Demystifying stone wool for strawberry cultivation

There is mounting evidence that stone wool offers clear benefits for strawberry growers in high-tech greenhouse environments. But how easy is it to achieve those benefits in practice? And what are the biggest challenges? We asked Vera Theelen, Researcher Soft Fruit at the Delphy Innovative Soft Fruit Centre (ISFC), to share details of her own experiences.

How long have you been using stone wool in practice?

I’ve been using stone wool in practice since late autumn 2022, when we launched a larger-scale research trial on stone wool together with Grodan. That started with propagating fresh unlighted everbearers on blocks, and then we transplanted them onto slabs in the production compartment in mid-December. The aim was to investigate the impact of different EC levels on plant development, growth, energy balance, production levels and quality. The trial initially ran for one year, but after one year Grodan decided to continue growing on stone wool.

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