Impact of Nano NPK Fertilizer and Humic Acid Application on Vegetative Growth of Three Strawberry Cultivars

Abstract

The experiments was carried out in an unheated Plastic house unit of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Design / College of Agriculture and Forestry / University of Mosul for the years 2021-2022 with the aim of enhancement of vegetative growth of three cultivars of Strawberry, Festival, Ruby Gem and Liberation D, Orleans. Factorial experiment according to the split-plot system so that the cultivars were placed in the main-plot, while the nano-fertilization treatments NPK with three concentration 0, 1.5 and 3 g.l−1 and humic acid with three levels 0, 3 and 6 ml.l−1 put in the sup-plot using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates, and means were compared by Duncan’s test at 5% level. Results of the experiment could be summarized as follow: The cultivars under this study were differed in some of the studied traits, especially the significant superiority of the strawberry cultivar Liberation D, Orleans over the two strawberry cultivars Festival and Ruby Gem in the number of leaves, the area of one leaf, the leaf area of a plant, and the dry weight of vegetative system. Cultivars Festival and Liberation D, Orleans were superiority on Ruby Gem in leaf chlorophyll content and root dry weight. Foliar fertilization with nano NPK fertilizer, especially at a concentration of 3 gm..l−1, led to a significant increase in the number of leaves and dry weight of vegetative system, while the concentration of 1.5 gm.l−1 was significantly increased in the area of one leaf and the leafy area of strawberry plant compared to the control treatment. Fertilization with humic acid at the level of 6 ml.l−1 was significantly increased in the number of leaves, the concentration of chlorophyll in the leaves, the dry weight of vegetative and roots system, the area of one leaf and the leaf area of plant compared to the control treatment.