Effect of zinc and iron on growth, yield and quality of strawberry cv. Chandler

Application of zinc sulphate at 0.4 per cent and ferrous sulphate at 0.2 per cent in strawberry increased the number of leaves (29.93 and 23.24), flowers (2.22 and 3.33), fruit set (2.6 and 2.8), fruits (16.10 and 16.88) and fruit yield (133.82 and 140.47g) per plant; plant height (18.85 and 18.28 cm) and ascorbic acid content (66.1 and 65.94 mg). Increase in fruit weight (8.12 and 7.98g) and acidity (0.97 and 0.96%), TSS content (9.42 and 9.33(0) Brix) of fruits were also found with 0.2 per cent of ferrous sulphate and 0.4 per cent of zinc sulphate. The number of runners also increased with the 0.4 per cent zinc sulphate. Higher concentration of zinc sulphate resulted in enhanced shelf life of fruits (2.95 days) at ambient temperature. On the other hand, higher concentration of ferrous sulphate had toxic effect on the plant and retarded the growth, yield and quality attributes.