Scientia Horticulturae, 52 ( 1992 ) 95-104 95

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam

Nutritional requirements for growth and yield of

strawberry in deep flow hydroponic systems

K.K. Chow a, T.V. Price a and B.C. Hangerb

aSchool of Agriculture, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3083, Australia
blnstitute of Plant Science, Knoxfield, 3180, Australia
(Accepted 9 March 1992)

ABSTRACT

Chow, K.K., Price, T.V. and Hanger, B.C., 1992. Nutritional requirements for growth and yield of
strawberry in deep flow hydroponic systems. Scientia Hortic., 52: 95-104.

The growth, yield characteristics and nutritional requirements of strawberry cv. 'Redgauntlet' grown
in a deep flow technique (DFT) hydroponic system for 60 days were assessed. There were no tank
effects on the growth and yield of strawberries, and truss development in summer was not influenced
by the 60 day growing period. The requirement of nitrate-nitrogen, magnesium, calcium and man-
ganese increased with time, and plant components showed specific requirements during fruiting with
flowers having a high demand for calcium and magnesium, stems for potassium, and roots and leaves
for nitrate-nitrogen and magnesium.

Keywords: Nutrition; strawberry; hydroponics.

INTRODUCTION

The deep flow hydroponic technique (DFT) is based upon the efficient
regulation of oxygen supply to the root by the recirculation of solution (Ves-
tergaard, 1984). This principle has been utilized in other soil-less (hydro-
ponic) culture systems for plant growth experiments (Clement et al., 1974;
Jarvis and Hatch, 1985; Callahan and Engel, 1986). Although commercial
hydroponic strawberry cultivation and trials have been conducted in Italy
(Tropea, 1976), the UK (White, 1980), Australia (Hanger, 1982) and Ja-
pan (Takakura, 1987 ), there is limited information on strawberry nutritional
requirements in a hydroponic environment.
To date, nutritional studies on strawberry plants have been conducted us-
ing vertical hydroponic columns (Tropea, 1980; Morard, 1984; Morard and

Correspondence to." K.K. Chow, School of Agriculture, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3083
Australia.

© 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved 0304-4238/92/$05.00

96 K.K. CHOW ET AL.

Raynal, 1988 ). In order to maximise production in hydroponic systems it is

essential that the nutritional requirements for growth and yield are known.
This paper reports on investigations into the nutritional requirements of
strawberries cultivar 'Redgauntlet' during the vegetative and fruiting period.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Plants. - Cold-stored virus-free strawberry runners (cv. 'Redgauntlet') were

obtained from the Victorian Certified Strawberry Growers' Co-operative
Limited, Toolangi, Vic. These were incubated for I week at 5 °C in the dark
prior to selection of 80 uniform bare-rooted runners for transplanting into
eight 250 1 drums on 27 November 1986.

Experimental d e s i g n . - The experimental design was a modification to a plant

culture unit from the flowing solution culture system (Clement et al., 1974).
To minimize the growth and yield variability among the plants, four indepen-
dently controlled DFT systems were used. Each system consisted of two 250
1 drums (87 cm high, 60 cm inner diameter), connected by two syphons (25
m m inner diameter). Each drum contained ten ( 11 ) nutrient containers which
housed the strawberry plants and the nutrient solution was moved through
the root mass at the rate of 2.3 1 min - 1 by means of a 400 watt pump (Onga,
Melbourne, Australia). Each drum was a basic unit of the replicated tank
system adopted as true replication in NFT experiments (Jarrett and Chanter,
1981).

Cooper's ( 1978 ) nutrient solution was used. This was not

Nutrient solution. -
replenished or renewed during the experimental period. The pH of the solu-
tion was maintained at pH 5.5-6.0 by means of 1M phosphoric acid.

Growth and yield characteristics. -The fresh weight of plant components, plant
height, width, trifoliate leaf numbers, crown numbers and yield components
such as flower number at anthesis, berry size and numbers per truss were mea-
sured on each plant. Runners were not removed.

