Effects Of Potassium And Calcium Treatments On Growth And Fruit Quality Of Strawberry Plants

Strawberry is a berry fruit tree,belonging to the Rosaceae strawberry genus(Fragaria SPP.).It is a perennial herb.During the cultivation of strawberry,various nutrients are important to the growth and fruit quality of strawberry plants,especially potassium and calcium.However,the effects of these two elements on strawberry plants and the reasonable range of concentration,as well as the comprehensive research on the situation of overdose and deficiency of these two elements are relatively lacking.In this experiment,"Yanli" strawberry was used as the experimental material,and the effects of potassium and calcium on the strawberry plants were studied under two modes :forcing cultivationand semi-forcing cultivation.Bysetting different concentration gradients ofpotassium and calcium,the botanical traits and fruit traits of strawberry plants with different concentration gradients were investigated to explore the effects of the two elements on the reasonable concentration and effects on strawberry plants.The effects of potassium and calcium on the strawberry plants and the symptoms of deficiency,and the recovery from the symptoms of deficiency by supplementing elements were studied.The main results of the study are as follows:1.Potassium treatment has a great influence on the whole growth and development of strawberry plants.In the semi-forcingcultivation mode,the more obvious physiological indicators of strawberry plant growth are plant height and leaf area.The concentration group with relatively large increase was T3,T4 and T5 concentration groups.The maximum plant height under potassium treatment was 13.5% higher than that of the control group,the leaf area was increased by 9.7%.The increase was obvious.Under the forcing cultivation mode,the growth rate is increased.The more obvious physiological indicators were the petiole length and crown diameter.Theconcentration groups with a large increase arealso T3,T4 and T5.The petiole length is 36.3% higher than the control group,and the crown diameter is increased by 24.1%.From the aspect of fruit traits,the best concentration range of potassium treatment in the semi-forcing cultivation mode was T4 and T5 concentration.The larger variation was the yield per plant and the soluble solid content,which were 37.7% and 58.9% higher than the control group,respectively.The most prominent concentration in the forcing mode was the T4 concentration group.The larger changeindex was the yield and the maximum single fruit weight,which were 35% and 57.9% higher than the control group,respectively.In general,the most suitable range for potassium plants for strawberry plants and fruits are the T4 and T5 concentration groups,which is from 8 to 10mmol/L.2.Calcium has a certain degree of promoting effect on the growth and fruit quality of strawberry plants.The calcium-treated strawberry plants showed significant improvement in fruit firmness,maximum fruit weight and soluble sugar content.In the semi-forcing cultivation mode,the most prominent concentration group is the T4 concentration group,in which the hardness is increased by 10.2% compared with the control group,and the maximum single fruit weight is increased by 21.3%.Under the promotion cultivation mode,the most prominent performance is also the T4 concentration.The hardness and the maximum single fruit weight are increased by 37.9% and 75% respectively.In general,the most suitable range of calcium for strawberry plants and fruits was the concentration group of T3 and T4,that is,the concentration range was from 0.9% to 1.2%.3.The deficiency of both potassium and calcium elements will reduce the physiological indexes of strawberry plants.The decline of physiological indexes of strawberry plants under potassium deficiency treatment is more obvious.From the foliar state,the lack of potassium in strawberry plants can cause the leaves to be chlorotic,curl and shrink,and the tips and edges are brown and necrotic.The lack of calcium can cause the leaves to burn off,turn yellow,and even affect the lifetime of strawberry plants.However,the missing elements were reapplied after the symptoms of deficiency in the strawberry plants,and the strawberry plants gradually return to the normal growth state from the symptoms of deficiency.