Effects of mycorrhiza and irrigation programs on strawberry production in substrate culture

The study was conducted in order to determine the effects of mycorrhiza use in two irrigation programs on yield, fruit quality and water consumption of strawberry plants ('Kabarla') grown in perlite. The experiment was carried out during the winter season of 2016 in a PE covered bitunnel at the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture at Ege University. In mycorrhiza treatment, ERS (endo roots soluble) was used as mycorrhizal source (0.250 g m-2) and has been applied as dipping of seedling roots before the planting. The plants were irrigated according to the integrated indoor solar radiation levels of 1 or 2 MJ m-2. The amount of irrigation was based on the leaching rate of 30-40% in both treatments. Treatment without mycorrhiza and 1 MJ m-2 were evaluated as control. Experimental design was randomized blocks with 3 replications. Our results indicated that irrigation and mycorrhiza treatments affected total yield and some fruit quality parameters. Fruit firmness, EC of fruit juice and total soluble solids increased and water consumption changed significantly. It was concluded that mycorrhiza application increased total and marketable yields and water use efficiency especially in 2 MJ m-2,. © 2020 International Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved.