Strawberry is an important horticultural crop in Victoria, Australia. Grey mould caused by Botrytis cinerea reduces marketable yield and post-harvest quality of strawberry fruit in the region. We conducted two field experiments in Victoria (Coldstream and Warburton) to evaluate the effectiveness of a commercial seaweed extract from Durvillaea potatorum and Ascophyllum nodosum (Seasol®) on the yield, revenue, and post-harvest rot of strawberry fruit. We applied the extract to strawberry crops (cv. Albion) monthly as a combined drench (10 L ha^-1) and foliar spray (1:400), with water as a control. Application of the seaweed extract significantly increased strawberry fruit yields by 8-10% and revenue by AU$0.37-0.59 per plant. Furthermore, the extract significantly reduced the incidence and severity of post-harvest rots in strawberry fruit by 52-87%, respectively. The extract did not affect the firmness, soluble solids concentration (SSC), titratable acidity, or SSC:acid of strawberry fruit. In a separate laboratory experiment, we found that growing strawberry in the seaweed extract (1:400) increased the concentration of peroxidase by 50% and doubled H₂O₂ in roots soon after treatment. Increases in reactive oxygen species are an indicator of a suite of pathways associated with resistance and tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses. Overall, the results demonstrate that the seaweed extract can act as a commercially-viable biostimulant for strawberry fruit production in south-eastern Australia.

草莓是澳大利亚维多利亚州重要的园艺作物。灰霉病引起的灰霉病降低了该地区草莓果实的可销售产量和采后质量。我们在维多利亚州（Coldstream 和 Warburton）进行了两项田间试验，以评估来自Durvillaea potatorum和Ascophyllum nodosum (Seasol®)的商业海藻提取物对草莓果实产量、收入和采后腐烂的有效性。我们每月将提取物作为联合浇灌（10 L ha ^-1) 和叶面喷施 (1:400)，用水作为对照。海藻提取物的应用使草莓果实产量显着提高了 8-10%，每株植物的收入增加了 0.37-0.59 澳元。此外，该提取物显着降低了草莓果实采后腐烂的发生率和严重程度，分别降低了 52-87%。提取物不影响草莓果实的硬度、可溶性固体浓度 (SSC)、可滴定酸度或 SSC：酸。在单独的实验室实验中，我们发现在海藻提取物 (1:400) 中种植草莓会使过氧化物酶的浓度增加 50%，并将 H 2 _O 2_增加一倍处理后很快生根。活性氧的增加是与生物和非生物胁迫的抗性和耐受性相关的一系列途径的指标。总体而言，结果表明，海藻提取物可以作为澳大利亚东南部草莓果实生产中具有商业可行性的生物刺激剂。