EFFECT OF SEAWEED APPLICATION ON THE VEGETATIVE GROWTH OF STRAWBERRY CV. ALBION GROWN UNDER IRAQ ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS

This experiment was established in pots during the vegetative period of 2017, in Kalar Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq, to investigate the effect of seaweed extracts (Alga 600) of four concentrations (0, 2, 4, 8 g.L-1) applied with fertigation system on growth, flowering, yield and quality properties of strawberry cv. Albion. Drip irrigation system was used in this experiment. According to the results in terms of the vegetative growth characteristics, increasing seaweed extract (Alga 600) amounts had significantly different effects on plants with a different number of crowns. The results concerning flower properties show that increasing seaweed extract applications had significant effects on the number of flowers per plant, yielding 16.55-21.77 units/plant. The results in point of fruit properties show that increasing Alga 600 amounts caused a significant increase of 11.81-17.7 units/plant in terms of fruit number, 211.74-329.37 ml in terms of fruit volume, and an increase of 191.7-295.03 g in terms of yield, compared to the control treatment. The results show that increasing seaweed extract caused a significant increase in fruit quality (TSS/TA ratio from 8.29 to 13.35) compared to the control treatment and increasing seaweed application caused a significant decrease in the TA of the fruit.