I've tried several kinds in hydro. Loran and Ozark beauty have done the best for me in zone 5. Both are everbearing and produce in spurts.

I use NFT outdoors, with hydroton, in 3" net pots.

In the picture the strawberries are on top with other
plants and tomatoes on the bottom. The Ozarks are on the left. The Lorans are more compact but do well.

I am growing now Sequoia Strawberry plants in Perlite/ Peat moss 3:1 ratio, using automatic recycling drip irrigation and getting good plants growth and delicious red sweet berries!

I am using home-made Hydroponics fertilizer.

SZ

I don’t believe
there is an easy answer to “what is the best” plant or hydroponic system. You
can grow practically any plant anywhere in hydro in any system. I think the
main questions in response are:

Are you growing indoor or outdoor?

How much space are you going to have (vertical towers or horizontal)?

Vertical Example: http://www.tomorrowsgarden.net/ckfinder/userfiles/images/480x640xrain,P20towers.jpg.pagespeed.ic.VUbdDM95uI.jpg

Horizontal Example: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pvgV439m4BU/UZL4Go09z7I/AAAAAAAAAo4/xGKcKkx3fNY/s1600/IMG_3980.JPG

Then if you are growing outdoors I would look at your zones
and go from there. Let me know and I can voice concerns or help once the top
two questions are answered.

73dave has the most
common setup that I have seen for strawberries. I use something very similar
but I don’t use grow median, I just have high density foam disks that hold the
strawberries in place and allow the roots to dangle into the water.

Now if you go with a median it is important to remember how strawberry
roots grow. They will tend to form a root ball around the median. If grow
median less they will not ball and instead grow very long with many smaller
shoots. I would recommend, and this depends on your setup, going with hydroton
(clay pebbles) or growstone hydroponic substrate (relatively new to the
market).

The reason I am siding with those is because you normally
already buy rooted strawberries and putting a rooted plant into rockwool is a
pain in the butt. The coco will hold to much moisture, in my opinion, in a
system like 73dave has setup and not allow proper aeration of the roots to
occur. Perlite is small and can fall through the cracks of the net pot
depending on size, and holds more moisture than you need in my opinion. I also didn’t
bring up using a substrate like lava rock because it tends to be too large and
again a pain to deal with.

I would recommend going with a 3” net pot to put the plants
into. It gives them extra space if they start to develop off shoots; however, it
also depends on how long you are planning to keep them. If this is a one time,
only summer grow the 2” net pots would work. If this grow will be indoors and
over several years (I believe some strawberries can live up to five years) then
the 3” is a must to allow the plant to expand correctly. If you go with a
smaller net pot, it can be a pain to upgrade at a later time.

Hope this helps! Keep us posted with your setup as you go.

As a side note, some manufactures already have premaid
towers, here is an example:

http://theaquaponicsource.com/shop/aquavertica-towers/aquavertica-tower-5-ft/

They aren’t that expensive, so give a gander at those before
you make your own setup.

I grow my strawberries with a drip system and I have them going wild , as I am taking lots of runners and replanting and giving away as I have too many.

jeremiah- you mentioned that some strawberry plants may live up to 5 years. when it is hydroponically grown, how do you handle cleaning your trays? maybe the root structure doesn't get too big so you can take them out for cleaning?