Why you should grow strawberries in Coir?

Which growing media works best for growing strawberries? Well, there are a few options including soil. People have grown strawberries successfully in media like Rock-wool, Perlite or Bark. Here in this article I want to talk about coconut coir as a media for growing strawberries and why it is the best of them all.

Benefit of coir over soil:

The following are the benefits of switching your strawberry cultivation from soil to coconut coir:

Traditional way of using soil as a growing media for strawberries has one major dis advantage and that is the pathogen problem. Unlike normal soil coconut coir does not infested with any harmful fungi.

On the contrary coir are enriched with trichoderma. Research has shown in the past that these fungi help reducing anthracnose disease in strawberry plants and thus work as a great substitute for traditional chemical uses in strawberry field. As a result you do not need to fumigate or use any other such methods which pollutes the environment to disinfect the media.

Coconut coir are high in lignin. This organic compound helps in the development of beneficial bacteria which in turn reduce the propagation of harmful ones in the media. These beneficial bacteria remain in symbiotic relationship with the plant and thus increase the overall productivity.

The water retention capacity of the coir go very well with the plant. Planting strawberries in coir requires less frequent watering and also eliminate the problem of water logging (due to its excellent drainage capacity).

Strawberries require considerable amount of oxygen in their root zones. So it is inevitable that the media for growing strawberries should have a good aeration property. That is one of the reasons that coconut coir is considered an ideal medium for growing strawberries. The high level of aeration and fantastic drainage property encourage the plant roots to develop its full potential.

Vertical towers are becoming more and more popular these days among gardeners especially in urban areas. Using coir in place of soil will also make the towers light weight and easier to transport.

Besides the high buffer capacity, coir also ensure slow release of nutrients for extended period of time and thus optimize plants growth.

Due to these attached benefits coir have been broadly in use in green houses. They have increased the productivity quite a fold.

Strawberries require calcium for their growth. So before buying any coir please check its labels. Normally coir don't have a lot of calcium in it. But as an amendment some companies have decided to add calcium in their buffered coir media. If your coir don't have added calcium you might need to add gypsum or perlite to make it suitable for growing strawberries.

A potting mix consisting of coconut coir, perlite and compost is ideal for growing strawberries. One of the best combinations is 50% coconut coir with 30% perlite and 20% compost.

For other information about growing strawberries check out our earlier article.

What do you think about the article? Express your views by using the comment box below. 

Don't forget to read:
Growing Strawberry: Some Points to Remember
Coconut Coir and its use as a Soil-less Growth Media