Effect of salicylic acid applications on morphological, physiological parameters and fruit production of strawberry cv. san andreas under drought stress condition

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of drought stress and salicylic acid applied to reduce the negative effects of drought conditions on morphological, physiological, yield and quality parameters in San Andreas day-neutral strawberry cultivar. The research was carried out in the greenhouse and laboratories of the Horticulture Department of Faculty of Agriculture at Ondokuz Mayis University. In the experiment, frigo seedlings of the San Andreas strawberry cultivar were planted using mixture consisting of soil, peat and perlite (2:1:1) in black pots with a volume of 9 liters on April 27, 2022. After planting, an equal amount of irrigation water was given to the plants until they had 3-4 leaves, and from this period on, 3 different irrigation subjects were applied as 100 %, 80 % and 60 % of the field capacity. Salicylic acid applications at doses of 0 (control), 1 and 2 mM were made as a foliar spray 3 times at 2-week intervals, starting 2 weeks after the drought applications. In our study, it was found that drought stress caused a decrease in the number of inflorescences, number of arms, number of stems, root length, number of leaves, leaf area, plant fresh and dry weight, leaf water content in the San Andreas day- neutral strawberry cultivar. However, it was determined that it caused an increase in chlorophyll content, leaf temperature, proline and MDA content in leaves. While drought stress caused a decrease in total yield and average fruit weight, it caused an increase in fruit firmness, TSS content and titratable acid content. Salicylic acid applications were not effective on many parameters examined in the experiment, only the chlorophyll content (1 and 2 mM), total yield (1 mM) and titratable acid content (1 mM) increased, and fruit firmness (1 and 2 mM) decreased with its application. As a result, drought stress showed a significant limiting effect on plant growth and yield in summer-autumn production of San Andreas day-neutral strawberry cultivar. Salicylic acid applications (1 mM) had a positive effect on the total yield.