Jim E. Wyatt, Emily W. Gatch, Mitchell V. Hatchett and Craig H. Canaday

Hydroponic strawberries were produced in a greenhouse at the West Tennessee Experiment Station from the first week in January to the last week in April, 2002. Four strawberry varieties were supplied with a complete nutrient solution in an ebb-and-flow system at either one- or two-hour intervals during daylight hours from time of setting to the end of the study. Plants were supported in the hydroponic pipes either in plastic pots with a commercial potting media or by wrapping strawberry crowns with rock wool. Highest yields were from the cultivar ‘Camarosa’ grown in plastic pots and supplied with nutrient solution at one-hour intervals.

A study on production of hydroponic strawberries was started in the greenhouse at the West Tennessee Experiment Station, Jackson, TN, in November, 2001. The experiment was conducted using a split-split plot design with four replications. Main plots consisted of ebb-and-flow application of a complete nutrient solution either four or eight times daily during daylight hours. Subplots were four strawberry varieties (‘Chandler’, ‘Camarosa’, ‘Gaviota’, and ‘Sequoia’), and sub-subplots were plants supported in either 2.25- inch pots with a commercial potting media or in a rockwool plug which surrounded the crown with no media.

The hydroponic system was constructed of four-inch PVC pipes with appropriate sized holes cut to accommodate either plastic pots or rockwool plugs. The hydroponic nutrient solution contained a complete fertilizer plus micronutrients and was supplemented with additional magnesium sulfate and calcium nitrate.

Dormant crowns were started in the hydroponic system on November 7, 2001, and the first fruit were harvested during the first week in January, 2002.

Plants grown in pots were larger and produced significantly higher yields than those grown in rockwool (Table 1). The rockwool may have caused a restriction to the root system which resulted in lower vigor in the plants or the media may have contained a level of nutrients which may have contributed to the growth, development and yield of the plants.

Application of the nutrient solution eight times per day promoted significantly more growth and fruit yield that four times per day (Table 1). Although the media in pots and the bare root systems in rockwool appeared to remain as wet when receiving nutrients four times a day as those receiving eight applications per day, the plants were probably able to absorb more nutrients when fresh solution was applied more often, resulting in higher yields. Mean fruit size was also higher in treatments receiving nutrients eight times per day compared to those receiving four applications per day.

Strawberry cultivars differed significantly in yield with ‘Gaviota’ yielding significantly less than ‘Camarosa’ and ‘Chandler’ (Table 1). Yield of ‘Sequoia’ was not significantly different from ‘Gaviota’ or from ‘Camarosa’ and ‘Chandler’. ‘Chandler’ had the largest mean fruit size in the study while ‘Sequoia’ had the smallest fruit.

During a period of cloudy weather in late February to early March, some fruit which developed were distorted and misshapen. It was thought that the deformed fruit may have been due to lack of pollination during this period. The pollen may have been sticky and lumped together because of higher humidity and lack of sunlight or the anthers may not have dehisced properly during this time. A pollinator, such as bumblebees, in the greenhouse during this time may have prevented this problem. The seasonal loss due to deformed fruit was less than two percent with ‘Gaviota’ having the highest amount of distorted fruit and ‘Chandler’ having the least (Table 1).

able 1. Yield and mean fruit weight of strawberries grown in a greenhouse hydroponic system, November through April, 2002.

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This research represents one season's data and does not constitute recommendations.  After sufficient data is collected over the appropriate number of seasons, final recommendations will be made through research and extension publications.