Harvests. - Plants were harvested at 10-day intervals. One plant was har-
vested from each drum for the first two harvests and two plants from each
drum thereafter.

C h e m i c a l a n a l y s i s . - Nutrient solution ( 100 ml) was sampled from each drum

at approximately 3-day intervals. Plant tissues were air-dried (48 h), milled,
and digested according to Piper (1942). The fruits were air-dried for a fur-
ther 12 h and some losses in berry dry weight occurred as the fruit sugar car-
amelized on drying and adhered to the wall of the paper bag.
GROWTH AND YIELD OF STRAWBERRY 97

The concentration of magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn),

iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) in the nutrient solution and digested tissues were
determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry; potassium (K) was de-
termined by flame photometry. Nitrate-nitrogen ( N O 3 - N ) content of nu-
trient samples were analysed using a nitrate electrode (Orion Research Inc.,
1978 ) and the total nitrogen in plant tissues was determined by microkjeldahl
digestion. Inorganic phosphorus (P) was determined colorimetrically by the
method of Alexander and Robertson (1970).
The data on ionic concentration in the nutrient solution were transformed
into the amount of nutrients removed from the solution. The weekly removal
of nutrients was calculated from the difference recorded between known ini-
tial concentrations and the concentration at the time of sampling, taking into
account the number of plants present in the system (Cooper, 1979).

Data Analysis. - Data on yield, growth and mineral nutrients were analysed
using the Minitab statistical program (Ryan et al., 1985 ). Analysis of vari-
ance was used to determine whether there was an individual effect in the DFT
system on growth response.

RESULTS

G r o w t h c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . - The mean temperatures and humidity (thermohy-

drograph) in the glasshouse during the experiment were 22°C and 41%, re-
spectively. There were no significant differences (P < 0.05 ) in plant height,
width, trifoliate leaf number, truss number, crown number and runner devel-
opment between the four DFT systems throughout the growing period and
the data were therefore pooled (Table 1)~ Maximum plant height (27.8 cm)
was reached 40 days after transplanting (DAT) (Table 1 ).
The mean maximum truss number was 2.8 at 20 DAT and truss production
TABLE1

Growth characteristics of bare-rooted strawberry (cv. Redgaunlet) growing in four DFT systems

DATA Height Width Trifoliate Truss Crown Trusses per Runner Runner
(cm) (cm) leaf no. no. no. crown no. length
(cm)

102 6.9+0.2 10.7+0.5 3.5+0.3 1.6+0.3 0.8+0.2 2.0+0.1 - -

202 13.0+0.7 17.8+0.8 5.6+0.4 2.8+0.6 0.9+0.1 3.1+0.6 - -
303 21.8+0.7 27.3+0.9 7.7+0.5 2.1+0.3 1.6+0.1 1.3+0.2 1.6+0.2 21.4+3.3
403 27.8+1.1 32.4+2.6 11.7+0.9 2.3+0.3 1.4+0.1 1.6+0.2 3.1+0.3 49.6+2.8
503 27.2+2.1 31.2+2.3 17.4+2.0 1.8+0.3 1.3+0.2 1.4+0.3 3.9+0.5 83.2+7.0
603 27.5+0.7 39.7+1.4 36.6+3.0 2.1+0.3 1.9+0.1 1.1+0.1 8.3+0.7 110.1+4.9

Means + s.e. of pooled data; ldays after transplanting; 2eight plants; 316 plants.
98 K.K. CHOWETAL.

did not increase with time. There was little increase of crown number be-
tween 10 and 60 DAT and the mean number of trusses per crown remained
relatively unchanged between 30 and 60 DAT. Runner production had com-
menced by 30 DAT and both the number of runners and runner length sub-
sequently increased with time (Table 1 ).

