Development of a Hydroponic Growing Protocol for Vegetative Strawberry Production

Abstract

Hydroponic growing systems are advantageous for nutrient studies in which root data are important because they alleviate the laborious and time-consuming task of washing roots to remove soilless substrate particulates from them. However, the growing system should be optimized for the crop of interest. Our overall objective was to develop a protocol for hydroponic strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) production that provided growth equal to or better than soilless substrate. Plants were initially grown in perlite, sand, deep water culture (DWC), or a peat-based soilless substrate. Aboveground plant growth in DWC was similar to that of plants grown in the peat-based substrate and required minimal effort to harvest the entire root system. However, the pH of the DWC nutrient solution decreased to 4.0 ± 0.1 (mean ± SE) when plants were provided a modified strawberry (Yamazaki) nutrient solution with a ratio of nitrate (NO3−) to ammonium (NH4+) of 80:20. As a result, a subsequent trial was conducted to evaluate the buffering capacity of nutrient solutions with NO3− to NH4+ ratios of 0:100, 20:80, 50:50, 60:40, 80:20, or 100:0, with the addition of potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3). Up to 2.6 mM KHCO3 did not provide adequate buffering in nutrient solutions containing NH4+ (0:100 to 80:20 treatments), and nutrient solution pH decreased by ∼1.5 units every 2 to 3 days. The 100% NO3− nutrient solution, however, maintained a stable pH of 5.9 ± 0.1 when buffered with 0.8 mM KHCO3. Finally, 2(N-Morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES) was evaluated as a potential buffering agent for DWC strawberry production. Plants were grown in a nutrient solution with a 60:40 ratio of NO3−:NH4+. The buffering capacity of the nutrient solution increased as the MES concentration supplied increased from 1 to 5 mM, and the 5 mM MES treatment maintained a pH of 5.6 ± 0.2. In summary, strawberry plants can successfully be grown hydroponically in DWC, provided that nutrient solution pH is adequately managed. The addition of MES buffer provided better pH stability than KHCO3.