Moved the strawberries from the hydroponics “nursery” to their final growing area. As seen in the photo below, the strawberries are now planted in three channels which are just 8’ 4x4" Vinyl Fence Post with about 2" of nutrient solution running through them. There is a 30-40 gal storage container which has an air pump to add oxygen to the nutrient solution and a water pump to bring the nutrient solution to the other size of the channels where gravity flowing it past the roots and returns it to the storage container / reservoir.
I left a ton of space between the plants with the intent to fill it out later using the strawberry runners. The battle against fungus gnats is still ongoing although I believe the tide is turning in my favor. Blossom production is going strong but I definitely think that some manual pollination is needed as I think I’m seeing signs of failed pollination and misshapen strawberries.
The NEW-new-growth is looking fantastic but it makes me notice that the leaves that came shortly after I moved the plants into the hydroponics system have stalled in growth and look a bit deformed. I’m almost certain this was caused by early over-fertilization and unbalanced pH at some point - fortunately with the 30+ gallons of water they now grow in things much more stable.
One strawberry looks like its starting to ripen but because it’s the first flush and suffered through all the nutrient solution fluctuations I’m setting my taste expectations very low.
