Optimal fertigation for high yield and fruit quality of greenhouse strawberry

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 4; p. e0224588
• Main Authors: Wu, Yong, Li, Li, Li, Minzan, Zhang, Man, Sun, Hong, Sigrimis, Nikolaos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.04.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agricultural chemicals; Agricultural production; Agriculture; Biology and Life Sciences; Cell division; Compound fertilizers; Crop yields; Cultivars; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Education; Engineering and Technology; Experiments; Fertigation; Fertilization; Fertilizer application; Fertilizers; Food quality; Fruits; Irrigation; Laboratories; Nitrates; Nitrogen; Optimization; Phosphorus; Potassium; Potassium sulfate; Rankings; Research and Analysis Methods; Social Sciences; Sodium phosphate; Statistical analysis; Strawberries; Water; Yield; California; Beijing China; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224588

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 (NO3)2·4H2O, 1.75-2.03 g plant-1 NaH2PO4, 12.41-13.91 g plant-1 K2SO4, 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.