trends & technology
Freshly harvested raspberries are fragile and best eaten immediately after picking.
“
OR THOSE WITH
LIMITED SPACE,
DWARF BLUEBERRIES
ARE THE MOST SUITABLE
CROP, WHILE RASPBERRY
CANES REQUIRE MORE
VERTICAL SPACE TO
DEVELOP AND LEAF OUT.”
One of the main considerations when
growing strawberries and other berry
crops hydroponically is pollination;
outdoors, this is carried out by bees,
other insects, and the wind. Indoor
growers can manually pollinate straw-
berry flowers with a small hair dryer
on a cold setting directed at each indi-
vidual flower, or by gently brushing the
inside of each open flower with a small
brush. Hand pollination needs to be
carried out every day immediately after
the first flowers open to ensure good
fruit set as the pollen only remains
viable for two to three days after the
flowers open.
Cranberries, Blueberries,
& Raspberries
Dwarf blueberry plants are a good way to
produce this delicious crop in containers.
82
grow cycle
Blueberries, cranberries, and raspberries
are less commonly grown in a
hydroponic set-up than strawberries;
however, they are suited to soilless
production and benefit from the
protected environment of an indoor
garden. Cranberries are naturally a
bog plant with long, trailing stems
bearing fruit. For this reason, they are
ideally grown in an elevated system,
three to four feet above the floor, were
the stems can trail directly downwards.
Dwarf blueberry cultivars, which have
been bred to grow in containers, are
now widely available and can produce
high yields of good quality fruit. Dwarf
varieties grow to around two to three
feet in height and can be pruned to
control size. For those with limited space,
dwarf blueberries are the most suitable
crop as raspberry canes require more
vertical space to develop and leaf out.
Raspberry canes grow upright. They are
tied into place with fruit-bearing stems
trained into position and pruned to keep
the canopy open for air movement and
disease prevention.
Raspberries are categorized into two
main types: primocane (fall bearing
or everbearing types) and floricane
(summer bearing). For hydroponics,
primocane types are recommended, as
these produce fruits at the top of first-
year canes over a long harvest season.
They also require less growing space
and support than floricane types.
As with strawberry plants, these
berry crops are more suited to contain-
erized, drip-fed, substrate-based
hydroponic systems. This is both to
ensure over-saturation of the root
system does not occur, and to facilitate
the ability to move the plants when
they require chilling or become too
large for the space available.
Berry crops don’t require high levels
of heat and will grow in similar condi-
tions as many other fruiting plants.
Temperatures of 72-74°F during the
day and 68-70°F at night are ideal. For
maximum fruit quality and sugar levels,
the light requirements are similar to
those of tomatoes and capsicum, and
plants benefit from a long day length to
push up the daily light integral.
Nutrition for all berry crops is similar.
A well-balanced vegetative formula-
tion is required in the early stages after
initial bud break, followed by a bloom
or fruiting formulation that is high in
potassium once fruit set has occurred.