a certain _number_ of blueberries, while they are sold by weight. Fo

It's not even about optimizing for looks so much as size. A given blueberry bush will grow a certain _number_ of blueberries, while they are sold by weight. For that reason the farmer makes more money by getting the bush to grow the largest blueberries possible, and the larger ones tend to taste less good.

scottlamb 3y ago
Agreed, and so I'm a little skeptical of this article talking about tasty giant blueberries.
o11c 3y ago
From my experience (with homegrown berries) I would disagree; it's probably just that farmers have to optimize for "will not go bad on the way to the store". Maximum size and number of berries are determined by variety, and largely trade off against each other, though (probably climate dependent) some varieties just don't seem to do well at all. Actual size and sweetness is determined by how much water you give them and how long you leave them on the bush. Optimal picking time is determined by: go down and see when you think they're ready, then wait 2 more weeks before actually picking them; there should be just a handful starting to go bad. With some (but not all) varieties, you can also go by feel: if barely touching the berry makes it fall off, it's ready. If you only have a small number of bushes and they aren't fully enclosed, the birds will eat them all before they actually ripen. At commercial scale this isn't very significant since the area can't support that many birds for the rest of the summer.
- hinkley 3y ago
  Thick skin on a large blueberry is probably more palatable than thick skin on a small blueberry.
- fsckboy 3y ago
  >sweetness is determined by how much water you give them and how long you leave them on the bush with wine grapes, sweetness (and other flavor qualities) depend on the sunlight times ratio of surface area of leaves to number of "berries". If the weather is great, you can grow more great grapes, but if the weather is poor you prune off half the fruit when it is still small and green (it's called the green harvest), and the remaining grapes come out higher quality, concentrating the sugar from more leaves. You might try it with a blueberry bush to see if those fruits taste better.

scottlamb 3y ago

Agreed, and so I'm a little skeptical of this article talking about tasty giant blueberries.

o11c 3y ago

From my experience (with homegrown berries) I would disagree; it's probably just that farmers have to optimize for "will not go bad on the way to the store". Maximum size and number of berries are determined by variety, and largely trade off against each other, though (probably climate dependent) some varieties just don't seem to do well at all. Actual size and sweetness is determined by how much water you give them and how long you leave them on the bush. Optimal picking time is determined by: go down and see when you think they're ready, then wait 2 more weeks before actually picking them; there should be just a handful starting to go bad. With some (but not all) varieties, you can also go by feel: if barely touching the berry makes it fall off, it's ready. If you only have a small number of bushes and they aren't fully enclosed, the birds will eat them all before they actually ripen. At commercial scale this isn't very significant since the area can't support that many birds for the rest of the summer.

hinkley 3y ago
Thick skin on a large blueberry is probably more palatable than thick skin on a small blueberry.
fsckboy 3y ago
>sweetness is determined by how much water you give them and how long you leave them on the bush with wine grapes, sweetness (and other flavor qualities) depend on the sunlight times ratio of surface area of leaves to number of "berries". If the weather is great, you can grow more great grapes, but if the weather is poor you prune off half the fruit when it is still small and green (it's called the green harvest), and the remaining grapes come out higher quality, concentrating the sugar from more leaves. You might try it with a blueberry bush to see if those fruits taste better.