The Effects of Municipal Solid Waste Compost And Compost Tea on Mineral Element Uptake And Fruit Quality of Strawberries

Three levels of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) and two application rates of compost tea made with MSWC were applied to strawberries for two years. The highest level of application of MSWC significantly increased the concentrations of most extractable soil mineral elements except for Ni which was increased in the highest compost tea application rate. Despite large differences in soil mineral element concentrations among treatments, plant and fruit uptake were generally unaffected by treatments. Notably however, compost tea applications increased fruit Na levels perhaps due to increased uptake of Na by leaves compared to roots. Generally, the composts and compost teas produced fruit of equal quality in terms of total antioxidant capacity and vitamin C but all treatments failed to provide sufficient N to strawberry plants and all fruit appeared to have leather rot; consequently, yield was decreased.