Response of Strawberry Saplings Cv. Albion to Spraying with Seaweed Extract, Arginine and Brassinolide

Abstract

The investigation was carried out within a controlled environment of a plastic greenhouse situated at two distinct geographical sites. The initial site was situated in the primary research station affiliated with the College of Agriculture, University of Anbar. During the 2022-2023 growing season, the second experimental site was established in Dolab village. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of applying seaweed extract, amino acid (arginine), and growth regulator (Brassinolide) on the flowering and yield of Albion strawberry saplings. The experiment was conducted under controlled environmental conditions. Three factors were studied during the experiment, including (spraying with seaweed extract at concentrations of 2 and 4 ml L-1), (spraying with amino acid “arginine” at concentrations of 100 and 200 mg L-1), and (spraying with growth regulator “Brassinolide” at concentrations of 0.05 and 0.10 mg L-1), in addition to the control treatment of spraying with distilled water only for the three factors. A factorial experiment with three factors was conducted according to the randomized complete block design (RCBD). The experiment consisted of 27 treatments distributed over three blocks, with five plants per experimental unit. The total number of plants used in the experiment was 405 plants per site. Spraying with seaweed extract had a significant effect on all the flowering and yield traits studied. The concentration of 4 ml L-1 contributed to the best results for the traits (Number of flowers, Percentage of flowers set, Number of fruits, fruit weight, and total yield plant-1). The values were (30.3 and 28.3 flowers plant-1, 77.3 and 78.0%, 21.5 and 20.9 fruits plant-1, 20.3 and 18.4 g, 436.22 and 385.93 g plant-1) for the two sites, respectively. On the other hand, the treatments of spraying with the amino acid (arginine) had a significant effect and the treatment of 200 mg L-1 achieved the highest values for the traits (number of flowers, percentage of flowers set, number of fruits, and total yield plant-1) at both sites. The values were (29.1 and 25.7 flowers plant-1, 71.8 and 72.3%, 20.8 and 19.3 fruits plant-1, 18.5 g, 410.27 and 357.99 g plant-1) for the two sites, respectively. The treatment of 100 mg L- 1 achieved the best results for the trait (fruit weight) at the first site and was (19.9 g). Spraying with the growth regulator (brassinolide) at a concentration of 0.10 mg L-1 achieved the highest values for the traits (number of flowers, percentage of flowers set, number of fruits, fruit weight, and total yield plant-1). The values were (27.8 and 27.1 flower plant-1, 71.0 and 71.6%, 20.2 and 20.0 fruit plant-1, 20.1 and 18.2 g, 406.90 and 365.30 g plant-1). The treatment of spraying with seaweed extract (4 ml L-1) showed the best results in reducing the percentage of deformed fruits and reached (13.84 and 13.43%) at both sites, respectively. On the other hand, spraying with the amino acid at a concentration of 200 mg L-1 at the first site achieved the lowest percentage of 14.51%. The spraying with the amino acid at the second site and the growth regulator at both sites had no significant effect on this trait.