Things you’ll need to grow hydroponic strawberries

First of all, determine how many strawberry plants you will require. Generally, fruits from 3 to 6 plants will be sufficient to feed an average size family. Next, you need to decide whether you want to build your own hydroponic system or purchase a ready made hydroponic kit.

Hydroponic kit is a complete hydroponic system that comes with detailed instructions and basic components including fertilizer. It usually costs about $100 and above, but it makes your life much easier. All that required are the plants and water to get the system running.

However if you are on a tight budget, you can always build your own system. Hydroponic system is pretty simple to set up. You will definitely get lots of fun and joys building it yourself, plus it is rewarding to see your DIY hydroponic system producing luscious strawberries.
Hydroponic growing works best with sufficient sun light. Thus, it is always best to be able to position your hydroponic system near a sunny south-facing window. Otherwise, you will need some artificial grow lights on a timer to provide the much needed lighting for photosynthesis process.

When you are building the hydroponic system yourself, decide whether you want to use growing medium to support the plants. If it is a full water system without the use of growing medium, these are what you need: reservoir to hold the water, water pump, tubes or pipes, aerator stone, organic fertilizer and some tools.

Drill small holes with few inches apart to hold the plants. Assemble the tubes with a slight incline and to be rerouted to the reservoir where the water pump is. Fill the reservoir with clean water and add the fertilizer according to the instruction. Turn on the water pump to make sure it is running accordingly.

Now clean the roots of the strawberry plants before putting them in the system. Gently shake off as much of the soil or dirt from the roots. Soak the entire root system in cold water follow by rinsing the roots under cold running water. Wrap the roots in wet burlap to retain moisture before transferring them to the hydroponic system.

If growing medium is used in your hydroponic system, you will need these additional materials: nursery pots and growing medium to hold the strawberry plants.
Common growing mediums that work well for hydroponic strawberries are perlite, coco-husks, pebbles, rockwool, vermiculite, or heydite. Presoak the growing medium in pH balanced water prior to using. This will prevent the medium from sucking all the moisture from the roots.

Place the strawberry plants carefully in the pots and use enough growing medium to support the plants so that they can receive sufficient light and fresh air. Place the nursery pots above the water level in the reservoir and make sure to direct the outlet of the tube up to the top of the pots to channel the nutrient solution. It is never a good idea to let the root system standing in still water.

Immerse the aerator stone in the water inside the reservoir to oxygenate the nutrient solution. Oxygenated solution allows the roots to breathe and speeds up the uptake of water and nutrients.

You will need to change the nutrient solution every once a week. Monitor closely for any changes to the pH of the solution. The pH of the nutrient solution shall be maintained between 5.8 and 6.2. You will need to frequently pick off any runners from the hydroponic strawberry plants in order to produce more fruits.

This is how you can simulate strawberries growing conditon indoor with hydroponic technique. Now you can enjoy luscious strawberries fresh from your indoor garden year round without having to wait for its season or fork out extra pennies for the of-out-season berries.

Related Posts

• Building Ebb and Flow Hydroponic Systems
• Grow fruits with hydroponic gardening
• The Wick Hydroponic System

Usually pieces of porous material with high absorbent power like nylon ropes are used as wicks. One end of the wick is placed at the bottom of the growing container, and the other end is left hanging down the nutrient solution. The wick draws the water and nutrients from the reservoir up into the growing medium in the container.

While you can basically use any types of growing medium in the Wick hydroponic system, it is recommended to use growing mediums that can retain more water and nutrients for example, perlite, vermiculite, and / or coconut fiber. A mixture of perlite / vermiculite in the ratio of 1:1 works great in the Wick system, though the combination of perlite and coconut fiber is common too.

As the Wick system does not have proper aeration for the roots, it is usually wise to install an external air pump to supply oxygen into the nutrient reservoir. Run an airline from the air pump into the reservoir with the other end attached to an air stone. This will slowly oxygenate the nutrient solution in the reservoir. When nutrient solution is supplied to the root zone, it allows the roots to breathe.

There are few issues you need to consider when using the Wick system:

1. It is hard to achieve the correct moisture level for the plants as the wick used might not be able to pull sufficient water and nutrients to nourish the roots. You need to constantly experiment with different types of wick and growing medium in order to get the right growing environment.

2. The plants may use up the nutrient solution faster than the wicks can provide if the plants are big or if they take up large quantity of water.

