Mitigating Salinity in Strawberries with Calcium and Boron

Strawberries are very sensitive to salinity. All irrigation water contains dissolved mineral salts. Calcium can help mitigating salinity effects. Boron improves calcium distribution in new tissues.

Calcium and Salinity

Where salinity is an issue, use of calcium can help to mitigate these effects. In trials, adding extra Ca in a saline situation helps to reduce cellular breakdown and leakage and improve growth and yield. Calcium nitrate or calcium sulfate forms are effective and trials show that they can be applied through fertigation or foliar sprays to help reduce salinity stress.

Boron

Boron applied with calcium often improves yield and quality. It has been shown in other crops e.g. tomatoes, that adding boron to calcium applications will improve Ca distribution in new tissues in the plant.