Integrated effects of biostimulants and mulching on vegetative growth and biomass of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassaDuch.) cv. Winter Dawn and Camarosa

Abstract

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is a valuable fruit crop whose development is heavily controlled by cultivar selection and crop management strategies. The current study assessed the interactive impacts of biostimulants and mulching on the vegetative growth and biomass production of two cultivars of strawberry grown in the field. The experiment included a split-split-plot experiment involving two cultivars (V1-Winter Dawn and V2 - Camarosa), two mulches (M1- paddy straw and M2- black polythene sheet) and seven biostimulants treatments (T1- humic acid 0.1 %, T2- humic acid 0.2 %, T3- salicylic acid 0.5 mM, T4- salicylic acid 1.0 mM, T5- salicylic acid 1.5 mM, T6- salicylic acid 2.0 mM and T7-control) and was carried out at the Fruit Research Farm, Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo, Punjab from 2024–25 and 2025–26. The plant height, plant spread, leaf area, number of leaves and fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots were determined. Significant differences among cultivars, mulches, biostimulants and interactions thereof were noted for all the recorded traits. The V1 significantly larger plant height (19.03 cm), number of leaves (29.50) and fresh shoot weight (54.05 g), fresh root weight (19.74 g), dry weights of shoots (15.63 g) and roots (3.55 g), while V2 showed significantly larger plant spread (27.26 cm) and leaf area (62.10 cm2). In terms of mulch, M2 was superior for V1, while V2  was superior for M2. The T2 alone was the best biostimulant for all the recorded parameters and its combination with M2 mulch gave the best results regarding growth characteristics. Thus, it can be concluded that cultivar-specific mulch along with T2 is an effective means of enhancing vegetative growth and biomass in strawberries grown in Punjab agro-climatic conditions.