Kinker Singh, Sanket Kumar, Mohammad Haris Siddiqui, Saba Siddiqui and Abhinav Singh
Abstract
The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the influence of different plant growth regulators (PGRs) on vegetative growth, flowering behavior, and physical attributes of strawberry (Fragaria à ananassa Duch.) cv. Winter Dawn under field conditions. Treatments consisted of foliar application of GA3 (25 and 50 ppm), NAA (25 and 50 ppm), Cycocel (500 and 750 ppm), and BA (30 and 50 ppm), along with an untreated control. Results revealed that GA3 at 50 ppm significantly enhanced vegetative parameters including number of leaves (52.21), plant height (28.01 cm), and plant spread (36.10 cm) and petiole length (12.29 cm). Similarly, early flowering (52.84 days to first flower), maximum number of flowers (19.27), early fruit set (55.00 days), and highest fruit number per plant (16.90) were also recorded with GA3 50 ppm. Yield attributes such as berry weight (14.76 g), berry length (41.02 mm), berry width (27.59 mm), and fruit yield per plant (249.89 g) were significantly superior under GA3 50 ppm, followed by GA3 25 ppm. Among other treatments, NAA 25 ppm and Cycocel 500 ppm also improved yield and fruiting characteristics compared with control. It can be concluded that foliar application of GA3 50 ppm proved most effective in improving vegetative growth, earliness, yield, and berry quality of strawberry cv. Winter Dawn, thereby contributing towards sustainable food production and promoting a low-carbon economy through enhanced resource efficiency in horticultural systems.