Increased oxygen improves strawberries' rooting

Agrona's OxyBull aeration system ensures an optimum oxygen concentration in strawberries' water and root environment. In the Netherlands, greenhouse strawberry company Dutch Berries has now installed a third system. The aeration system now boasts an oxygen sensor. It continuously measures the basin or silo water's oxygen content. It does so by linking to the climate computer.

“Increased oxygen always benefits the plants' roots," says Job van der Wal, Dutch Berries' cultivation manager.

This greenhouse cultivation company spans 24 hectares. Of this, 20 was built in 2018. Greenhouse A is 10 hectares in size. In it, they grow the Elsanta variety in hanging gutters. In greenhouse B, also 10 hectares, they cultivate the Malling Centenary variety. These strawberries are harvested twice a year. The first harvest is in autumn, the second in spring.

Each greenhouse has its own water silo. So, they have different nutrition recipes and their own OxyBull aeration system. The OxyBull is at the bottom of the silo. It circulates all the water in it. That's how the water gets properly aerated.

Frans van Hulten, another cultivation manager at Dutch Berries, and Nadir Laaguili, Agrona's director, show a daily supply silo fitted with the OxyBull system.

Water vitality of great importance
Business owner, Gijbert Kreling, heard about how well the OxyBull aeration system works from other growers. "The strawberry company values water vitality highly. So, the grower wanted to use the aeration system. He wanted to oxygenate the water more," says Nadir Laaguili, director of Agrona. "He also chose this system because of its low maintenance and high efficiency."

The OxyBull has several advantages. "More oxygen at the plants' roots is always good. It provides improved rooting and more vital growth," say cultivation managers Frans van Hulten and Job van der Wal. "The water quality is better too. It has less organic pollution and algae growth."

Expanding the OxyBull aeration system
Last year, Dutch berries added a four-hectare greenhouse (C). Here, they grow the Furore summer variety. That's from February to September/October. After that, a winter crop of Sonata strawberries is grown under LED lighting.

The strawberry farm had two years of good experience with the OxyBull aeration system. It, therefore, purchased a third unit. This system has an oxygen sensor that continually records oxygen levels. It's connected to the climate computer. It saves the data every five minutes.