effect of paclobutrazol concenteration and application methods on vegetative and reproductive growth of strawberry (fragaria × ananassa duch. cv. selva)

abstract to investigate the effects of paclobutrazol (pbz) on vegetative and reproductive growth of strawberry cv. selva a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications was carried out in greenhouse of agriculture college, isfahan university of technology. pbz was applied in two methods, drench and foliar spray, at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 mg active ingredient per plant. the results indicated that applications of pbz as foliar spray was more effective than soil drench on vegetative and reproductive growth. with increasing the amount of pbz leaf area, shoot fresh weight, whole plant fresh weight and petiole length of treated strawberries were decreased, however fresh weight, number and diameter of roots were not affected by pbz. also pbz had no significant effect on fruit firmness, total soluble solids and vitamin c. the interaction of pbz and its method of application on characteristics including leaf area, petiole length and diameter, total fresh weight, shoot fresh weight, leaf chlorophyll content, yield, fruit diameter and harvest index were significant. foliar application of pbz at the rate of 2 mg active ingredient per plant lead to maximum value of petiole diameter, leaf chlorophyll content and harvest index. yield (fruit/plant) was also increased (27.16%) when the plants received 1 mg active ingredient per plant pbz through soil drench method.