Y i e l d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . - The dry weights and yield characteristics did not differ

between the DFT systems, and the biomass and yield data from the four DFT
systems were therefore pooled (Table 2 ). After 20 DAT, mean top dry weights
were greater than the root dry weights. Plant top and root dry weight in-
creased with time.
Anthesis first commenced 4 DAT with 48% of plants flowering at 7 DAT
and all by 11 DAT. A maximum of 6.4 flowers per truss was recorded 20 DAT
(Table 2). The number of berries increased with time, with a maximum of
7.4 berries per plant produced 40 DAT and berry ripening occurred approxi-
mately 30 days after anthesis. The size of berries was relatively small within
the fruiting period (30-60 DAT) with a maximum berry size of 3.8 g re-
corded 50 DAT. The number of berries per truss and the total weight (per
yield plant) was maximum at 50 DAT.

Removal o f n u t r i e n t s . - Rate of removal of all nutrients except K increased

with time in conjunction with plant growth. Removal of K from the nutrient
solution (supply) reached a peak after 5 days and declined the following 5
days (Fig. 1 ). During the first 30 days of vegetative growth, it was estimated
that 140-530 mg K per plant w e e k - 1 were removed from the nutrient solu-
tion and the removal continued to fluctuate widely ( 160-630 mg K per plant
w e e k - 1) between 30-60 DAT.

TABLE 2

Biomass and yield characteristics of bare-rooted strawberry (cv. Redgaunlet) in four DFT systems

DAT ~ Dry weight (g per plant) Yield per plant 4

Top Root Total Flowers Berries 4 Total Berry size Total berry
pertruss pertruss berries (gberry -~) weight(g)

102 0.5±0.1 1.4±0.3 1.9±0.2 5.2±0.9 . . . .

202 1.4±0.2 1.6±0.2 3.0±0.3 6.4±0.9 . . . .
303 4.3±0.3 2.1±0.1 6.4±0.4 5.0±0.7 2.7±0.4 5.6±0.7 0.6±0.1 3.4±0.4
403 8.4±0.8 2.9±0.3 11.4±1.0 5.5±0.6 3.2±0.5 7.4±0.8 3.2±0.3 23.6±2.2
503 12.1±1.0 2.3±0.2 14.4±1.2 4.2±0.4 3.6±0.7 6.5±1.1 3.8±0.5 24.9±4.2
603 24.0±1.8 3.4±0.2 27.4±2.0 3.2±0.5 3.4±0.7 7.1±1.2 3.2±0.4 22.4±4.0
Means +_s.e. of pooled data; ~Days after transplanting; 2eight plants; 316 plants; 4yield of ripe and
unripe berries.
GROWTH AND YIELDOF STRAWBERRY 99

2.0
Y Y Y

< ~ ~ /
1.5

--------on
'7.
E 1.0

O) ~ Mg

05

0.0 I
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

D a y s after transplanting

Fig. 1. Nutrient removal from the solution (expressed as g per plant week- ] ) by strawberry cv.
'Redgauntlet' with time after transplanting in DFT.

¥ Y Y

m c

20
e

'T
E

E~ 10
E

----o--- ~

10 20 30 40 50 60

Days after transplanting

Fig.2. Removal of Fe and Mn from the nutrient solution by strawberry cv. 'Redgauntlet' with
time after transplanting in DFT.

The demand of nitrate-nitrogen by the strawberry plants showed an in-

crease with time to 42 DAT, followed with a drop at 50 DAT after which
demand increased sharply (Fig. 1 ). Rate of removal from the solution was
100 K.K. CHOW ET AL.

350
"~ o c

3O0

'7
250

"7
200
t-

-1 150

100

50

0 ---o
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Days after transplanting

Fig.3. Removal of Cu from the nutrient solution by strawberry plants cv. 'Redgauntlet' with
time after transplanting in DFT.

