Strawberries are one of those fruits every gardener loves to grow all year round. The best way to ensure continuous production of this awesome fruit is by growing them hydroponically.
Regardless of your experience in hydroponics, this article will walk you through the step-by-step method of how to grow strawberries hydroponically, from choosing the best strawberry seeds to installing your own hydroponic system.
If you are new to hydroponics, check out what you need to know before starting a hydroponic system.
What is hydroponic Strawberry?
Hydroponic strawberries are simply strawberries grown using a hydroponic method of farming. Hydroponic systems use nutrient-rich solutions to grow strawberries rather than planting them directly into the soil.
Are Hydroponic Strawberries Safe?
Strawberries grown hydroponically are healthier and safe to consume. Hydroponic strawberries are grown in a well-formulated nutrient solution and in the right growth environment making them sweeter and more enjoyable to consume.
Are Hydroponic Strawberries Better Than Regular Strawberries?
Hydroponic strawberries are generally considered to be more nutrient-packed than regular strawberries. Although conventionally grown strawberries taste good and delicious, it is commonly believed that those grown hydroponically taste even better.
This may be as a result of the balanced nutrient hydroponically grown strawberries receive whereas in the case of those grown in soil, a lot of factors come in to play.
Although whether grown in soil or in a hydroponic system, it all depends on your personal preference, most people prefer to eat hydroponic strawberries while others love to consume soil-grown strawberries.
3 Advantages Of Hydroponic Strawberries
1. Year-Round Production
With a hydroponic system, you're sure to keep getting new and fresh strawberry fruits all through the year even when they're out of season.
This is possible because the fruits are grown in a well-regulated growth environment and there are fed constantly with the appropriate nutrients.
2. Higher Yield
3. Water and Resource Efficiency
This makes hydroponic farming resource-efficient, as it provides reliable ways to save money and to conserve and retain used water and nutrients.
3 Disadvantages Of Hydroponic Strawberries
1. Cost
Also, to ensure your plant grows optimally, you would also need the right hydroponic nutrients and in most cases getting these nutrients requires spending an extra amount with other miscellaneous that come with it.
2. Labor and Maintenance
This can become more tedious if you are a commercial grower as more labor and time will be needed to accurately maintain and check the working conditions of the system especially if you're growing different plants.
3. Dependence on Technology
Also, technologies like water pumps, air pumps, mechanical plug timers, grow lights and what have you, are all necessary to ensure the effective delivery of nutrients to your plants. If these devices stop functioning, it will drastically affect the yield and growth of your plants.
Therefore, it is advisable to ensure that these technologies are kept in good working conditions, also it's important to replace spoilt ones immediately before they impact nutrient delivery to the plants.
Materials Needed To Grow Hydroponic Strawberries
To grow strawberries in hydroponics, there're certain materials and equipment you must have to set up and build a successful hydroponic system. Here are some of the instruments and materials you will need to grow strawberries hydroponically.
1. Hydroponic Strawberry system
Depending on your personal preference, there are lots of hydroponic strawberry systems designed to suit your needs and budget. Here are some of the best hydroponic systems for growing strawberries.
2. Strawberry Plants
Also, you might decide to use runners from parent strawberry plants. Using stolons or runners from parent plants saves you time because you don't need to wait for the seed to sprout before transplanting as these runners can be transplanted immediately into your hydroponic system.
3. Hydroponic Strawberry Nutrients
There are various hydroponic nutrient solutions out there but I will advise you to purchase nutrients specifically formulated for strawberries.
These feeds should contain all the macro and micronutrients needed for the optimal growth of the plants. Some of the best hydroponic strawberry nutrients available in the market include:
4. Water
This time is needed to expel the chlorine used in the filtration process. Take the pH of the water before adding your hydroponic nutrients and also maintain the right EC level.
5. Growing Media
Grow media such as clay pebbles, coconut coir, vermiculite, and perlite are inert substrates that add no organic nutrients to the plants but help retain both nutrients and oxygen which is vital to keep the plant growing.
6. Water pump
7. Air pump & Air stone
8. Net cups
9. Grow Lights
Steps To Grow Hydroponic Strawberries
Below is a detailed guide on the steps to follow in other to grow successful hydroponic fruits:
1. Choose The Right Strawberry Variety
It is best to select varieties such as everbearing and day-neutral for effective fruit production all year round. Check out this everbearing variety, I personally grow them, and there're very good variety to grow in hydroponics.
2. Set Up Your Hydroponic System
This is important especially if you're planning on growing strawberries hydroponically on a commercial scale.
3. Prepare The Hydroponic Nutrients
This is because the feed contains all the macro and micronutrients needed to keep the plant growing.
