Certain crops are commonly grown in soilless/hydroponic systems, usually because of their short life/production cycles and independence from beneficial soil microorganisms. I would like to hear about your experience experimenting with crops that are thought to be challenging to grow in this way. A few of the crops I believe can be grown hydroponically but that have not been published are: grape, blueberry, blackberry, goji, kiwi, passionfruit, dragonfruit, etc. as well as fruiting tree species. Thank you in advance for your insight!
Dear Chidiac, I think that with a few adaptations most of the crop you cited may be grown in soilless systems. In southern Italy, many nurseries produce different fruit tree plants (peach, apricot, sweet cherry, ...., citrus, and olive) in soilless systems from years.
I know there are commercial growers producing table grape in simple soilless systems in Sicily and Puglia (with the advantage that grafting is not necessary), always in southern Italy others are producing soilless raspberry, and I know attempts have been made to produce in soilless system figs and blueberry. Having a little bit of experience with the goji I am sure it can be adapted pretty well to a soilless system. In my opinion, the cultivation itself in a soilless system is not a problem for most crops, the main challenge is to develop a cultivation system that is profitable enough to compete with conventional crops. Usually, for this reason, are used higher plant densities and plants are forced to obtain extra-seasonal productions. There are a few publications available.
I would love to see some of these publications and would very much appreciate it if you shared whichever ones you might already have with me. Thank you!
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