[GpsFrontier]

By the way, it is a fence post for vinyl fences available from HomeDepot but they aren't cheap, $40 plus end caps.

As an alternative to fence post tubing you can do what I did. You can use 4 inch ADS tubing, its usually found in the same isle as the P.V.C. It's actually irrigation tubing and looks just about the same as P.V.C., just bigger . Its also black on the inside so it is light proof cutting down on algae growth. I have 4 peas, 4 green beans and 4 sugar peas growing in one tube. It easy to cut just like P.V.C. is and is way cheaper. One tube is about $8 and the end caps were $1.97 ea. Except for the pump and reservoir I already had and the two stands that I made from 2x4's the whole thing cost me $20.

Link to my Pea and green bean system in this forum

Also, won't the spraying action of the misters incorporate much more O2 into the solution and ultimately make the O2 question moot? Let me know.

Not really "IN" the solution but to the roots themselves. Although I would still use a air stone in the reservoir because it helps to circulate the water when the pump is off, and I don't believe the roots can ever get too much oxygen.

I haven't been able to piece together anything else that will do shallow NFT for any cheaper. If anyone else has let me know.

Along with the ADS tubing like my peas and green beans, another suggestion is using plastic rain gutters. Some have tops to keep leaves out that would be easy to take off and clean. Also using the down spouts, there not square, but lay it down sideways and make the holes along the top side. You can run the return many various ways depending on your setup.

I am interested in the strawberry system you are building GpsFrontier. What are you using for tubes and are you using the small baskets with liners and hydroton?

The big question mark in the cost of the system is the tubing. I cant find 4 inch square tubing at Home depot or Lowe's but in my cost estimate I set aside $100 for the tubing. I will need 4, 10 or 12 foot tubes that I will cut in half to make 8. I have found a couple of places online to get it but I haven't been looking very much (too many other things to do). There are 2 pluming supply houses in town that I am going to check also. The square tubing is key to the design because as you can see it allows 2 rows of plants in the same tube (maximizing space and nutrients). I attached a picture of a commercial hydroponics farm using the same type system (its where I got the idea). Note: the plants are high enough to walk under making it easy to pick the berry's. Mine will be waist high though.

I will be using the same 3 inch baskets that I am using for the peas and green beans. I plan to use Coco chips for the growing medium, $10 for 2 cubic feet should be enough. The chips are big enough that I don't need liners.

Is your system going to be like the tube pictured with the polyline and spaghetti tubes and misters etc? .

No, it will be a flood and drain system (no misters). The through holes sticking out from the end caps will be the inlet and the one going out the bottom will be the return. I attached pictures of the through holes that I use. I get them in the electrical department at Home Depot, they run $1.97 each. Half inch vinyl tubing fits perfectly in the center of the through holes, so all I need to do to adjust the water height is use a longer or shorter piece of vinyl tubing. If I want to change it to a N.F.T. I'll just take out the vinyl tubing.

You also said you won't be sprouting the strawberries, what/how/where are the plants coming from etc... Please let me know

I don't want to wait for seeds to get big enough. The strawberry plants I had last summer I just got at Lowe's (6 packs) but they run about $3.50 a 6 pack, that would cost about $75. But I can order live plants online, 32 for about $12 and when you order larger quantity's it is usually cheaper. They are actually dormant but will be full size in about 2 weeks (much faster than seeds).