Method of Silicon Application Affects Quality of Strawberry Daughter Plants during Cutting Propagation in Hydroponic Substrate System

Abstract

The beneficial effects that silicon (Si) has on plant growth as well as resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses have been well documented for many crops in recent years. However, few studies focus on the effects of Si on plant growth during the propagation stage of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa, Duchesne). This study was conducted to investigate the optimal method for Si application during the cutting propagation of strawberry in soilless cultivation. Strawberry mother plants were supplied with Si through foliar spray, runner spray, or root drench before the cutting propagation, then half of the daughter plants in each treatment received continued Si supply through foliar spray or through root drench after the cutting propagation. The results showed that the plant height, petiole length and diameter, leaf length and width, shoot fresh and dry weights, and root fresh and dry weights were significantly increased by Si root drench both before and after the cutting propagation. Moreover, plants absorbed more Si by drench than by spray, and the absorbed Si was only able to be transported from the root to the shoot, and from the mother plant to the daughter plant. Further research found that the chlorophyll fluorescence parameter of the maximum quantum efficiency of the photosystem II (Fv/Fm) and the activities of superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, and guaiacol peroxidase were also enhanced while catalase did not change under a high temperature stress in strawberry treated with Si before and after cutting propagation by root drench. Thus, Si application by drenching the roots during the whole propagation period is recommended to increase the quality of the strawberry daughter plants in soilless cultivation.