Strawberry Crowns (Farm12 2/22/22) Ended

[Sher]

Mar 9, 2022 22:00:11 GMT -5 lynnee said:

I love growing new types of fruits and veggies for the first time. Figuring out what they need to flourish and to taste good is more fun than actually eating the final produce.

Oh, lynnee ! My deepest sympathies!

You have an utterly incurable case of Aerogarden addiction!

[lynnee]

Yesterday (3/13/22; Day 22), I gave the Kratky an early R&R, after 1 week. Today it rewarded me with a blossom! It just blows me away, that this strawberry crown is doing so well in a Kratky.



The AG strawberries are doing fine. I'm pollinating all the blooms, regardless of whether the crowns have 6 leaf sets. I just can't bear to cut off the blooms, because they're so pretty.

agfarm , we'll see whether the plants go downhill from here--I have another 12 crowns in the garage, so can start over if they do. (I don't totally trust the Aerogarden growing instructions, because the AG tomato instructions didn't work out well for me.) I took three runners off tonight.



The first photo below shows a newly pollinated blossom with a developing strawberry just below it. The petals do fall off of the pollinated flowers. The second photo shows a pollinated bloom with a lot of yellow pollen underneath.

[Sher]

This is like following an engrossing saga! 

[Shawn]

I love it.  The flower is pretty and I see that strawberry forming. YAY

[lynnee]

It's Day 24, and the strawberry crowns are doing very well. I've no idea why these are growing so fast and easily. Maybe it's because I pre-ordered the crowns from Burpee, so that they were very fresh?



One problem has shown up. Some of the new leaf sets are coming in with brown or black tips. I was removing these (see photo) until I saw that a set on one plant was opening with brown tips on otherwise healthy-looking leaves. I left those, and we'll see what happens.



This did prompt me to test the pH, which was very acidic at 4-4.5. The TDS was 630, with an R&R coming in 4 days, so I decided just to adjust the pH for today. Adding 4ml of pH UP (blue solution) brought it up to 6.0.

The ideal settings for strawberries are something like pH 5.8 to 6.2 and TDS 800 to 1000.

This is the plant with the biggest strawberry.  So far the plants haven't produced many runners.  I've been removing them as they show up.  The Kratky strawberry is also healthy.

[Sher]

lynnee , I know absolutely NOTHING about growing strawberries. But sometimes brown growing tips are because the plant is growing faster than it can uptake adequate calcium.

Sometimes a fan will make a plant respire faster so it draws up enough calcium. Other times a bit of calmag can help.

I have no idea if that applies to your strawberries.

Or the reservoir could be so acidic that that is what is affecting the uptake of calcium.

Here's a pH chart that might help. (And I bet Shawn already has it posted, but I forgot to check.) 

[lynnee]

Some of the older leaves are brown at part of the edges, Sher , so it could well be a calcium issue. I'll add 2ml CalMag+ now.

Not that I'm knowledgeable about the science like you are!

[Sher]

Aw, lynnee, I am not that knowledgeable. I just like reading geek hydro stuff!

[Shawn]

Yup, it is posted Sher   LOL...  In the Nutrients and Supplements Section

[Sher]

Mar 19, 2022 3:31:07 GMT -5 Shawn said:

Yup, it is posted Sher   LOL...  In the Nutrients and Supplements Section

Thanks. I realized it probably was.

I need to go through that board and familiarize myself with everything it contains. It is a gold mine!

[Shawn]

No you don't I just refer to where everyone should look LOL 

[lynnee]

It IS a gold mine, Shawn! I need to get in the habit of looking there before I start Googling.

[lynnee]

Strawberries got an R&R today (Day 26). Added 24ml AG nutes and 5ml CalMag+. The roots look healthy.

[Sher]

They look very healthy!

[lynnee]

Day 29. Strawberries are doing well, but leaves have some brown edges. I'm removing any new leaf sets that are showing up as brown-tipped, because the leaves don't open properly. Lots of developing strawberries, but none are ripe as yet. Pollination with child's battery-operated toothbrush works fine, and doesn't damage anything.





TDS was 879 ppm, so they probably don't need more nutes (last R&R was 3 days ago). pH tested at 4.5-5.0 (mildly acidic), so I added 4.5ml pH UP (blue). pH now tests in 5.5-6.5 range (yellow). Weekly R&R may be advisable for strawberries. Pump still set to always on (60/000).

[Sher]

I am so excited about your developing strawberries, lynnee!

And your bottom photo highlights the unusual veining pattern of the leaves in stunning detail.  I had never paid attention to that before seeing your photo.

[lynnee]

You have a sharp eye, Sher! That's why your photos of little wildflowers are so enjoyable.

[Sher]

[maskedsonnet]

So many berries!!! Very exciting!! Do you trim your plants at all? Mine are DENSE and I'm starting to think maybe I should, I haven't done any cutting on them since the initial thinning 

[lynnee]

maskedsonnet, When I'm learning to grow something, I let the plant do what it wants until intervention is clearly needed. So I haven't done anything besides (1) pollinate every blossom, repeating every day until the petals fall off, (2) remove new leaf sets with blackened leaf tips, (3) remove runners, and (4) do weekly R&Rs.

Mine were started from Burpee New Albion crowns, not from seeds like yours. Much to my surprise, the single Kratky crown has three strawberries developing.

I think that Burpee crowns must be particularly vigorous!