Relative Salt Tolerance of Seven Strawberry Cultivars

Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) cultivars ("Albion", "Benicia", "Camarosa", "Camino Real", "Chandler", "Radiance", and "San Andreas") were evaluated for salt tolerance in a greenhouse environment. Plants were irrigated with a nutrient solution with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.1 dS.m(-1) (control) or a nutrient solution with the addition of salts (salt solution) with ECs of 2.2, 3.3, or 4.4 dS.m(-1) for four months. Salinity reduced plant growth and fruit yield of strawberry; however, the magnitude of reduction varied with cultivar. For example, at an EC of 4.4 dS.m(-1), "Benicia" and "Chandler" had 39% and 44% less shoot dry weight (DW) respectively, compared with control plants. At ECs of 3.3 and 4.4 dS.m(-1), "Camino Real" had equal shoot DW, which was about 50% lower than that of the control. The fruit yield of "Benicia" and "Camino Real" at 4.4 dS.m(-1) was reduced by 56%, while the other salt treatments did not affect their shoot DW or fruit yield. To distinguish differences among the cultivars with respect to their tolerance to salinity, cluster analysis was performed based on growth parameters and visual quality. The results indicated that "Albion", "Camarosa", and "San Andreas" were more salt tolerant, while "Camino Real", "Benicia", "Chandler", and "Radiance" were less salt tolerant.