Two field experiments were carried out during the two successive winter seasons of 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 at sandy soil in private sector Farm at Kafr Elsohbi village, Kalubia governorate, to investigate the effect of soil addition of Humic acid, Rootmost and Softguard as well as the foliar spray with Amino power, Caboron and Chitosan on growth, chemical composition, fruit yield and its quality of strawberry plants cv. Festival. Split plot design with four replicates was used where soil addition treatments were arranged in the main plot and spray treatments were arranged in sub plots. Obtained results show that soil addition of Rootmost at 2ml/l three times to strawberry plants combined with spraying the plants with Amino power at 0.5ml/l ten times during the growing season starting 21days after transplanting and every 10 days by intervals are recommended to increase the vegetative growth, early and total fruit yield. Moreover, Rootmost combined with using Caboron at 1ml/l are recommended for obtaining the highest exportable yield with best quality. On the other hand, the second trail pre and postharvest treatments of strawberry fruits with salicylic acid at 2mM/l, calcium chloride at 1% and chitosan at 1% led to decrement in weight loss and decay percentage as well as changes in assayed chemical constituents of fruits( TSS, total acidity, total sugars, V.C., anthocyanin and fruit firmness) during cold storage compared to the control. In this concern, preharvest foliar application of chitosan at 1% and calcium chloride at 1% combined with dipping the fruits after harvest and pre storage in their solution can be recommended for preservation of the physical and chemical quality indices of fruits during cold storage up to 28 days. |
