Growing food in urban environments could have important implications for sustainability—if we can produce crops that thrive in tight spaces

Tomatoes are a versatile veggie (or fruit, botanically speaking), and scientists have long been tinkering to improve their nutritional value and flavor. Now, a team of researchers has created a crop of cherry tomatoes that was gene edited to grow in a grape-like bunch, tailor-made for confined urban environments.

The tomatoes weren’t just tightly bunched; they also matured quickly, producing ready-to-harvest fruit in less than 40 days. This fruitfulness is another boon for urban farming, which can operate year-round in climate-controlled conditions. “More harvests per year results in more food, even if the space used is very small,” as the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory points out.

The researchers’ genetic-tweaking focused on tomatoes, but they say that similar strategies could be used on other plants. Perhaps, in the future, we’ll be munching on kiwis and cucumbers that grow in little bunches, too.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/gene-edited-tomatoes-grow-bunches-could-be-ideal-urban-farming-180973858/

That…that…that…that’s a genetically modified organism!

runs for the hills

sibeen said:

That…that…that…that’s a genetically modified organism!

runs for the hills

You cannot escape, Santa is everywhere.

So, it looks like a dwarf cherry tomato. Hmm.

buffy said:

So, it looks like a dwarf cherry tomato. Hmm.

That is what it is, except with gene technology it is even more compact and should reproduce that feature indefinitely, thereby making it ideal for home gardens, even growing in pots. A fuller explanation is in the article.

OK, I read that piece. I don’t think I understand completely why they would tweak cherry tomatoes like that. Cherry tomatoes are brilliant in that all the fruit does not come ripe at once, they ripen along the bunch. By the way, they already grow in grape like configuration. And dwarfing the plant doesn’t fit in well with this bit:

“Tomatoes also pair well, taste-wise, with leafy greens, which are the only plants currently being cultivated in vertical farms—crops that are grown on stacked shelves to maximize available space.”

Because in a vertical farm, you could easily trail the tomatoes from the top down the face of the shelves. People have been growing cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets since at least the 1970s.

buffy said:

OK, I read that piece. I don’t think I understand completely why they would tweak cherry tomatoes like that. Cherry tomatoes are brilliant in that all the fruit does not come ripe at once, they ripen along the bunch. By the way, they already grow in grape like configuration. And dwarfing the plant doesn’t fit in well with this bit:

“Tomatoes also pair well, taste-wise, with leafy greens, which are the only plants currently being cultivated in vertical farms—crops that are grown on stacked shelves to maximize available space.”

Because in a vertical farm, you could easily trail the tomatoes from the top down the face of the shelves. People have been growing cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets since at least the 1970s.

Just because you can grow something in a particular way does not mean it will be commonly followed by large numbers of people, whereas this plant is very easy to grow, with little effort and produces large quantities of fruit in a short period of time.

Tiny Tim fits this description and has been around since 1945.

buffy said:

Tiny Tim fits this description and has been around since 1945.

Yes it is a nice looking dwarf tomato that has been developed by the University of New Hampshire, although similar, the growth habit is quite different and not as compact because of it, plus it does not mature as fast. At least growers now have a choice of two dwarf tomatoes, which they can use depending on their situation.

buffy said:

So, it looks like a dwarf cherry tomato. Hmm.

The red robin tomatoes I grew this year are very much this type of tomato. If not quite so fruitful but not far from it. Less than 30 cm tall but more tomatoes than leaves.

PermeateFree said:

buffy said:

Tiny Tim fits this description and has been around since 1945.

Yes it is a nice looking dwarf tomato that has been developed by the University of New Hampshire, although similar, the growth habit is quite different and not as compact because of it, plus it does not mature as fast. At least growers now have a choice of two dwarf tomatoes, which they can use depending on their situation.