komet

i picked up some hydroponic strawberries from the market a couple of weeks ago...and damn they were sweet, best i've ever had!!!

i was thinking about starting up some myself as i already have a hydro setup for my wheatgrass, i heard somewhere that you harvest early in the morning, thats when they are sweetest.

can also get special net pots for strawberries...NFT seems to be the method of choice for most strawberrie growers.

good luck!

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Rev.DOS

nft thats like flood and drain sort of... right? I'll research somemore on that. I've read a little bit about NFT but i've also read lil bit of everything so it gets jumbled sometimes...

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komet

yup NFT is kinda similar with flood and drain...sort of an automatic version of gravity system using channels/pipes.

not sure about nute strengths tho, have to look into that myself.

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tobi

Hi,

I grow hydroponic strawberries (NFT). The yields and fruit quality are great.

I'm still experimenting but have found the following out through trial and error:

They like a pH of about 5.6-5.8.
They are strong feeders and like bloom nutes at an EC of 2.0.
The best producers are clones taken from the runners and then kept in the fridge for a fortnight once rooted.
Extra Potassium in the fruiting stage makes sweeter fruits as does more light.
You can produce a tidy amount from only 250w HID per sq. m.

Finally, seeds will take two seasons (at least) to produce decent fruit. Look for "pre chilled runner plants" for the best quality stock ready to flower straight away. The nurseries should still be selling them on ebay. Aromel is a good cultivar for hydro...as is Joliet. Different cultivars vary quite a lot in their productive season so you will need to adjust your light times to suit if using artificial light.

I grow chilis hydroponically too. They do far better than in soil and when using artificial light, will produce for months on end.

Hope some of that helps....good luck

Rev.DOS

definatly this thread will save me some cash when I start! Wont have to buy a book on growing stawberries.

what are runner plants though? So I need to chill them for better production? So I take it the cold has something to do with triggering the fruit cycle of strawberries.

You said pre chilled runners are what I should loook for is that to start producing right away I assume? and from seeds 2 years to get a decent crop but they will produce some or very little or just bad tasting strawberries?

I'm getting there I will probably try some out door NFT hydro with my straw berries... green house...

So if chilled runner plants are ready to produce is there a veg cycle that I can take clones from of un-chilled runner plants?
I guess a better question would be can you keep a mother plant take clones and would the mother plant have to be pre-chilled or un-chilled and would my clones have to be chillled before they would produce?

I would assume "runner" is a stage of maturity so clones wouldnt be chilled untill they became runner plants?


sorry for the confusing line up of questions i've never been very organized... just organized enough to get a few things done liek some strawberrries

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cheesewire

a runner is an offshoot of the main strawberry plant that is capable of producing an entirely autonomous plant from the one the runner came off of. did that make sense? i hope it did, cause i just typed that out with out thinking lol.

according to tobi you root the runner, then stick it in the fridge for a coupla weeks, take it out and boom bam!

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Rev.DOS

wow thats awesome! gona try that soon seriously soon I still ahve some strawberry seeds i baught before i moved. They should be a good learning experience.

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Rev.DOS

I've finaly got some strawberries germing in starter soil in the bottom of my veg cab with a 24/7 light schedule. They are Alpine Runnerless Strawberries from seed. Accoording to the package it says nothing about them taking 3 years to produce a quality crop. Package says they are an impresive addition to ice cream and desserts. They will produce all summer long. It list the germ time at 7 days I think. I'll get back to ya'll on that as well as a pic of the seed pack I've also started some outdoors. I've also planted Basil, Chives,Sweet N' Early Cantaloupe,Sugar Baby Watermelon, Jubile Tomatos, Yellow Pear Tomatos, and some Rosemary.

I'm winging it all the way unless some one helps me. I like learning the hard way. I'm fallowing package directiong best I can though.

I'll go into more detail about my garden later. For now I'm just refreshing this post.

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weraise3

I ran strawberries side by side with a run a year or so ago... It was all going well until I burned them. I also burned the that I was growing at the time. I learned a couple valuable lessons that July:

1) It doesn't matter if it hasn't been 100 degrees it will be as soon as you go on vacation
2) You can't water enough to cover a vacation.

When I came back all gone, and that was the end of Buddah's Sister for me.

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Rev.DOS

weraise3 that's a bummer. Some times things just arn't meant to be.

Life goes one usually though so no worries.

I still haven't had any of my strawberries sprout. My Basil, Chives, Water Melon, Cantaloupe have sprouted. I'm waiting on Rosemary, Jubile Tomatos, Yellow Pear Tomatos, and the Strawberries... If they don't sprout in time for an outdoor crop I'll bring them in for soem indoor action.

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