4. Start Your Strawberry Plants From Seedlings or Runners
Also, strawberries can be propagated in hydroponics by cutting off the stolons or runners from the main plant. Transplant immediately after disconnecting the runners from the parent plant and place the node inside a growing medium in a net cup before inserting it into the hydroponic system.
5. Monitor and Maintain The Hydroponic System
After transplanting your seedlings or runners to your hydroponic system, you want to ensure that you keep an eye out for the EC and pH level of the nutrient solution and also ensure that all the necessary electronics like the water pumps, air pumps, and mechanical plug timers are in good working conditions.
Maintaining the system will not only help you produce more strawberry fruits but will also help keep some common pests and diseases away from your hydroponic system.
Temperature
Lightings
The light requirement for strawberry plants is generally the same, whether you're growing indoors or outdoors, ensure to provide your plants with the needed lighting they need to produce flowers and ripen fruits.
In general, strawberry plants require 8-10 hours of sunlight for effective growth although some cultivars require more lighting than that.
So, if you're growing indoors, ensure to provide the same hours of lighting to your plants otherwise your plants may not fruit and may end up becoming stunted.
Correct pH Level
The ideal pH level for growing strawberry plants ranges between 5.5-6.5. Strawberries grow well in slightly acidic solutions as this naturally enhances the plant roots to absorb the necessary nutrients from the nutrient solution.
Use a pH up or pH down to balance the pH of the water to ensure that the nutrient solution remains at the required pH level.
Correct EC Level
The ideal EC level for growing hydroponic strawberries should be maintained at 1.5-2.2 during the vegetative stage and 2.0-3.0 during the fruiting stage.
The importance of knowing the EC level of your nutrient solution can not be overemphasized, EC level helps measure the concentration of nutrients in the hydroponic solution which is a very important factor for growing crops hydroponically.
When the EC level of your nutrient solution is too low, it indicates that your plants may not be getting enough needed nutrients. This can drastically affect the yield and productivity of the strawberry plant.
A high EC level may indicate that too many nutrients are being fed to your plants which may result in a condition called nutrient burn or other deficiencies.
To avoid too low or too high an EC level in your hydroponics, always take regular measurements of your EC level using an EC meter.
When the EC level is too high, the concentration of the nutrient solution can be reduced by diluting it with water, if it's too low, more nutrients can be added to the water to have a balanced EC level.
Growing Mediums
There are various types of growing mediums that can be used for growing strawberries hydroponically, however, below are the five major growing mediums commonly used by hydroponic growers:
1. Clay pebbles
2. Coconut coir
3. Perlite
4. Rockwool
5. Vermiculite
The choice of the growing medium to use will always be dependent upon the specific needs of the grower. Use any of the above-listed growing mediums or you can use them alone or in combination with others to create a custom growing media that suits your growing needs.
Pollination
Pollinating hydroponic strawberries usually requires the same method as conventional farming. Here are some simple tips to guide you:
1. Provide The Right Growing Conditions
To ensure that pollination is effective, the right growth environment must be provided to the plants whether indoors or in a greenhouse setting.
2. Use a Pollinator
You can manually pollinate the flowers by gently transferring the pollens from the male flowers to the female part of the flowers. Also, to make it easier for you, an electronic handheld pollinating device can get the job done as well. The device gently massages the flower to release the pollen grains.
3. Keep The Flowers Clean
Pest Of Hydroponic Strawberries
We can all attest to the fact that strawberries are one of the most sweetest and delicious fruits to grow and consume. Not only do we as humans find these fruits attractive, but so also do some pests and other organisms.
Here are some examples of pests that will often attack your strawberry plants and try to enjoy this delicious fruit before you, especially if you're an outdoor grower.
1. Spider mites
2. Thrips
3. Aphids
To treat and prevent these pests, you can try the following methods:
1. Use any of these Amazon pest prevention products, they work really well:
2. Practice good hygiene
3. Monitor regularly
This will give you an opportunity to treat the plants early before the infestation spreads throughout your hydroponic farm.
How Long Does It Take for Hydroponic Strawberry to Ripen?
Depending on the variety of strawberry plants you're growing, hydroponic strawberries can take anywhere from 95-120 days to ripen.
Though a lot of factors come into play for this to happen, some of these factors include the temperature and humidity the plants were exposed to, the amount of daylight the plant receives, and the quality of the nutrient solution it was fed with.
Generally, hydroponic strawberries are believed to ripen faster than those grown in soil, this is largely due to the controlled environment in which the plants were grown in.
However, it is important to pay significant attention to when the strawberries are fully ripened so as not to harvest unripe strawberry fruits.
Final Words
Growing hydroponic strawberries is not as complex as we think it is, all you need do is follow the outlined steps in the guide above, and in a few months' time you will have fruiting strawberry plants in your hydroponic garden.
Let us know if you have any questions and we shall try our best to answer them. Always refer back to this guide if you seem lost in your journey, thanks see you in our next article.
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