30-480 mg N O 3 - N per plant week-~ between 0 and 30 DAT and increased

to a m a x i m u m of 1660 mg 54 DAT. Removal of N O a - N was greater than
that of K throughout the growing period. Between 0 and 30 DAT 10-70 mg
Mg per plant week -~ were removed and 50-130 mg Mg per plant week -~
during the fruiting period which coincided with runner stem production. The
pattern of Ca removal was similar to that for Mg (Fig. 1 ) with 50-180 mg Ca
per plant week- ~ being removed between 0 and 30 DAT whilst 150-380 mg
Ca per plant week- ~ were removed 30-60 DAT.
Around 5 mg Mn per plant week- x was removed from the nutrient solution
for the 10-40 DAT period (Fig. 2 ) and removal increased thereafter to near
15 mg by Day 60. Iron removal fluctuated throughout the 60 days of plant
growth (5-22.2 mg Fe per plant week- ~). The mean m a x i m u m rate of re-
moval was 15 mg Mn and 22.2 mg Fe per plant week- ~ respectively 54 DAT.
Rate of Cu removal fluctuated and very minute quantities of (0.06-0.35 mg
Cu per plant week- ~) were removed from the nutrient solution throughout
the growing period (Fig. 3). Phosphorus removal fluctuated with time be-
tween 3 and 44 mg P per plant week- ~.

P l a n t t i s s u e c o m p o s i t i o n . - The Ca concentration in all plant components ex-

cept flowers did not increase as a result of uptake from 30 to 60 DAT (Table
3 ). The flowers had the highest concentration, followed by leaves, roots, stems
and berries. Potassium concentrations in the plant tissues were highest 10
GROWTH AND YIELD OF STRAWBERRY 101

TABLE 3

Mean levels o f Ca, K, Mg, a n d N (% dry weight) ± s.e. in cv. Redgaunlet components from 10 to 60
days after transplanting in D F T

Element DAT' ~aves Stems Roots Bemes mowers

(% D W )

Ca 10 0.5±0.3 0.5±0.0 0.8±0.2 - 0.4±0.1

20 1.1±0.2 0.8±0.1 1.6±0.3 - 1.4±0.5
30 1.7±0.4 1.0±0.0 1.3±0.2 1.1±0.1 2.0±0.3
40 1.6±0.1 1.1±0.1 1.3±0.2 0.7±0.0 2.2±0.7
50 1.6±0.1 0.8±0.1 1.3±0.1 0.7±0.1 2.4±0.3
60 1.5±0.0 1.2±0.1 1.8±0.2 0.8±0.1 3.0±0.8
K 10 3.2±0.3 7.0±0.2 3,1±0.3 - 3.3±0.2
20 3.1±0.1 5.6±0.1 2.3±0.0 - 2.6±0.2
30 2.9±0.2 3.1±0.2 2.7±0.3 2.9±0.2 2.4±0.1
40 2.8±0.2 3.6±0.1 2.8±0.4 3.0±0.2 2.4±0.5
50 2.7±0.1 3.1±0.2 2.1±0.2 2.6±0.0 2.1±0.2
60 2.3±0.1 2.6±0.2 2.5±0.5 2.2±0.1 1.6±0.2
Mg 10 0.4±0.1 0.5±0 0.7±0.1 - 0.7±0.0
20 0.4±0.0 0.4±0 0.7±0.0 - 0.6±0.1
30 0.5±0.0 0.3±0 0.6±0.0 0.5±0.0 0.7±0.2
40 0.5±0.0 0.3±0 0.6±0.1 0.4±0.0 0.7±0.2
50 0.6±0.0 0.3±0 0.8±0.0 0.4±0.1 0.8±0.0
60 0.5±0.1 0.2±0 0.7±0.1 0.4±0.1 0.7±0.1
N 10 - - 1.6±0.4 - -
20 2.7±0.2 - 1.4±0.2 - -
30 2.7±0.2 1.4±0.1 2.1±0.2 1.5±0.3 -
40 1.7±0.3 1.2±0.1 2.2±0.1 1.1±0.2 -
50 1.7±0.4 0.8±0.3 1.8±0.3 1.1±0.2 -
60 2.3±0.6 0.8±0.0 2.4±0.2 0.7±0.1 -

Days after transplanting.

DAT and the K concentration in all plant components, especially in the stems,
gradually decreased as the crop matured. Concentration of Ca, Mg and N
were lowest in the stems and berries (Table 3 ).
The concentration of Mg was highest in roots and flowers. Roots and leaves
showed an increase in N concentration 50 DAT whilst that in the stems and
berries declined.

