Horticultural Science and Technology 원예과학기술지 ISSN:1226-8763(Print) 2465-8588(Online)

The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of application rates of dolomitic lime in the acid substrate on the mitigation of high bicarbonate damage in ‘Seolhyang’ strawberry. For this purpose, an acid substrate was formulated by mixing of sphagnum peat moss and pine bark with the ratio of 5:5 (v/v). The pH, EC and CEC of the substrate analyzed before application of dolomite were 4.07, 0.46 dS·m-1, and 91.3 cmol+/kg^-1, respectively. To adjust the pH of substrate, various amounts of dolomitic lime [CaMg(CO₃)₂] such as 0 (control), 1, 2, 3, and 4g·L^-1 were added during substrate formulation. Then, seedlings with 3 leaf stage were transplanted as mother plants and those were fed with Hoagland solution containing 240 mg·L^-1 of the HCO₃ -. The growth parameters of mother plants 140 days after transplanting, such as plant height, chlorophyll content, and fresh weight were the highest in the treatments of 2 and 3 g·L^-1 of dolomitic lime. The physiological disorders in mother plants were not observed in the 1, 2 and 3 g·L^-1 treatments, but the symptoms of Ca, K and B deficiencies were observed in the 0 and 4 g·L^-1 treatments. During the propagation period, the number of daughter plants derived from each mother plant were 21.0, 29.5, 35.8, 27.3 and 16.0 in the treatments of 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 g·L^-1, respectively. The substrate pH during cultivation of mother plants were maintained at appropriate levels for the 1 and 2 g·L^-1 treatments, whereas it was the highest in 4 g·L^-1 t reatment. T he contents of macroand micro-elements in the above ground tissue were the highest in 2 g·L^-1 and the lowest in 4 g·L- 1 lime treatments. Above results suggest that the bicarbonate injury originated from ground water can be mitigated by adjusting the amount of dolomitic lime incorporated into the acid substrate.