Peculiarities of growth, development and yield formation of garden strawberry plants depending on soil mulching

Abstract

Objective. The goal is to investigate the best variety of garden strawberry and the most effective type of mulching material. Materials and research methods. Field studies to study the features of growth, development and yield formation of garden strawberry plants depending on the mulching of the grant were carried out in the conditions of the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe in 2021-2023. The experiment is two-factorial. The varieties studied were: Rumba, Honey, Clery. The experiment options were mulching materials: black film, black agrofiber, straw. The control option was without mulching. The research was carried out in accordance with methodological recommendations. The research data obtained in the experiment were statistically processed using the analysis of variance method. Research results. The article reveals the peculiarities of growth, development and yield formation of garden strawberry varieties depending on soil mulching. It was found that the use of black film and black agrofibre as mulching materials leads to an acceleration of the activation of growth processes. In the variant using straw as a mulching material, a slowdown in growth processes is observed compared to the control. The largest fruit mass was recorded in the Rumba variety when grown on black film – 40.1 g. Depending on the mulching of the plantations, the experiment revealed that the average fruit mass was the largest when the soil was mulched with black film: the Rumba variety had an average fruit mass of 30.0 g., the Honey variety – 24.6 g, and the Clery variety – 26.0 g, which is 7.7; 8.1 and 8.4 g more than the variant without mulching, respectively. The most effective mulching materials were black film and agrofibre, where the increase in leaf area relative to the control was in the Rumba variety: 9.8 – 8.6 thousand m2/ha. The largest number of horns and flower stalks on the plant was recorded in the Clary variety when the soil was mulched with black film – 14.3 pcs/bush and 7.6 pcs/bush, respectively. The yield of the Rumba variety using black film was 31.3 t/ha, where the increase in yield was monitored within 6.8 t/ha relative to the control variant. The marketability indicator of the Rumba variety in the variant using black film was the highest and amounted to 94%. Conclusions. According to the conducted studies, it was found that the growth, development and yield formation of garden strawberry varieties depend on soil mulching. The use of black film and black agrofibre as mulching materials led to the acceleration of the activation of growth processes, the formation of the largest fruit mass – 26.0-30.0 g. Also, mulching the soil with film and agrofibre contributed to an increase in the area of leaves and the number of horns, which also depended on the studied variety. The yield of the Rumba variety using black film was the highest – 31.3 t/ha with the highest marketability indicator at 94%.