Effect of the inoculation with Glomus intraradices and nitrogen fertilization on growth of strawberry plants

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of inoculation of AMF Glomus intraradices on the growth of strawberry plants (cultivar Camino Real), irrigated with nutrient solutions at 0, 1, 3 and 10 mM of N as NH4 + or NO3 - . An experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions in which the percentage of root colonization, the root dry weight (RDW) and the shoot dry weight (SDW), were evaluated at 33 and 48 days after the plant establishment (dae). The percentage of root colonization was reduced by the increased concentration of NH4 + or NO3 - in the irrigation solution; at 33 dae, the inoculation of G. intraradices increased the RDW and the SDW in plants fertilized with NH4 + ; at 48 dae the same effect was observed in plants receiving NO3 - . In both cases, the highest values of shoot and root biomass were recorded in plants irrigated with low concentrations of N. These results demonstrated that the inoculation of AMF could reduce the Nfertilizer in strawberry crop. Furthermore, the excess of N-fertilizer inhibited the colonization of AMF and was not necessary for increase the plant growth. Also, the growth reaction of strawberry plants to the AMF inoculation, fertilizer form and dose varied in different growth stages.