The Effects of Two New Fertilizers on the Growth and Fruit Quality of Actinidia eriantha Benth

This study investigated the physiological responses of Actinidia eriantha Benth. cv. ‘Zaoxu’ to water-soluble fertilizer (OWS) and microbial fertilizer (MF) under field conditions from 2022 to 2023. Utilizing a randomized block design, four sequential applications of OWS (T1, T2, and T3) and MF (T4 and T5) were applied at distinct dilution ratios during the shoot elongation phase. A multivariate analytical framework was employed to assess treatment effects on growth dynamics and fruit quality. Experimental data revealed that OWS applied at 1000× dilution significantly enhanced the growth of mother-bearing shoots and the bearing branch group. During the fruit development stage, both the longitudinal and transverse diameters exhibited differential expansion patterns, with the maximal dimensional increases observed under the 1000× and 1500× dilution OWS treatments. The 1000× dilution OWS treatment demonstrated a superior single-fruit weight, achieving a mean single-fruit weight of 57.07 g—a 32.23% increase relative to the control. Fruit quality analyses further indicated elevated concentrations of sugar components, ascorbic acid, and total phenols in the 1000× dilution OWS treatment group. Principal component analysis (PCA) generated a composite quality index ( Z -value) yielding the following treatment ranking: T2 > T3 > T5 > T1 > T4 > control. These findings collectively indicate that the 1000× dilution OWS application demonstrated superior efficiency in enhancing both plant growth and fruit quality in ‘Zaoxu’, providing empirical support for optimized fertilization protocols in commercial cultivation systems.