I have not, but put floramato in the search bar and you'll get some results. last year, about this time, there was someone on here suggesting its use.

BER relates more to consistent moisture levels than it does to calcium. The problem does manifest itself as a calcium deficiency, but the ultimate cause is moisture inconsistency. The cal nitrate is mostly just a way to apply nitrogen. The calcium in it can help in some ways, but it won't cure your BER by itself. Experiment with your watering frequency, or maybe try setting your containers in a shallow saucer of water so they never dry out completely. If you are drilling drainage holes in a container like a bucket, make them about 2-3 inches from the bottom on the sides. That will give the plant a moisture reservoir so that it never completely dries out.

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.

As for nutrients, i am currently looking at switching to something from the GH Flora series, which seems to be the go to for beginners, so no recommendation there. You definitely do not remove the plants from the rockwool cubes, you just put the rockwool cube into the system and fill around it with the clay medium.