EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY LEVELS ON STRAWBERRY GROWN IN SOILLESS CULTURE

     This trial was carried out to investigate the relationship between salt stress, fruit quality and yield on strawberries grown in soilless media. Four nutrient solutions with different electrical conductivity levels (1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 mS cm^-1) were compared. In a two-year trial “Tudla” freshly dug plants were planted in the third week of September in Palermo on the north coast of Sicily. The plants were grown in polystyrene containers filled with coconut coir dust and trickle irrigated. The different EC levels were obtained by adding NaCl to the mother nutrient solution. Fruit yield and quality were influenced by the tested treatments. Fruits per plant and fruit average weight were highest at 2.5 EC. The percentage of unmarketable fruit increased as EC increased. Fruits firmness grew as EC levels grew. Sugar content was scarcely influenced by the treatments.

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