Growing strawberries hydroponically in the comfort of your own home can be a productive, hygienic, and enjoyable new experience. Although the word “hydroponics” may make you think of an extremely sophisticated gardening method, it can be rather easy to use!
There are many reasons to try this kind of growth, and it’s not as hard to get started as you might imagine. After going over all of this, we’ll walk you through the process of growing strawberries hydroponically from beginning to end. We have a lot to discuss, so let’s get started!
Why Grow Hydroponic Strawberries?
There are several reasons to think about growing strawberries this way, regardless of your experience level with the berry or soil.
This brief introduction will help those who are not familiar with hydroponics in general. It requires no soil to develop in this manner.
The roots of the plant are instead secured in place by an inert medium. Depending on what you’re growing, the root system can develop through this medium and be directly exposed to either water or a nutritional solution.
Pros
What are the benefits of hydroponically cultivating strawberries, then? You won’t encounter any soil-based pests at all because there isn’t any soil there. This greatly simplifies your job as a grower.
You might believe that because there is always water available, you end up utilizing more of it. Since you recirculate the water rather than giving the plants fresh water all the time, hydroponics uses less water.
It will please you to know that strawberries produced hydroponically can be stacked vertically if you are cramped for room.
As a result, more plants grow per square foot of area. Additionally, gathering your strawberry fruit is a lot simpler than squatting down to gather it from the ground. Hydroponics has many more advantageous aspects. You should give this method some thought.
Cons
What’s the catch, you might be thinking, with all these advantages?
The disadvantages of hydroponically grown crops are few. The first setup expense is the primary one. Growing on soil is less expensive than in hydroponic systems. However, because vertical growing allows you to grow more strawberries, these systems frequently pay for themselves over time in terms of efficiency and long-term yields.
Finally, keep in mind that hydroponic strawberry systems will produce a little less berry production per plant than soil systems. But if your system is indoors, where the weather is predictable, you can grow a larger total quantity of berries, so the initial loss per plant can be readily recovered. Additionally, you’re growing far more quickly!
What you will require to begin
Start with an ebb and flow, deep water culture (DWC), or hydroponic drip system. You can design your own, but there are also many fantastic systems available that are ready to expand.
Budget-conscious growers can get started quite easily and for a small portion of the price of a conventional system by using a garden tray, reservoir, water pump, and a few other miscellaneous hydro components.
The system’s actual construction is not too difficult. All you have to do is arrange your water reservoir beneath the tray, which is where your plants will be cultivated. Next, arrange your pump and timer to transfer water from the reservoir into your grow tray, ensuring your berries are properly hydrated and fed.
It’s also important to think about the growing media you plan to employ. Rock wool, growstones, clay pebbles, and coconut coir are a few popular options. There are also a tonne of other growing media options!
To keep your plants well-fed and reach their maximum potential, you’ll also definitely need some hydroponic nutrients. As the grower, though, the choice is entirely yours.
Growing Hydroponic Strawberries
Let’s get to the exciting part of producing your hydroponic strawberries now that you have an idea of what you’ll need to get started.
By the time you finish reading this part, you’ll know everything you need to know, regardless of your level of experience with hydroponics.
Planting
You must choose whether to develop from beginnings or seeds before you can begin. Strawberry seeds are a considerably slower alternative because it can take years for them to ripen.
Alternatively, locate some young strawberry plants and plant them straight into your hydroponic system using net pots and your preferred medium. After thoroughly washing the soil from your plant’s root system, partially fill the net pots, insert your plant, and then fill the remaining space to secure it. Right away, give it a thorough watering.
Light & Temperature
Growing strawberries hydroponically usually requires you to work in a climate-controlled space. For your berries to flourish, you must supply the ideal lighting and temperature settings. The ideal temperature range for strawberries is 65–80 degrees Fahrenheit.
It is important to ensure that your strawberries receive 8 to 12 hours of light per day. Unlike certain plants, they don’t require periodic adjustments to the lighting schedule. They are yours to keep forever on this photoperiod.
Your plants will get natural light if you are growing them in a greenhouse. If not, you will have to add more grow lights to provide them with the resources they require.
Water Quality & pH Levels
Water quality and pH levels are critical components in hydroponics. An error is unlikely because your roots are in direct contact with the water.
We strongly advise using a water filter to make sure dangerous contaminants like chloramines, which are sometimes present in tap water, aren’t given to your strawberries.
Make sure your pH is within the appropriate range. Verify that your water’s pH is between 5.8 and 6.2 by using a pH meter. Your plants will suffer if you go beyond or below this range due to nutritional problems.
Growing Medium
Hydroponic growing media come in a wide variety and serve essentially the same purpose. Therefore, we advise staying with something simple and accessible, like coco coir.
Your strawberries’ pH or nutrition won’t be affected by the entirely inert coco. It is inexpensive, widely accessible, and highly beginner-friendly. Perlite could be a good addition to improve water drainage and aeration.
Nutrient Solution
Strawberries require some kind of nutritional solution to stay alive, whether they are grown hydroponically or organically. A sufficient amount of secondary nutrients, micronutrients, potassium, and phosphorus are required for your strawberries.
You must take nutrients in liquid form. It’s easier for newbies to start with synthetics and work their way up from there because organics tend to clump and clog hydroponic systems.
