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<\/p>\nAn Essex-based fruit farm has defied the odds to grow strawberries in challenging conditions, thanks to innovative farming practices and consistent, free-draining coir growing media.<\/p>\n
Farm manager for Wilkin and Sons, which is behind the Tiptree preserves brand, Andrey Ivanov, was told that due to water scarcity and the high sodium and chloride content in the local water, it would be difficult to grow strawberries. \u201cWe proved everyone wrong and have now quadrupled annual strawberry yields.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2015 we installed a Tiptree New Growing System (NGS) greenhouse, which was the first of its type in the UK. This is a fully enclosed system that maximises the production area, recycles water and extends the growing season, starting a month earlier and finishing a month later,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The Tiptree NGS uses all the available growing surface, because of the oscillating system installed in the greenhouse and rather than cropping every second row, it uses 100% of the area.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe can grow 100,000 per hectare of conventional strawberries comfortably, and possibly more, but it is variety and type of plant dependant\u201d says Andrey.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe collect all the rainwater from the roof gutters of the NGS and store it in a reservoir, and we use all that water to irrigate the crop. We are in the driest part of the UK, so water is scarce, and this system is self-sufficient in terms of water use once we reach a rainfall of 650mm throughout the year.\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Andrey explains that the system is climate controlled and the vents automatically open when the temperature or humidity rises. \u201cAs everything is automatic \u2013the perfectly maintained climate is great for growing the plants, but not only that, the conditions are better for the workers too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strawberries are grown in Precision Plus Ultra grow bags from Botanicoir, and they are free draining, which really helps with the high salinity of the water and chloride content, which can both inhibit growing and damage the roots,\u201d says Andrey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe consistency of the coir growing media is really important, because we can\u2019t afford to have variable growing media \u2013 we need guaranteed quality each year or our system won\u2019t be as effective. The strawberry rooting is always excellent and that\u2019s why we continue using the product.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also re-use the grow bags for two years running, either with two plantings or by overwintering the strawberries,\u201d says Andrey.<\/p>\n
Once the coir has served its purpose for growing, it\u2019s spread over the arable land on the farm to help enrich the soil.<\/p>\n