I don’t have much experience growing June bearing or everbearing varieties. Day neutral varieties seem to perform better because they yield reliability their first year and are less sensitive to day length (DLI). I would expect day neutral varieties to outperform when growing indoors because they wouldn’t slow down from summer heat.
Not quite. The method I use is commonly known as “NFT” or Nutrient film technique - where the oxygenated nutrient water is pumped from a reservoir to one or more channels that plants grow in. Looks like this:
I stopped because now that winter is over I would rather be gardening outside, also needed time to clean out and reset the system. I will definitely be growing strawberries again this winter because of the potential I saw the last time.
I don’t have a PAR meter but using reference measurements and a LUX meter I am pretty certain I run the lights at about 16 µmol/m²/d DLI @ 280 PPFD Avg. For pH I have 6.0 being the target, adjusted when off by +/- 0.2. For EC I used 0.6-0.8 EC for starting, 1.2-1.5 EC when flowering.
No misting because I used an NFT / DWC type hydroponics system.
Curious why you want to go the aeroponics route, are you trying to grow everything vertically? I find that NFT or DWC, or a mix of the two is more fail proof. There is only one or two pumps with them both and I have (accidentally) found that with a NFT/DWC hybrid plants can survive if the power cuts out for more than 48 hours. With aeroponics if the power cuts out or mist nozzles get clogged and the roots dry out your entire crop is done.
Yes, it may be am being overly technical here and may yet revert to a simpler system. I’m a software engineer by profession lol.
Aeroponics appeals due to the density it gives me (vertically), the efficiency of solution use, and the potential quality of the roots / speed of growth.
But you are right, I may well be setting myself up for failure.
I do like the idea of putting in a large flywheel battery, and utilising renewables - but this is some time down the track.
In the mean time, and as for power outages, the pumps are 24v so I can put in an array of batteries to at least keep the plants alive.
Very nice. I need to try this. What other variety of strawberry could be used? Any everbearing?
About water and pH. I have a large aquarium setup so i know a little about pH/hardness…have you thought about using reverse osmosis water? or even rainwater?
I think day neutral varieties are better because they have good yields their first year and are more tolerant of long light periods. But it could be that everbearing work just as well, I just haven’t tried it.
For hydroponics RO water is actually recommended, because you have a clean slate on which you can add nutrients to. I’m cheap and my water harness isn’t too high (350 ppm if i recall correctly) so I just use tap water.
Strawberry plant responses to environmental conditions are complex topic. The following is what we consider as the current general understanding based on available literatures. Responses to specific cultivars need to be examined rather than simply applying this general information. Especially those cultivars that are bred for and cultivated in open fields do not have much information regarding responses to individual environmental factors (and their interactions). Greenhouse controlled environments allow independent control of photoperiod, light intensity and temperature among other factors, and thereby potentially control the plant growth and development to maximize the crop productivity and fruit quality.
It’s a very interesting experience, Bravo Dimitri. I would like more details on some points that have not been addressed.
Regarding the lighting, what is the spectrum of your lamps that you use. Is it a grow light spectrum or leds at 6500k
a value of 280 PPFD seems to me very little to obtain a bloom like yours, we use this value for germination or at the beginning of the growth. For flowering and fruiting we are around 600 and 800 PPFD, are you sure of your number?
I will soon start growing strawberry plants in NFT and would love to learn more from your experience.
Thank you
Hi Dimitri
I’m trying to grow strawberries indoors with my led lighting but so far it has not been very successful. Would like to know what PPFD lighting you used in growing them?
I’ve been growing hydroponic strawberries for close to a year. They thrive under a variety of lighting conditions, at the minimum I aim for 400 PPFD but according to some, they have maximum growth potential at 600. Of course PPFD is not uniform across grow lights so the center of my light can sometimes hit 800+ while the periphery is closer to 400.
More importantly for strawberries is your nutrient solution and aeration. For whatever reason, strawberries like a low EC of 1 to 1.2 while fruiting. In addition, I have grown a large variety of plants hydroponically and strawberries are the most prone to root rot by far. Make sure you are getting very good aeration. I don’t personally use them but there are also root rot protection products on the market you can use.
I don’t have the details on PPFD, nor a meter to measure it, I just used a LUX meter and a conversion factor - but its very unlikely that it exceeded 400. I agree with @Adamsmasherz about nutrition being more important - I think the reason I had so many blooms is because I likely over fertilized and stressed the plants.
These days I’m using 6 x 22" strips (F-series 22" F562B 4000K) running at ~90% max current (powered with a HLG-240H-24A) and hanging 8-10" above the plants for a 8x2’ growing area. But I mainly use this for starting seeds and keeping my Meyer lemon alive during winter.
I tried to grow the cuttings indoors but they all end up dying. Leaves often distort and show deficiencies. So I try growing them outdoor till they are more established (which was really successful), then moving them indoors when they start flowering (Our weather here is too hot for strawberries to fruit outdoor). Once indoor the results are still the same, the growth stopped and plants are stunted.
I used the same nutrients for both the outdoor and indoor plants.