General Hydroponics Nutrients is one of our favorite product lines. These include simple-to-follow feeding regimens that let you know precisely what to feed your strawberry plants at what times of year. They are inexpensive, of excellent quality, and suitable for beginners.
Pollination
It is advisable to pollinate your strawberries if you intend to cross-breed specific varieties. In addition, pollination may be necessary to yield fruit because bees and other pollinating insects might not be able to reach your plants. Hand pollination is a simple process. Gather pollen from one bloom and transfer it to another using a cotton swab.
Repeat the process with all of your plants, pollinating them all with the same swab. Although it’s easy and quite successful, this can get tedious if you have a lot of plants to pollinate.
You won’t need to do this to get fruit if your hydroponic system is outside and you have access to pollinating insects. To guarantee proper fruit development, indoor growers should hand-pollinate their plants.
Pruning
You should cut off runners, also known as stolons, to maintain the health and excellent yield of your strawberries.
Strawberry runners are stems that grow out of the plant without leaves, and occasionally a new plant will sprout at the tip. As close to the plant’s base as possible, trim these off. It is possible to propagate from a plantlet that has developed at the tip of the runner!
Propagation
Usually, seeds or plantlets that sprout at the end of stolons are used to propagate strawberry plants. You will need to purchase seed from a reputable seed seller.
Although you can save the seed from your previous year’s berries, if the plant is a hybrid, it might not produce true offspring. Put your seed in an indoor potting mix and watch it sprout into a tiny plant. To aid in the growth of the young plant, keep it warm, wet, and light.
Take cuttings from your plantlets and place them on top of potting soil that has been moistened. Keep the soil warm and moist while securing the plantlet’s base to it. Give these some light as well. Once roots have formed, you can cut off the runner stem that is extending more quickly.
Wait until the plant has established roots that are at least 2 inches long for both seed starts and plantlets. After that, you can cautiously unpot them. After brushing away the majority of the dirt, give the strawberry roots a quick water wash to get rid of any remaining dirt, that, you can put these in your growth media.
Troubleshooting
You should be able to steer clear of the majority of issues that novice strawberry growers run into if you adhere to the above-described instructions.
Nevertheless, no matter how cautious and thorough you are, problems may still arise. Let’s discuss those that could come up.
Growing Problems
The two most frequent issues with development that you’ll run into are abnormalities in pH and nutrients. Underfeeding, overfeeding, and pH levels that are too high or too low can all contribute to this.
It is your responsibility as the farmer to correctly identify this problem. For any gardener who wants to grow the best plants possible, keeping a thorough log of everything they do, see, and do to address problems is essential.
Make sure your strawberry plants have the proper amount of nutrients in your nutrition solution. You should probably dilute the nutrition solution you’re using with extra water if it’s too strong. See what options your hydroponics supplier has for nutrient solutions that are best suited for producing strawberries and other fruits.
The timing is crucial. The delicate balance of pH, nutrients, and water can be disrupted if food is given at the incorrect moment. This could harm your strawberries. Keep a pH meter close at hand and make frequent checks of your readings.
You should be able to swiftly address issues if you closely monitor any deviations from your feeding plan, take appropriate action, and watch for complications.
Pests
You will not be exposed to as many insects as you would in a regular dirt garden because you are growing indoors. Furthermore, hydroponically grown food greatly reduces the likelihood of pests and illnesses.
However, there’s always a chance that something could get into your garden, in which case you’ll need to take swift action. When cultivating strawberries, you could come across the following pests and illnesses:
Mites (spider mites)
Thrips
Gnats
Neem oil sprayed on your plant’s surfaces should take care of the majority of them. If it continues, eliminate the issue using an organic spray containing pyrethrin.
Diseases
The majority of root rot issues are resolved by hydroponically growing strawberry plants. You just don’t experience them because there isn’t any soil for fungal rot to occur in!
However, certain illnesses could still manifest above the developing media. On the fruit, there is still a chance for Rhizopus rot and Mucor fruit rot. Both of these are typical of overripe or ripe strawberries, and they will form in the warm weather that your plants prefer. As soon as the fruit ripens, harvest it to lessen the chance of these.
Fruit and flowers can be affected by Botrytis cinerea. This fungus, sometimes known as “grey mold,” may enter garages or greenhouses surprisingly easily. For small-scale infestations, apply neem oil; for larger infestations, use a fungicide based on copper.
Another spore-based disease that affects strawberries is powdery mildew. Similar to botrytis, neem oil or a fungicidal spray with copper as an ingredient can be used to treat this.
FAQ
How many strawberries is a single plant capable of producing?
This varies according to the type of strawberry you have chosen to grow, whether it is a seasonal or everbearing variety, the age of the plant, and other elements. Strawberries typically yield 150–400 grams of fruit per plant, depending on weight.
Because hydroponics allows for year-round growth, you can harvest berries whenever you choose! With time, older strawberry plants will produce fewer fruits and will need to be replaced with younger, more vigorous plants.
Does strawberry hydroponic farming use pesticides?
Only in cases where you have applied. Although some have been engineered to have a natural immunity to specific plant diseases, no strawberry plant contains pesticides by nature.