Related Posts

• The Drip Hydroponic Growing System
• Building Ebb and Flow Hydroponic Systems
• Hydroponic System: Nutrient Film Technique (N.F.T)

Concept of Ebb and Flow Hydroponic System

A reservoir filled with hydroponic nutrients and water is placed under a growing tray. The growing tray holds the plants pots, which are filled with growing mediums like rockwool, perlite, clay pebbles, or coconut fiber. The plants are flooded with hydroponic nutrients and water on the timed schedule by using a pump and a timer. When the timer is off, the nutrient solution is slowly drained back to the reservoir providing oxygen to the root system of the plant. To prevent overflow of hydroponic nutrients, an overflow drain is usually installed to adjust the maximum height for filling the nutrients.

Things you need to build an Ebb and Flow hydroponic system

1. Hydroponic tray
Plastic tray is more preferable as it is lighter and more durable to hold up the plants, growing mediums and nutrient solution. Take note that light should not shine through the tray in order to protect the roots system. The tray must be able to drain thoroughly to prevent root rot and mold problems due to standing water pools.

2. Growing medium
You can basically use any growing medium in an Ebb and Flow system. Though grow rocks or clay pebbles are more effective as this type growing mediums does not hold lots of water.

3. Support system
You will need a support system to hold the growing tray above the reservoir. The support system used must be strong and sturdy to bear the weight of your plants, growing mediums, and nutrient solution. You can use table, sawhorses, or milk crate as the support system in your Ebb and flow hydroponic system.

4. Plant pots
You can use almost any plastic pot as long as it has a hole at the bottom to allow the fill and drain of hydroponic nutrients.

5. Reservoir
Large plastic container works best as reservoir as it does not rust over time. Make sure the container is light proof to prevent algae growth problem.

6. Water pump
For a small scale setup, using an aquarium pump is adequate.

7. Drains
Basically there are 2 types of drain required in an Ebb and flow system. One for the filling and draining of the water from reservoir. Another drain is for controlling the overflow where you can adjust the maximum water level for your hydroponic system.

8. Timer
You can use any timer that allows the adjustment for an interval of 15 minutes or 30 minutes.

9. Flexible Tubing
Flexible tubing is required to connect the pump to your growing tray. Make sure you use non-transparent type of tubing to prevent algae growth.

Watch this video to learn how to build Hydroponic Ebb and Flow System easily.

Related Posts

• Growing Hydroponic Strawberries
• The Wick Hydroponic System
• The Drip Hydroponic Growing System

Organic essentially means growing of plants in a medium derived from the compost of plant and / or animal. If the growing mediums used in hydroponic gardening derived from composted plants, then these can be claimed as organic. These include the using of coconut and tree bark material like coconut fiber, cocotek, coco peat, coco chips.

While in other hydroponic growing mediums, inert mineral materials are used such as perlite, rockwool, hydroton, silica rock and etc. These are not organic.

Related Posts

• Organic hydroponic gardening
• The Wick Hydroponic System
• Building Ebb and Flow Hydroponic Systems

There are five main benefits of using Hydroton as your growing medium in a hydroponic gardening.

1. Hydroton is reusable.
Most growing mediums wear out over time and you have to replace them. Hydroton can be used year after year and need not to be replaced. It saves a lot of money because growing mediums are expensive to replace. The only thing that needs to be done with Hydroton is that the pebbles need to be rinsed with hydrogen peroxide to clean them each year.

2. Hydroton is very stable.
Hydroton is not only a stable growing medium, it also retains water much better than any other medium. This is important because as to insure that the plants are getting all of the water and nutrients that are essential for healthy growth.

3. Hydroton is pH balanced.
Most other growing mediums can change the pH levels of your plants. This is important because adding nutrient solution tends to alter the pH level. Being too acidic or too alkaline can damage the plants.

4. Hydroton provides plenty of aeration.
It is important for oxygen to be able to get to the roots so that they do not rot. The tiny pebbles are loose and provide plenty of space for oxygen to reach the hydroponic roots system.

5. Hydroton is the most affordable growing medium.
The final benefit of using Hydroton is probably one of the best. It is priced very cheap, it will help if you are financially strapped. You can still have your hydroponic garden and not have to pay through your nose for expensive growing medium.

Related Posts

• How to clone plant for hydroponic gardening
• The Wick Hydroponic System
• Building Ebb and Flow Hydroponic Systems