Hydroponic farming techniques are currently being talked about and are popular. Planting with hydroponics uses water as a substitute for soil. The advantages of the hydroponic system will be more economical and produce abundant fruit, because hydroponic techniques allow plants to absorb more nutrients so they can grow well. Of the many plants that have been successfully planted using this technique, one of them is strawberry hydroponics.
Techniques and Ways to Plant Strawberry Hydroponics
For those of you fans of strawberries , it would be very nice to see these adorable red berries flourish in the pots on the side or front of your house. Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, let's try planting using hydroponic techniques with strawberries.
1. Prepare planting media
Generally, this hydroponic system planting media uses rice husk. Then prepare the husk that has dried and burned until it turns black and turns into husk charcoal. Next, prepare polybags measuring 50 cm x 50 cm and polybags with a size of 20 cm x 18 cm. Put the husk charcoal into a polybag. After all polybags are fully filled, then put 4 small polybags into a large poly bag. Don't forget to bend the edge of the top of the polybag to make it stand more firmly.
2. How to plant strawberry hydroponics
Planting strawberries using hydroponic techniques can be done in 3 ways, such as the following:
Planting from exiting plants
If the exiting plant uses a polybag, just tear the polybag until it leaves the strawberry plant and its media from the ground or as little as it is. Then separate it until only the strawberry plants are left, be careful so that the roots are not damaged or broken. To be cleaner, water the plant with water.
Plant the strawberry plants into the hydroponic growing media used. Try to make the environment or nutrition almost the same as the extract so that the plants are not shocked and die. Afternoon is a good time to move plants. Don't forget to pay attention to the root moisture after being moved later.
Plant from Sulur or stolon
If you want to plant this plant from tendrils, choose a strawberry parent that is aged 1-2 years. The steps are as follows:
Prepare the media to grow hydroponically, like rockwool. Then wet the rockwool and place the strawberry tillers there.
You need to wait a few days while keeping rockwool moisture until the roots appear. After the roots become strong enough, you can cut the tendrils at the base of the brood. Then replace the roots into the hydroponic growing media that you have prepared.
Plant strawberries with seeds
Planting strawberries from the start of the seed requires extra patience. It takes a long time for the seeds to germinate, which is about 2 weeks to 1 month, while the harvest will arrive 1-2 years from the planting period.
If you want seeds to sprout faster, ZPT or stimulant is needed so that the seeds can germinate in 7 days and need to wait 6 months for the plants to bear fruit. The following is how to hydroponically seed seeds:
- Prepare rockwool or some kind of cork that you can buy on farm equipment. Cut into small squares of rockwool about 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm. Then wet the rockwool to taste, not too wet.
- After all the rockwoll is moistened, place it in a container or gully the seedlings and arrange them neatly. Next make the rockwool escape with a toothpick to place the seedlings, not too deep into the hole. For strawberry seeds, just make one hole for one rockwool box.
- Put the seeds in the hole. No need to get too deep, so it still appears on the surface. Store the seeds in a cool place and keep them away from the sun. Within a few days the seeds will begin to germinate, whether or not they depend on the type of plant. After the seeds germinate, immediately move because the plants have begun to need sunlight for at least 6 hours a day.
- Well, if the plant seeds have raised 3-4 leaves, which means that the plant has entered the age of 10-14 days, plants have begun to be transferred to the planting media that has been provided. Make a hole in a polybag as deep as the root of the sprouts to be planted.
3. Installation of irrigation systems / drops
In strawberry cultivation with hydropnic techniques this time, we will use an sistema irrigation or drops whose application is similar to using an intravenous hose. All you need to prepare is a botor of mineral water, buffalo wood, and an intravenous hose or dripper hose that can adjust the size of the droplets.
The trick, install wood with a height of 60 cm to support the infusion bottle that is right above the plant, give the hole under the bottle and drain it with a hose. The bottle containing nutrients for the plant will provide nutrient droplets to the plants that can be regulated by the droplet intensity.
4. When watering or providing nutrients
Provision of nutrients in the form of AB MIX organic fertilizer added to water must be adjusted to the needs of the plant. Point the nutrient droplets to the roots of the plant so that they are well received. Place the plant in a place that is sufficient to receive sunlight and keep it away from insect pests. If this strawberry plant is 2-3 weeks old, it's time to provide nutrition in the form of liquid fertilizer again.
5. Maintenance
Planting using hydroponic techniques, you must pay more attention to the pH in the planting media. A good pH ranges from 6.3 if it's too high so you have to lower it and if it's too low it means you also have to apply steps to increase the pH. In addition, routine liquid fertilizer is still needed.
During plant growth, take care of your strawberry plants well and pay attention to their development. You need to remove weeds if they grow around polybags and cut old leaves and turn yellow due to disease. Always clean the area where the plants grow so the plants can grow well and not get sick. No need to use pest repellents on plants, spraying pests is only needed when the plant is attacked by disease.
6. Harvesting Strawberry plants
Well, after waiting around 4-6 months, finally your strawberry plant has produced red and fresh fruits. For how to harvest it is certainly very easy, you just need to choose a strawberry that is red and cooked and then cut it with scissors. But be careful, do not come to damage the immature fruit. Usually strawberries do not ripen or bear fruit simultaneously. You can do it to harvest in the morning or evening for two weeks.
Well, that's the explanation of how to plant strawberries with hydroponic techniques. The advantage of hydroponic planting is that you do not need large land. Because it does not use land, there are not too many plant pests, and the most important is more fruit quality and quality. With these various advantages, are you interested in trying to grow hydroponically?