Erin Kerrik
Member
How'd you do it? Where do the roots grow from?
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Anyone rooted strawberry runners for hydro?
- Thread starter Erin Kerrik
- Start date
Erin Kerrik
Member
Yeah, I got 10 Ozark Beauties ("June bearing") from Home Depot which are growing outside in containers and am seeing if I can get a perpetual rotating harvest indoors by keeping them under 18/6 except for a chilling period.
So I just lop of a runner and jam the new crown into a growing medium? Seems sand would be a good starter medium to help keep the crowns in place. Can you just place them in DWC immediately? That's my intended production method. Saw a commercial hydro system that had the containers in pyramids with the water cascading down, I want to replicate that on a small scale.
So I just lop of a runner and jam the new crown into a growing medium? Seems sand would be a good starter medium to help keep the crowns in place. Can you just place them in DWC immediately? That's my intended production method. Saw a commercial hydro system that had the containers in pyramids with the water cascading down, I want to replicate that on a small scale.
Erin, strawberry plants are produced in 2 ways. One is tissue culture from the crowns(cloning) that nurseries do and the other is from runners. I have never tried it in hydro, but if you allow your mother plant to send out runners into your medium, you should wait until the small runner have developed roots. You then can snip them off the mother plant when they are capable of feeding on their own. As I stated, I have never done this in hydro, but I have done it a lot in soil. I doubt that the runner would survive until it has developed roots.
Erin Kerrik
Member
Pops said:
So maybe place the bottoms of new crowns on the runners in cups of wet sand ... or maybe vermiculite would hold water better throughout the day. I was planning on cutting the runners off and rooting them indoors, but what you say makes sense. I'll figure out a way to root them while still attached.
Do you know if new crowns from runners bear fruit the same season or do they have to experience a chilling period? Maybe this varies by strain.
Erin, when you plant in dirt, you let the mom make runners and place them in a star pattern around the mom. She will bear this year and then you cut her out and let the runners bear the following year and send out their runners. Strawberry plants are so cheap these days when you buy in quantity, that they are planted about 3-6" apart and not allowed to make runners. All plants bear this year and are plowed under and replanted the following year.
Back when I grew strawberries, you could get a 1000 plants for around $70. It would take about 25,000+ plants per acre for a commercial grow that would yield about 18,000-20,000 lb of berries. I imagine that the prices have gone up quite a bit in the last 20 years since I grew.
If you get this figured out,post some pics. You have me curious to see a strawberry hydro grow.
Back when I grew strawberries, you could get a 1000 plants for around $70. It would take about 25,000+ plants per acre for a commercial grow that would yield about 18,000-20,000 lb of berries. I imagine that the prices have gone up quite a bit in the last 20 years since I grew.
If you get this figured out,post some pics. You have me curious to see a strawberry hydro grow.
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Erin Kerrik
Member
I mixed up some RO water w/60 ppm B'Cuzz root and pHed it to 5.8.
Fastened three runners in perlite, air-layered 3 in rockwool and removed three which are in rockwool cubes in a humidity dome. We'll see what happens!
Thanks for the information everyone!
Can't get pics to download onto computer, think I may need a new USB cord. Or it could just be that Windows blows.
Fastened three runners in perlite, air-layered 3 in rockwool and removed three which are in rockwool cubes in a humidity dome. We'll see what happens!
Thanks for the information everyone!
Can't get pics to download onto computer, think I may need a new USB cord. Or it could just be that Windows blows.
Erin Kerrik
Member
Pops - I've read the unrooted rooting sites on runners refered to as "crownlets". More accurate than using "crowns", which I agree isn't accurate.
Here are a few in perlite, held in place with electrical wire from RadioShack (great stuff to have around!)
These, I'm trying to root by air-layering:
I found a web store that is still selling bareroots until June 15. 25 each of of two varieties of "ever-bearing" although they describe them as "producing berries all summer into august/september" which sounds like "day-neutral" to me. Also added 10 of another variety for the heck of it and to justify the shipping fee.
I'd really like a "general gardening" section here. Many of us are on probation and there seems to be enough interest as is to always have a few of those threads in the den.
Here are a few in perlite, held in place with electrical wire from RadioShack (great stuff to have around!)
These, I'm trying to root by air-layering:
I found a web store that is still selling bareroots until June 15. 25 each of of two varieties of "ever-bearing" although they describe them as "producing berries all summer into august/september" which sounds like "day-neutral" to me. Also added 10 of another variety for the heck of it and to justify the shipping fee.
I'd really like a "general gardening" section here. Many of us are on probation and there seems to be enough interest as is to always have a few of those threads in the den.
Interesting experiment,Erin. I would think wet sand would have been best and perlite next. I guess we will soon find out. You are probable right about the everbearing being the day neutrals, the old T series(Tristan etc) I doubt that the three that were removed will survive, but I may be surprised. Good luck with them.
Erin Kerrik
Member
Good news and bad news.
Some idiot squirrel ate just about every strawberry, flower, young leaf and anything else it could fit in its mouth. Knocked over one container and ate the crown ... or carried it off somewhere. It only got one of the air-layered crownlets.
The good news is that little white nubs of roots are growing into the air-layering and perlite!
Some idiot squirrel ate just about every strawberry, flower, young leaf and anything else it could fit in its mouth. Knocked over one container and ate the crown ... or carried it off somewhere. It only got one of the air-layered crownlets.
The good news is that little white nubs of roots are growing into the air-layering and perlite!
Erin Kerrik
Member
Still trying to get XP to see my came'tra. UBUTU Linix doesn't see it either. No USB devices are seen.
Had I a picture, it would show new growth on around 4/5ths of the 60 strawberry runners, 10 of which are a single strain that has no individuals waking up.
s:
Have them all in DIY bubble cloners:
3 shallow cement mixing treays (@ 4.75/each) 1 8' x 12" foam insulation ($15), 2 air pumps for 125 gal tanks from PetSmart (@ $19/each), 3 24" flexible bubble tubes from PetSmart and 5' of 1/4" air tubing ($9/each). 3 x 30 site bubble chamber.
Feeeding with equal amounts of TigerBloom and B'Cuzz Root and Superthrive (in mored or kess ratios - l 2-3 ml/gal.wiyj ng. Quickly needing mor
Had I a picture, it would show new growth on around 4/5ths of the 60 strawberry runners, 10 of which are a single strain that has no individuals waking up.
s:
Have them all in DIY bubble cloners:
3 shallow cement mixing treays (@ 4.75/each) 1 8' x 12" foam insulation ($15), 2 air pumps for 125 gal tanks from PetSmart (@ $19/each), 3 24" flexible bubble tubes from PetSmart and 5' of 1/4" air tubing ($9/each). 3 x 30 site bubble chamber.
Feeeding with equal amounts of TigerBloom and B'Cuzz Root and Superthrive (in mored or kess ratios - l 2-3 ml/gal.wiyj ng. Quickly needing mor
