The production of protected strawberries in perlite

Perlite has been used for the production of glasshouse tomatoes in Scotland for many years, techniques of watering and feeding are well developed. The use of once-used bags for strawberry production has been developed over the last five years with considerable success. Perlite has many advantages over the more conventional substrates providing a reusable, non-compacting, well aerated, moisture retentive medium. The nutrition is adjustable and controllable producing high quality fruit with an excellent shelf life and skin finish. The exceptionally pure water of the Highlands has created some nutritional demands not normally encountered, these have been rectified by providing additional nutrients through the irrigation system and the use of foliar feeding. Perlite is clean, light to handle and easy to work with, an important factor for staff. Plants which are over-wintered must not be exposed to high conductivities or temperatures below -5 C. The development of guidelines for over-wintering with less damage are progressing.