Influence of different levels of pH of nutrient solution & TDS of micronutrients mixture on vegetative growth, flowering and fruit setting of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa L.) grown in Aeroponics system
Author(s): Gaurav Gunjan and Saket Mishra
Abstract: In 2023-24, a study was conducted at the Department of Horticulture, NAI, SHUATS, Prayagraj (U.P.). For the experiment, seven treatments were utilized to examine the impact of varying pH levels of cooper's solution and TDS of micronutrient mixture on strawberry plants (Fragaria x ananassa L.) in a Completely Randomised Design. The treatments were replicated three times to ensure precise and reliable results. The aim of the experiment was to determine the effect of different levels of pH of cooper’s solution and TDS of micronutrient mixture on the growth, yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa L.) in aeroponics. According to the findings of this study, treatment T3: [Cooper’s Nutrient solution with pH 6.0] was found best with vegetative attributes like [10.02 (30 DAT), 15.91 (60 DAT), 17.02 (90 DAT), 19.12 (120 DAT)] cm plant height, [17.04 (30 DAT), 23.01 (60 DAT), 23.98 (90 DAT), 24.97 (120 DAT)] cm plant spread, [10.58 (30 DAT), 18.01 (60 DAT), 24.21 (90 DAT), 25.37 (120 DAT)] number of leaves per plant, [4.12 (30 DAT), 7.42 (60 DAT), 90 DAT), 12.84 (120 DAT)] cm2 leaf area and 27.98 cm root length; flowering attributes like 44.22 total number of flowers per plant, 60.44 days taken to first flowering and 85.45 days taken to first fruit set; yield attributes like 18.85 number of fruits per plant, 53.49 g average fruit weight and 4.3 kg yield per setup and quality attributes like 74.84 mg/100 g of pulp ascorbic acid, 14.45 moisture and dry weight ratio, 9.01 °brix TSS and 1.52% titrable acidity.
