Easy Hydroponics
Learn to make your own homemade hydroponics system to grow virtually any plant, vegetable and fruit without soil.
General Hydroponics:
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PVC Hydroponics:
How to Build a Homemade Hydroponic System for Strawberries
Ever wanted to get fresh strawberries each morning out of your own garden? With the help of hydroponics you can, but take note that strawberries are a pretentious bunch and require some special settings. Find out how to build a homemade hydroponic system for strawberries from this article.
When it comes to hydroponics, strawberries are the talk of the town, as they're one of the plants that were grown in soilless conditions with the most success. Still, the relationship between hydroponics & strawberries remains a trouble riddled one, mainly because of the fact that the fruit are rather pretentious and not all hydroponic systems will cut the mustard for them. Things get even more complicated when you're trying to learn how to build a homemade hydroponic system for strawberries.
Browsing the Internet, a lot of largely inexperienced hydroponic gardeners will jump in with advice based on something they heard in the wind and that can obviously only harm the industry as a whole. So what I'm going to try to do next is clear some of the rubble and confusion forming up on various forums and hydroponics related sites, by giving you a guide on how to build a homemade hydroponic system for strawberries.
Choosing the Right Strawberry Hydroponics System
Like I said, there are many opinions on the Internet on what is the best hydroponic system for strawberries, but to be honest it all boils down to two things: whether you want a system that's easy to build, or one that's best suited for hydroponic strawberries.
If you would rather buy an already made system perfect for your strawberries, I suggest you look at some of our recommended systems.
The "easy-to-build" systems are the ebb and flow, drip and water culture. Obviously, they're best suited for inexperienced gardeners who have just started on the path of hydroponics and not only are they easier to build by yourself, but they're also relatively cheaper than more complex systems.
Your other option, getting the best system to suit your strawberries hovers around the NFT system. NFT stands for Nutrient Film Technique, that's why you might hear people mention them as "films". Because of the way Nutrient Film Technique works, it's perfect for growing hydroponic strawberries. You see, the fruit itself is quite vulnerable to water and your strawberries may soon rot if exposed in too much humidity or direct water. This is a major problem for drip and ebb and flow systems, where the strawberries would eventually get wet and start to rot. However, the strawberry's root is very water-thirsty, which creates a dilemma: how can you provide the roots with a constant stream of water, while keeping the fruit itself dry? The answer is the NFT system. Take a look at these plans to see how this system works and check out on how the tray holds the strawberry fruits above the water, while keeping the roots constantly drained in it.
You can find information on how to build a homemade hydroponic system for strawberries using either an ebb and flow or an NFT system on our site if you're interested. If you're new to the whole hydroponics & strawberries deal, you might want to start off with a cheaper homemade system, until you get the hang on what these pretentious fruit want from you.