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Abstract
Vegetatively propagated plants of three strawberry cultivars-‘Senga Sengana’, ‘Elsanta’ and ‘Kent’-were grown for 20 weeks in rhizoboxes filled with 1.85 kg of sterilized mineral soil. Ten plants were treated with an N-P-K foliar fertilizer (F, control), or inoculated with a substrate containing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Trichoderma viride and rhizosphere bacteria (PGPR-Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria) without any fertilization (M), or inoculated with the mixture of microorganisms and treated with the foliar fertilizer (MF). Total plant biomass was increased by the M treatment in all cultivars. M treatment resulted in higher total root length and number of root tips in ‘Senga Sengana’, whereas the other two cultivars showed different responses of root morphology. Shoot/root ratio was decreased by the M and MF treatments in comparison with control plants. Foliar fertilization of inoculated plants caused different growth responses in the three cultivars and a general decrease of root growth. After the MF treatment, the biomass of ‘Senga Sengana’ increased and the biomass of ‘Elsanta’ and ‘Kent’ decreased. Inoculation with the mycorrhiza-PGPR substrate increased rhizosphere pH irrespective of foliar fertilization. Plant mineral content was highly modified by the treatments in all the cultivars examined. In particular, changes were noted in N, P, K, Fe, B and Mn uptake. The results show an interaction between foliar fertilization and root inoculation with microorganisms, as well as genotype-dependent influences, on growth responses and rhizosphere pH of strawberry plants.
