Effects of column sizes and media on yield and fruit quality of strawberry under hydroponic vertical system

Studies were carried out to observe strawberry response to four growing substrates under a vertical hydroponics system under non-cooled shade house conditions during winter season at Rumais, Oman. The productivity response of strawberry was assessed in respect to biomass indices, yield, quality and ionic concentration attributes. The results indicated that column types had a significant effect on most of the characters studied; growing substrate also showed significant effects on some characters while there was a significant interaction with respect to fresh shoot weight and fruit juice pH. Among the column types, columns with 6-pots performed significantly better than others in terms of biomass yield and fruit quality attributes. Among the growth media, a mixture of perlite and peat moss irrespective of their ratios showed significant superiority compared to the mixture of perlite and local plant fibre. It can be concluded that vertical hydroponics systems could be used for cultivation of strawberry in 6-pot columns with peat moss or local peat. However, the use of local plant fibre (shredded date leaf bases) is recommended because of cost and availability. The results demonstrated that strawberries could be produced under non-cooled shade-house conditions in Oman with fruit yields of 8-10 kg/m ² comparable to yields obtained else where.