Flowering and fruit development in strawberry in a field experiment with two fertilizer strategies

Abstract

A field fertilizer trial planted in late August was used to study effects of fertilizer timing and application method on flowering and ripening in strawberry cv. Korona. In treatment 1 (T1), fertilization in August prior to planting was followed by fertigation with low nutrient rate from May to August in the first harvest year. In treatment 2 (T2) all nutrients were applied as nutrient solution from May to August the first harvest year. By August in the first harvest year, the total amount of fertilizer applied was similar for both treatments (80 kg N ha−1). Equal amounts of water were also applied in both treatments. In the second harvest year, all the fertilizer was applied using fertigation from May to August. Both treatments were given the same fertilizer rate (80 kg N ha−1) to study after-effects of T1 and T2. In the first harvest year, preplant fertilized plants flowered earlier and required a higher number of days and day-degrees from anthesis to berry ripening than did T2 plants which were not fertilized until spring the first harvest year. Significant differences were found in yield but not in the number of berries, as berry size was significantly higher in T1. No significant differences were found between fertilizer treatments in the second harvest year, although T2 tended to yield the maximum number of berries later in the season than T1.