Organic – mineral and organic fertilization in strawberry cultivation (Fragaria x ananasa Duch.) under greenhouse conditions

Abstract

A good combination of organic and mineral fertilizers can allow a reduction in the use of agrochemicals, benefiting the environment and the health of consumers, by obtaining safe crops and products with lower chemical residue content. In the present work, the effect of organic and organic-mineral fertilization on the cultivation of strawberry cv. Festival will be assessed, using a 3x23 factorial treatment design with a total of 24 treatments in a randomized block experimental design with four replications, under greenhouse conditions in Atlixco, Puebla. The factors and their study levels were: chemical fertilization (FQ), at three levels of N-P2O5–K2O 0-0-0, 45-20-20 and 90-35-35 kg ha-1; commercial organic nutrient (Activador QF®) made with fulvic acids (AF) at a concentration of (13.58%) with study levels 0 and 450 ml ha-1; The experiments were carried out using commercial plant growth regulator (GR) (Biozyme®, composed of 78.87% plant extracts and phytohormones, and 1.86% microelements) at 0 and 20 l ha-1 and bovine manure vermicompost (V) at 50 and 100 g/pot. The experiment was divided into two periods: February-May and June-September 2011. The treatments were applied on the soil (GR and V) and on the leaves (AF and GR). In both stages, the treatments were applied at 10, 40 and 60 days after transplanting. The variables analyzed were the number of stolons, stolon length, polar and equatorial diameters, number and weight of fruits per week, period, and the total of the two periods. The number of ripe fruits was counted twice a week, the polar and equatorial diameters were measured, and the fruits were weighed. Every 8 days, from the formation of the first stolons, they were counted and measured. Statistical analysis was performed using the SAS program (SAS, 2004). In the period February-May, the FQ50-AF1-RC1-V50 treatment presented statistical differences (Tukey, p ≤ 0.05%) for the variables polar diameter (2.95 cm), equatorial diameter (3.76 cm), fruit weight per week (11.31 g) and period (135.69 g). In the period June-September, FQ50-AF1-RC1-V50 showed statistical differences for polar diameter (2.93 cm); FQ100-AF0-RC1-V50 and FQ100-AF1-RC1-V100 registered significant differences respectively for fruit weight per week (7.08 g) and period (73.84 g). FQ100-AF0-RC1-V50 achieved higher values ​​for total fruit weight (189.42 g). In both periods, organic-mineral fertilization showed better results, compared to organic fertilization.