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There are a number of different ways you could start the dormant strawberries.
1. Plant them in the net basket with the cocoa chips, place them in the tube and run it as an ebb and flow. This would require the chips to wick the solution throughout the basket because like you said only the lower corner would be in the solution. Do you think this would be enough to get them going?
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Yes, they would grow just fine that way. Though the strawberry system will take approximately 30-40 gallons to flood all 8 chambers and have enough left in the reservoir so the
pump does not run dry, and to me that would be a waist of
nutrients for plants that are not ready to plant yet.
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2. Start them in rockwool and after a couple of weeks, move them into baskets with chips and into the tube using ebb and flow.
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This is probably most common, and would work. But for better or worse I will probably go another route.
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If one did it this way would they continue in the ebb and flow mode or would they switch to NFT after the roots are developed and hanging down from the net basket
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Well, this is really a matter of preference and up to the grower, and what they are comfortable with. Running it as a N.F.T. would use half the nutrients compared to flooding it, but I think I will be able to keep them better fed using it as a flood and drain. But I have the flexibility to change it when ever I want and I can also play with the flooding cycle and drain height and do some trial and error to find the best combination to run it at.
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3. Or, would you do it completely differently, please digress.
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Well, I will probably just use flat trays about 2 inches deep filed with potting soil to bring the dormant strawberry plants back to life. Then just gently wash off the roots before transplanting into the baskets with coco chips. But that's just my preference.
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I bought an air stone today. It was a big sucker, it you beaned someone with it they might not get up for a while. When I hooked it up to my GH air pump, which is pushing air for my drip system it really didn't do shit. When I turned closed the stop cocks on 3 of the 4 outputs it did a great job. Gee, spend more money.
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Ya, the pump can only put out as much air as it was designed for. So you can have as many stones as you want but it is still the same amount of air, just split between how ever many stones you are using.