Hydroponic strawberries at home: recommendations for growing

The modern summer resident differs from his brother who grows strawberries on its site in the last century. Now new technologies and methods are being created, aimed at increasing the yield of berry crops with minimal labor and time resources.

The usual soil, consisting of various components, fades into the background in the cultivation of some berry crops. Strawberries can bear fruit longer and produce more berries if you replace the earthen substrate with an artificial liquid medium with an optimal amount of nutrients.

Content:

• Hydroponics - what is it?
• The best strawberry varieties for hydroponics
• Features of growing berries
• Strawberry Care Tips

Hydroponics - what is it?

Among the newest methods of growing strawberries, approved by gardeners hydroponic... The peculiarity of the method is that instead of the usual soil, nutrient solutions are used, in which the root system of berry bushes develops. The word hydroponics means "working solution".

The lower part of the plants is either completely immersed in a liquid substrate, or irrigated regularly with it.

To organize a hydroponic system, special containers are needed, consisting of pots inserted into one another. The first has holes for the roots of strawberries, and the rest is filled with solid substance. Placed in another container where the nutrient liquid is located, the pot will be the ideal place for the development of the berry crop.

You can make your own hydroponic container. It is made from two plastic bottles by cutting them. You can drill holes in pots by placing one inside the other.

There are several types of hydroponic systems, which differ in the filling of internal containers, supplying nutrition to the plant roots:

1. When using aggregate-ponics, solids are based on inorganic substances of a solid structure: gravel, sand, expanded clay. The nutrient solutions will be dispensed directly under the roots of the strawberry through the droppers. The rest of the liquid again flows into the tank.
2. You can put coconut fiber, moss, sawdust in the container. And to the plants located in them, draw wicks that supply food from the reservoir.
3. Such systems are also arranged when the roots of plants are without soil and are irrigated with working solutions. For a large number of berry bushes, you can periodically immerse in nutrient mixtures, which are then poured back into a special tank.
4. The artificial platform with berry bushes is kept constantly in the nutrient mixture, continuously oxygenated with the help of a compressor.

To activate the hydroponic system, it is necessary to select the appropriate plant varieties and create favorable conditions.

The best strawberry varieties for hydroponics

It is necessary to choose berry varieties for hydroponic cultivation that are unpretentious, self-pollinated and yield crops several times a year:

• Large-fruited strawberry Fresca belongs to remontant hybrids. They note the high productivity of the variety, the excellent taste of the berries. The culture easily tolerates changes in the length of daylight hours, is not sensitive to temperature changes.
• Berry of the Generous variety begins to bear fruit early. The bushes grow rapidly, forming a cascade of flowers and ripe red berries. Suitable for growing in hanging containers, in hydroponics and yields yields of up to one and a half kilograms per bush.
• Festival strawberries are mid-season varieties. The plant is appreciated for its rich yields of delicious sweet fruits. Oval berries are slightly elongated, and weigh up to 40 grams. The culture bears fruit for a long time, is not afraid of frost.
• The Everest neutral day variety always gives large yields, several times during the growing season. With properly organized nutrition of plants, you can get up to a kilogram of juicy fruits from one bush.
• Olbia belongs to the early varieties. Even with a lack of light and heat, the bushes are covered with large rounded berries. Fruits with dense, sweet pulp are preserved for a long time, they tolerate transportation well. The plant adapts easily to any weather and climatic changes.

For hydroponic cultivation, strawberries are carefully selected so that the plant can adapt to the artificial environment.

Features of growing berries

The main needs of hydroponically cultivated strawberries include the creation of special irrigation, monitoring the air temperature and illumination:

• If the plants have less than 18 hours of daylight hours, then fluorescent lamps are installed in the room for additional lighting. The optimum temperature for the growth of berry crops will be 25 degrees Celsius during the day, at night - not lower than 16.
• The working solution with the optimum nutrient content is also carefully selected. It is prepared using distilled water as a basis, which is distinguished by its purity, softness, and the absence of impurities. Mineral salts are separately mixed with a little water. Then it is poured into a tank and mixed. For one square meter of berries, you need 10 grams of ammonium nitrate, potassium salt. Superphosphate is added after picking berries - 20 grams. Ready-made working solutions for feeding strawberries in hydroponics are offered by specialized stores.
• Arrange a floating platform made of a sheet of polystyrene, on which pots with strawberry seedlings are placed. After placing the foam in the nutrient liquid poured into an opaque container, an aquarium compressor is placed below. It remains to control the favorable conditions for the growth of berry bushes.
• A solution drip device is also common. On a prepared frame with a pallet, pots with strawberry bushes are placed at a distance of 25 centimeters from each other. The pump is used to pump liquid with supply through the hoses upwards. And along the branches of the tubes, it goes to the roots. The rest of the nutrient mixture flows into the pan, and from there into the tank. It turns out a cycle in the supply of food to plants. Even on the windowsill, they arrange a drip irrigation system for berry bushes, replacing the tubes with wicks from nylon tights. The wicks are the conductors of power from the container with the solution to the strawberry roots.

Before engaging in hydroponic growing technology, you need to prepare the necessary materials, equip the solution supply system.

Strawberry Care Tips

The result of the new berry cultivation technique will be successful when all the rules are followed:

1. During the supply of a useful solution, make sure that it does not get on the leaves, berries and flowers of the strawberry. And the liquid must constantly move through the droppers. If it stagnates, then there is little sense from such cultivation. The capacity for the liquid is chosen at least 3 liters. Less volume will lead to nutritional deficiencies and lack of development strawberry.
2. The requirements for the soil are as follows: it must be solid, but well permeable to air. Properly selected proportions of minerals in the solution are also important. They will vary depending on the stage of the strawberry growing season, the time of year.
3. With this cultivation technique, neither watering nor loosening of the soil is required.It turns out that care consists in the correct supply of nutrition to the roots of the plant, control of illumination and air temperature.

The advantage of choosing a hydroponic strawberry cultivation method is the year-round berry picking. And at the same time, having arranged the system correctly, no other costs are required.

You should not be afraid that the taste of the berry will change or it will be unhealthy. Indeed, in classic soil there are often more harmful substances than in hydroponics. And plant nutrition is based on mineral and organic substances that feed strawberries in the garden on the ground. The advantage of the technology is the absence of diseases in the culture. In addition, you do not need to think about weeding, loosening the beds.

The system is automated, and the summer resident does not monitor the saturation of the nutrient solution, the level of humidity.

The downside to using hydroponics is the difficulty of managing the system at the beginning of its setup. After all, it is necessary to think over what substances the plant needs at a certain stage of development. A person controls lighting, air temperature. Then, when the system is adjusted, it will remain to reap the fruits of your efforts, diligence, getting rich harvests strawberry.

More information can be found in the video: