The effect of Micro- and Nanoparticles of silicon on concentration of macro- and micro elements and silicon content of strawberry plant in soilless culture condition

Silicon is one of the beneficial nutrient elements for the most of the plants. This element improve the growth and yield of plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of foliar spray and root application of Micro- and Nano-SiO2 on concentration of macro- and micro elements and content of silicon in canopy of strawberry. Strawberry plants in the 4-5 leaves growth stage and two weeks later were affected by different concentration (0, 20, 40 and 80 mg L-1) of Micro- and Nano-silicon. At the end of the growth period of 4 months concentration of nutrient elements in canopy of plants measured, and finally the data were statistically analyzed. The results showed that Application of micro- and nano-silicon in high concentrations reduced the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. Application of micro- and nano-silicon increased the concentrations of potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese and silicon significantly, but on zinc and copper amounts not significant effect. The concentration of 60 mg L-1 Nano-SiO2 in root-applied method showed the better results on the most studied traits than the other treatments as well as the control and it can be a good option for recommendations to be considered in the soilless culture of strawberry in greenhouse. Overall, the application of Nano-SiO2 than Micro-SiO2 as well as root-application than foliar-application methods has shown better results.