Managing strawberry roots through root-zone control

Managing strawberry roots through root-zone control For Indonesian strawberry grower Ihsan Alfalah, root development is primarily an irrigation, substrate, and nutrition management issue rather than a fertilizer-input question. "Roots will grow when the root-zone environment is favorable." Ihsan identifies moisture, oxygen availability, balanced nutrition, EC, pH, root-zone temperature, and substrate aeration as the main factors determining root-zone conditions.

"Good root development starts with creating the right root-zone environment: proper moisture, EC, pH, aeration, substrate quality, and balanced nutrition." © Ihsan Alfalah VWC and irrigation management Substrate moisture, measured as volumetric water content (VWC), is one of his key parameters for strawberry irrigation. His typical targets are approximately 50–55% VWC during vegetative growth and 40–46% during the generative stage.

"Good strawberry root management is not simply about supplying enough water or achieving a certain drainage percentage; it is about maintaining a stable, well-distributed moisture and EC environment throughout the entire root zone." Substrate quality and root distribution © Ihsan Alfalah Substrate properties also influence nutrient availability and aeration. "If we use unbuffered cocopeat, strawberry plants may experience deficiencies of calcium and magnesium." He notes that coco coir usually provides approximately 20–25% air-filled porosity, which can be sufficient for strawberries without automatically requiring perlite.

Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?

Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.

What is the operator takeaway from this trial?

If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.

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