Effects of potassium silicate and nanosilica on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of a commercial strawberry (fragaria x ananassa cv. 'camarosa')

Silicon (Si) is considered as a beneficial element to higher plants especially under stress conditions. A factorial experiment, in a completely randomized design with four replications, was used to investigate the effects of two application methods (spraying and soil drenching) and eight levels of Si compounds including 0, 5, 10 and 15mM of potassium silicate (K2SiO3) and 0, 5, 10 and 15mM of nanosilica (SiO2). The results indicated that Si application (all or some treatments) decreased transpiration, specific leaf area, petiole length, and promoted the flowering, fruit firmness, leaf/crown number, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root, water use efficiency. They also showed it did not affect the fruit set percentage, yield, chlorophyll index, total soluble solid, leaf area, fresh and dry weight of crown, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, internal carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and mesophyll efficiency of strawberry. The results suggest the beneficial effects of Si on growth and development of strawberry.