Strawberries in NFT

[Chandara Khan]

Is there anyone growing strawberries in NFT? Is it possible to do so? I'm really curious!

Thanks!

[TCLynx]

Yes, I believe NFT is actually a pretty common way to grow strawberries and they are the only longer term or perennial crop commonly grown in NFT (though I think most commercial growers of strawberries actually replace the plants each year.)

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Yep.  I used to oversee an experimental greenhouse that grew strawberries in NFT.  Are you thinking of doing this with AP NFT?  Be sure you filter the solids out first and when planting the strawberries be sure to keep the crown above the media.  Otherwise they are really prone to crown rot.

[aaron steil]

i think another of the big concerns with nft is your water temperature changing along the length of your nft channel...on a hot day your  output temperature can change an awful lot from your input temp in a long channel

[Kobus Jooste]

I have done this on small scale and can vouch for the fact that they do not like dirty roots - in time they go backwards.  Could also be that some of my stock is getting old.  Thing is, it does work.  I allow mine to root in gravel for a while, then I transfer them to the NFT pot but with the plant base high up as Sylvia suggested.

[Chandara Khan]

Well, thank everyone for giving me some comments. All of your ideas are reasonable. There are many things that we should put into careful consideration for planting strawberries in AP NFT. For instance the length of the troughs ,the dept and speed of the water and the piling up of suspended solid of fish pool surrounding the plant root system are needed to be considered thoroughly.