DISCUSSION

There was no increase in truss development of cultivar 'Redgauntlet' with

time when grown in DFT under the specified environmental conditions. Truss
numbers were obviously established the previous year when plants were dug
and frozen, and no further trusses were initiated during the experimental pe-
riod. Truss development during the summer period did not appear to be in-
fluenced by plant growth. This failure to increase truss number as well as poor
crown development restricted the yield.
102 K.K. CHOW ET AL.

Potassium appeared to accumulate in the stem tissues although the levels

declined as the plants matured. The results indicated that concentrations in
the leaf at the flowering and fruiting period were above the adequate concen-
trations recommended (I. 5-2.5% dry weight, Consolidated Fertilizers Ltd.,
1983 ). Although the cyclical pattern of K removal from the solution is not
easily explained a similar pattern has been observed for winged bean plants
growing in a nutrient film hydroponic system (Chow and Price, 1989 ). This
pattern differs from the sigmoid pattern of K removal reported by Bradfield
(1970).
The steady removal of nitrate-nitrogen from the nutrient solution through-
out the vegetative and fruiting period indicated that strawberry plants require
a constant supply of available nitrogen, especially during the period of peak
yield and berry size (54 DAT). The greater removal of nitrate-nitrogen com-
pared with K has been attributed by Morard and Raynal ( 1988 ) to a higher
consumption of nitrogen. Our results agree with those of Ganmore-Neumann
and Kafkaki ( 1985 ) who found similar preferences of nitrate-nitrogen dur-
ing the period of flowering and fruiting. Our results differ from those of Uda-
gawa et al. (1988 ) who found that early nitrogen stress hastened flowering
and fruit maturity. Our experiment, indicated that most of the nitrogen ac-
cumulated in the leaves and roots and not in the berries. Nitrogen is also vital
for summer fruiting (Ulrich et al., 1980) and yields of soil grown plants are
severely reduced in the absence of nitrogen (Voth and Bringhurst, 1990). The
leaf nitrogen levels were always below the critical level of 2.8% dry weight
suggested by Ulrich et al., (1980). It is therefore essential to maintain con-
centrations of nitrogen at adequate levels in order to avoid leaf nitrogen de-
ficiency during the period of high demand (30-60 DAT).
The pattern of rapid increase in leaf Ca was similar to that reported by
Bradfield and Guttridge (1979) and suggested that Ca concentrations in the
nutrient solution were adequate to avoid leaf tipburn. The flowers appeared
to be a Ca sink after 30 DAT. With the development into fruit, concentrations
fell sharply, probably because of the influx of photosynthates. Leaf concentra-
tion remained constant during fruit development and ripening. Magnesium
showed a similar pattern. These patterns suggested that adequate levels of Ca
and Mg are important during the flowering and fruiting periods (40 DAT).
The results suggest that berries have a high K component compared with
other tissues and this concurs with Albregts and Howard (1978). However
some competition for K amongst leaves, stems, roots, flowers and berries will
occur as K is necessary for photosynthesis. Since no symptoms of K defi-
ciency occurred throughout the growing period it appeared that the nutrient
solution contained adequate levels of K for the plants' requirements.
There was an active removal of Cu throughout the growth period but the
amounts removed were minute and suggested that less than 0.4 mg Cu per
GROWTH AND YIELD OF STRAWBERRY 103

p l a n t w e e k - 1 w a s r e q u i r e d . H o w e v e r M n r e m o v a l i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e r e is a
higher demand during berry ripening.
T h e h i g h e r d e m a n d for n i t r a t e - n i t r o g e n , Mg, C a a n d M n d u r i n g flower a n d
fruit f o r m a t i o n o f s t r a w b e r r i e s g r o w n in D F T in s u m m e r suggests t h a t the
c o n c e n t r a t i o n s o f t h e s e e l e m e n t s will n e e d to b e m o n i t o r e d a n d a d j u s t e d dur-
ing p l a n t g r o w t h whilst m a i n t a i n i n g c o n s t a n t levels o f K, F e a n d C u in o r d e r
to i n c r e a s e yield.

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