Impact of Soil Humic Acid Soil Application and Seaweed Extract Foliar Spray on Growth, Yield, and Fruits Quality of Strawberry Plants Grown under Aswan Conditions

Abstract

Two field experiments were carried out during two consecutive growth seasons (2014/2015 and 2015/2016) in the Experimental Station Farm, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Aswan University, Egypt on a sandy textured soil under unheated plastic houses. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of three levels of humic acid added to the soil with irrigation and three levels of seaweed extract foliar applications as well as their interactions on growth traits, yield, and fruit quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Dush.) cv. Festival grown on the sandy soil under Aswan conditions. The experimental design was a split-plot system arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The humic acid treatments (0, 200 and 400 mg/L) were randomly arranged in the main plots, while seaweed extract concentrations, (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/L) were randomly distributed in the sub-plots. The obtained results revealed that soil humic acid application gave the significant effects in all characters under study and seaweed extract foliar spray. Moreover, applying soil humic cid at a level of (400 mg/L) combined with seaweed extract spray (1500 mg/L) resulted in significant increases in most studied characters in both seasons.