INOCULATION OF COMMERCIALLY GROWN STRAWBERRY WITH VA MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI

The effect of inoculation with VA mycorrhizal fungi on the productivity of commercially grown strawberry, cv. Senga Sengana, was studied in a field experiment in southern Finland. Micropropagated certified strawberry plants were inoculated at planting with different strains of Glomus spp. Although none of the inoculants raised the level of root infection above the natural infection level, all inoculated plants produced more runners in the first year than the control plants. Glomus intraradix Schenck & Smith (GI), G. etunicatum Becker & Gerdemann (GE) and Glomus sp. E3 (GF) significantly increased the number of runners by 57%, 69% and 76%, respectively. However, there was no significant increase in runner production in the second year, nor in fruit production in the third year. Of the strains tested, E3 was the most effective, increasing runner production by 30% over the first two years. Plants inoculated with G. mosseae (Nicol. & Gerd.) Gerdemann & Trappe (GM) produced fewer but larger runners than the control plants, and had a higher capacity for runner production relative to the plant size. The possibility of establishing mycorrhizal infection in micropropagated strawberries directly after the in-vitro phase under standard nursery conditions was studied in two glasshouse experiments. Three (GE, GF and GM) of five Glomus spp. caused mycorrhizal infection in plants of all four strawberry cultivars studied. In practical strawberry farming greater benefit of the mycorrhizal symbiosis may be achieved by using pretransplant-inoculated plants and adjusting the fertilizer regimes.