Evaluation of plant spread of strawberry varieties in vertical farming using different potting media

The present study on “Evaluation of plant spread of strawberry varieties in vertical farming using different potting media” using vertical towers was carried out at Centre of Excellence (COE) for vegetables and flowers, Jeedimetla, Medchal Malkajgiri district of Telangana during Rabi 2022-23 and 2023-24 in Factorial Completely Randomized Design (FCRD) evaluating four varieties V1- Nabila (Short day), V2- Flaminia (Short day), V3- Murano (Everbearing), V4-Vivara (Everbearing) and four potting media P1- Cocopeat -Control, P2- Cocopeat &Vermicompost (9:1), P3- Cocopeat& FYM (7:3), P4-Cocopeat & Red soil (8:2). The vertical tower was divided into three tiers, namely the top tier, middle tier and lower tier and the plant spread recorded accordingly at 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 DAP. The results revealed that, the top tier of the vertical tower has exhibited maximum plant spread than subsequent tiers of the vertical tower among all the varieties, potting media and interactions. Among varieties, everbearing varieties V3 (Murano) and V4 (Vivara) has revealed maximum plant spread than shortday varieties V1 (Nabila) and V2 (Flaminia) in all the tiers of the vertical tower. Among the potting media, P2 (Cocopeat +Vermicompost) has registered maximum plant spread in all the tiers of the vertical tower. The interaction of V3 (Murano) and V4 (Vivara) with P2 (Cocopeat +Vermicompost) has exhibited maximum plant spread in all the tiers of the vertical tower.