EFFECT OF VERMICOMPOST, BIO FERTILIZER AND CHEMICAL ON VEGETATIVE GROWTH TRAIT OF STRAWBERRY PLANT (FRAGARIA X ANANASSA) RUBYGEM CULTIVAR

The research was conducted in a greenhouse situated in a farmer's field within the Al-Musayyib project, located in Babylon province, during the agricultural season spanning from 2022 to 2023. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Vermicompost fertilizer at three varying levels (0, 400, 800 g), biofertilization with different levels (no addition, mycorrhiza, Azospirillum bacteria, or a combination of fungal and bacterial inoculum), and chemical fertilizers at two levels (0, 50% of recommended fertilization) on the vegetative growth of the Rubygem cultivar of Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) in a protected cultivation environment. The study employed a Randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The results showed a significant excelled of the vermicompost factor (V3) in the parameters of vegetative growth of the plant (plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, number of crowns and leaf content of chlorophyll), reaching (17.17 cm, 29.80 leaves plant(-1), 210.15 cm(2) plant(-1), 2.84 crown.plant(-1), 34.32 SPAD), respectively. The mixture of biofertilizer (B4) excelled in all the studied traits, and the triple interaction (V3B4C2) gave excelled in all the studied growth trait of the plant, and it reached (34.70 leaf plant(-1), 215.80 cm(2) plant(-1), 5.13 crown plant(-1), 40.17 SPAD), respectively except for the triple interaction treatment (V3B4C1), which was significantly superior to plant height, reaching 20.83 cm.