Is the harvesting interval of Cosmos caudatus Kunth affected by fertilization?
Ida Setya Wahyu Atmaja1*, Ismail Saleh1, Ray March Syahadat2

1. Department of Agrotechnology, Agriculture Faculty of Universitas Swadaya Gunung Jati, Indonesia
2. Department of Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering and Planning Faculty, National Institute of Science and Technology, Indonesia

Abstract

Cosmos caudatus Kunth. is known as kenikir in Indonesia has many beneficial for our health by consumed its young leaves or shoot. Shoot of C. caudatus can be harvested repeatedly with certain harvest intervals. Harvest interval is presumed influenced by the growth rate of C. caudatus. Plant nutrients are responsible to plant growth. This study aimed to investigate the effect of kind of fertilizer on shoot production and harvesting interval of C. caudatus shoot. There were three treatments on this research namely control (without fertilizer), inorganic fertilizer (5 g NPK/plant), and organic fertilizer (120 g goat manure/plant). Each treatment was repeated three times. Organic and inorganic fertilizer gave higher shoot production compared to control treatment. Shoot production of C.caudatus was decreased in the third harvesting due to the lower shoot weight than previous harvesting. Application of fertilizer both organic and inorganic shorten the harvesting interval because the availability of nutrient to plants increase the growth of new branches.

Keywords: inorganic fertilizer, kenikir, organic fertilizer, shoot production

Topic: Agrotechnology