Strawberry.

Soft fruit grown at working height, on gutters that recirculate

Strawberry under glass is a different proposition from strawberry in a field: the crop is grown on suspended gutters at working height, picked standing, and supplied to market in weeks the open ground cannot reach. The premium sits in that timing and in consistency of grade. It is also a labour-intensive crop, and the gutter system exists as much to make picking sustainable as to control the root zone.

Growing on suspended substrate gutters puts the root zone entirely under control and lets drain water be collected and recirculated. That matters for a crop this sensitive to salt and to water availability at fruiting, and it is the reason a protected strawberry crop can hold quality across a long picking period rather than flushing and fading.

The two commercial systems are separated by how the plant is triggered to flower. Everbearing types crop over an extended period and are the basis of the Dutch fresh crop under glass. Seasonal types follow a short-day rhythm and deliver a concentrated harvest into a defined window. Each is planned as its own crop, because a continuous picking rhythm and a peak week ask different things of labour, cooling and pack capacity.

DutchGreenhouses® specifies the structure, climate, screening and irrigation around the strawberry system, its picking window and the local climate, so fruit quality holds across the whole period rather than the first flush. Get in touch to plan a strawberry greenhouse.