Assessing the impact of varied nitrogen dosages on the vegetative and reproductive parameters of ‘Sweet Sensation’ and ‘Rubygem’ strawberry in Morang, Nepal

Abstract

Between 2020 and 2021, an experimental investigation was conducted in Tropical conditions to assess the effects of varying levels of nitrogen fertilization (0 kgNha−1, 0.5 kgNha−1, 1 kgNha−1, 1.5 kgNha−1, and 2 kgNha−1) on the growth and yield parameters of two strawberry cultivars (Sweet Sensation and Rubygem) in a sandy loam soil. The results demonstrated that the application of nitrogen positively influenced both vegetative (such as plant height, leaf number per plant, canopy spread, and crown diameter) and reproductive (such as number of flowers and fruits per plant, fruit yield, and TSS content) traits of both strawberry cultivars. Furthermore, the findings indicated that Sweet Sensation responded more positively to higher nitrogen doses than Rubygem in all aspects. The data showed that the utilization of 2 kgNha−1 resulted in the highest fruit yield (0.390–0.508 t/ha) and quality traits, including TSS (7.89–9.21%). While there were no significant variations in TSS content among the plants treated with different nitrogen levels, significant differences were observed between the two strawberry cultivars.

Keywords

• Dose-response
• Fragaria × ananassa
• Growth
• Fruit yield
• N-fertilization
• Strawberry