Optimal fertigation for high yield and fruit quality of greenhouse strawberry

Abstract

Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and water are four crucial factors that have significant effects on strawberry yield and fruit quality. We used a 11 that involved 36 treatments with five levels of each of the four variables (N, P, and K fertilizers and water) to optimize fertilization and water combination for high yield and quality. Moreover, we used the SSC/TA ratio (the ratio of soluble solid content to titratable acid) as index of quality. Results showed that N fertilizer was the most important factor, followed by water and P fertilizer, and the N fertilizer had significant effect on yield and SSC/TA ratio. By contrast, the K fertilizer had significant effect only on yield. N×K fertilizer interacted significantly on yield, whereas the other interactions among the four factors had no significant effects on yield or SSC/TA ratio. The effects of the four factors on yield and SSC/TA ratio were ranked as N fertilizer > water > K fertilizer > P fertilizer and N fertilizer > P fertilizer > water > K fertilizer, respectively. The yield and SSC/TA ratio increased when NPK fertilizer and water increased, but then decreased when excessive NPK fertilizer and water were applied. The optimal fertilizer and water combination were 22.28-24.61 g plant -1 Ca (NO 3 ) 2 �4H 2 O, 1.75-2.03 g plant -1 NaH 2 PO 4 , 12.41-13.91 g plant -1 K 2 SO 4 , and 12.00-13.05 L water plant -1 for yields of more than 110 g plant -1 and optimal SSC/TA ratio of 8.5-14. OPEN ACCESSCitation: Wu Y, Li L, Li M, Zhang M, Sun H, Sigrimis N (2020) Optimal fertigation for high yield and fruit quality of greenhouse strawberry. PLoS ONE 15(4): e0224588. https://doi.org/10.

Influence of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizer Regimes on Growth Patterns and Antioxidants Capacity of Strawberry (Fragaria × Ananassa Duch.) cv. Chandler

“…Availability of nitrogen is the most important factor for its production and fruit quality [12]. In effect, vegetables and fruit produced with sufficient availability of nutrients contain a high level of total phenols, flavonoids, organic acids, sugars, and L -ascorbic acid [13].…”

The Effect of Organic, Inorganic Fertilizers and Their Combinations on Fruit Quality Parameters in Strawberry

“…Previous studies indicated that organically produced fruits and vegetables contain higher levels of flavonoids, anthocyanins, total phenolic compounds, sugars, organic acids, and L-ascorbic acid [12][13][14][15][16]. The increased concern of the consumers about the negative effects of agro-chemicals, driven an upward trend in organic production [17,18].…”

Precision Agriculture Using Soil Sensor Driven Machine Learning for Smart Strawberry Production

“…One of the major factors that has been continuously investigated through different studies is the water content and its effects on the yield and strawberry quality [ 4 , 5 ]. Strawberry cultivars have different demands of water content and fertilization to reach acceptable levels of both quality and yield [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Previous literature reports that a water deficit has a drastic effect on the strawberry yield and marketability (size of the fruit) on most strawberry cultivates [ 4 , 7 ].…”

“…Furthermore, the overuse or wrong kind of fertilization can harm the strawberry size and sweetness [ 8 , 13 ]. Wu et al [ 10 ] studied the effect of four different factors (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and water) on the yield and the strawberry sweetness ratio (SSC/TTA), where they found a significant effect on the yield and SSC when they applied the N fertilizer. While the water content had a significant effect on yield, P fertilizers had a significant effect on the sweetness ratio.…”

“…While the water content had a significant effect on yield, P fertilizers had a significant effect on the sweetness ratio. However, they noticed a decline in the yield, sweetness ratio, and firmness when they applied fertilizer and water extravagantly [ 10 , 14 ]. The sweetness ratio and the development of the strawberry cultivars are reflected in the ripening stage of the fruit, which affects the strawberry color [ 15 ].…”