2021 Strawberries

[waterphoenix]

This looks amazing! I had been looking at the Seascapes last spring for outdoors. I had no idea they would work in the Aerogarden. Following those little green berries

[dianne]

ACK!!!!! 

Yesterday was the third nutrient feeding since I planted the strawberries, so I bumped up the AG nutrients to the full dose. Big mistake! Tonight, the smaller plants have wilted, and several other plants have leaves turning brown!



I immediately drained the garden and refilled with fresh water. I haven't put in any nutrients yet. I need to mull over how much to add now. 

My husband tested the water I drained out of the garden with his pool testing kit and said the pH was 3-4. I don't know why it would be that acidic! I tossed out the drained water ... just a few seconds before my husband reappeared with a more accurate water tester that he had been saving for my birthday. Clearly I need this gift early!

I asked about CALiMAGic on another thread. I think I will get some -- some of my lettuce gets brown tips. I will research before adding it to the strawberries. I hope they survive!

If anyone has suggestions on how much nutrients to add to the clean water, I am open to suggestions. (Right now, I'm thinking a little less than the starting dose.)

And for everyone else who started strawberry crowns -- be warned!!

[maskedsonnet]

Yikes! I hope they bounce back!!

[dianne]

I've decided to let the plants rest in the plain water overnight.

Tomorrow I'll use my early birthday present to test the pH, the EC, and ppm ~ and slowly add nutrients, including the cal/mag when it arrives. 

My research hasn't come up with consistent recommendations for ppm on hydroponic strawberries, but everyone seems to agree that strawberries want a pH around 6 and EC around 1.0-1.8. (Or 10-18 or 100-180 depending on the units used in each chart.  )

[dianne]

I think most of my strawberry plants are going to survive their disastrous overfeeding. These past couple days, I felt like a doctor anxiously hovering over a critical patient! They certainly got browner before they started perking up.



This little guy might be the only casualty.



I left them underfed for the past couple days, and now I'm gradually working them back to the recommended* EC level. 

         *Every chart I look at has different recommended levels. So that's a big help. :/

Despite all the drama, this gem has continued to develop all week. Almost ready to harvest! The question is: Do I divide it into 3 and share with my husband and daughter, or gobble it down when they're not looking?

[Sher]

You gobble it down (or savor it mini bite by mini bite), and share with the family when there are enough to go around!

[Shawn]

What a lovely red gem!

[Jay]

What EC did you go with? I fed mine a full feeding of AG nutes 12 days ago and they are gorgeous. Don't want to break them at the next feeding!

[dianne]

Jan 31, 2021 15:32:08 GMT -5 Jay said:

What EC did you go with? I fed mine a full feeding of AG nutes 12 days ago and they are gorgeous. Don't want to break them at the next feeding!

I've been feeding them slowly over the last day and a half, 3-5 ml at a time, then checking the EC. I got them up to 1.0 today after a total of 13 ml. I'm shooting for an EC of 1.4, but I want to see how the plants are reacting before I add any more nutes. 

You might want to lift the grow deck and check inside the unit. When I first realized the plants were in trouble and drained the garden, I found nutrients encrusted on the bottom. I guess even the lower dose of nutes was too much for them and had been building up over the first 2 feedings. 

Hopefully I can avoid mistakes like that now that I have a tester.

[dianne]

Update: I ended up losing almost half of my plants. The rest are showing some new growth, so I think they will recover. As you can see from the photo below -- comparing it to the ones above -- the browning of the leaves got a lot worse before it started to get better. 



In spite of everything, I'm still getting strawberries. The taste is good -- sweet and tart -- but the texture is off. The berries don't get soft and the seeds are pretty tough. 

Things I would do differently next time:
1. Pinch off the early buds to encourage plant growth.
2. Monitor the pH and EC (I am still trying to figure out the optimal EC)
3. Rinse and refill more often

[Shawn]

If you left them on longer would they soften?  I am just curious as I have never grown strawberries.

[dianne]

Feb 6, 2021 10:50:47 GMT -5 Shawn said:

If you left them on longer would they soften?  I am just curious as I have never grown strawberries.

Not so far. They seem to develop to a certain point and then stop. I've been leaving each berry on the stem for several days after it turns completely red, but the weight and feel of the fruit remains the same.

[Shawn]

Ahh ok, just a thought

[dianne]

Update: Some of the later strawberries have been more tender and juicy, while others seem to have been stunted by the nutrient overdose.

My plan: These are supposed to be ever-bearing strawberries, continuously producing fruit. They were obviously damaged by the overdose, but a few plants seem to be thriving while others are stagnating. I am going to keep the thriving plants and move them to one side of the garden, and I will remove the stunted ones and clear the space to plant peas.

I think I can achieve a balance of pH and EC that will serve both crops, at least until the pea plants start producing -- by which time the strawberries will probably be done.

I want to try strawberry crowns again, using what I have learned. But I am also itching to try the peas in my possession. Who knew, when my husband gifted me this farm plus unit over a year ago, that it would NOT BE ENOUGH GARDEN SPACE?

AeroGarden Addict indeed!

[Shawn]

I hope you can keep your strawberries growing if you choose to ...  and if you start peas I cant wait to see them too!

[Sher]

I think you are doing the right thing by saving the healthy plants and using the other space for something more productive.

Peas!  Yes!

[dianne]

I am down to only 4 strawberry plants out of the original 12. These 4 all have healthy new leaf growth. One of them keeps producing buds, but the buds don't open or open to stunted flowers. I don't know if they are going to produce more strawberries, which is a shame because the fruits were starting to be really good! 



In the empty space I planted 4 pea plants. Two Sugar Ann and two Tom Thumb. So far they look really happy, and they are growing almost ludicrously fast.

[agfarm]

Hi,

I'm attempting to grow the same strain as you did a year ago.

aerogardenaddicts.com/thread/3573/strawberry-pineberry-attempt-farm-24plus

I'm approaching the 3rd feeding where things did not go well for you.

I was wondering if you had any recommendations based off your experience?

I did 15 mL feedings for seascape on feedings 1 and 2. They are looking very good.

For feeding 3, based off your thread I'm considering doing 16mL (recommended per ag bottle) in a week. I will drain the water and clean the tank again. I will also use distilled water.

Any suggestions?