THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ADDITIONAL FERTILIZATION AND VARIETIES ON STRAWBERRY BERRY QUALITY

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in 2025 at farmer Svajūnas Giedrys’ strawberry farm, located in the Kupiškis district. This two-factor experiment investigated the effects of different supplemental fertilization methods and varieties on strawberry fruit quality. Two varieties were selected for the study - ′Faith′ and ′Cadenza′ - along with different fertilization methods: 1. Untreated; 2. Sprayed with silicon fertilizer; 3. Sprayed with calcium fertilizer; 4. Sprayed with a mixture of silicon and calcium preparations. Spraying was performed on June 7, 2025, June 22, 2025, and July 1, 2025. Chemical analyses of the strawberries were conducted in the experiment, and the total sugar content, vitamin C content, skin firmness of the strawberry berries, and dry matter content were determined. It was found that significant differences in all measured parameters between the varieties emerged following different fertilization treatments. The ′Faith′ variety stood out in all tests with higher values than the ′Cadenza′ variety. Significant differences between the different fertilization treatments were observed in the significant increase in vitamin C content in the ′Cadenza′ variety when fertilized with silicon fertilizers (41.5%) and in the skin firmness of the ′Faith′ variety (0.39 kg/cm²) when fertilized with a mixture of silicon and calcium preparations.