Seedling Media from Seaweed Waste and Consortium Microbes to Increase Pepper (Capsicum Annuum L.) Seedling Vigor
D Rusmin (a*), I Darwati (a), J Basmal (b), O Trisilawati (a), R Kusumawati (b), R Suryadi (a), Melati (a), M Yusron (a), E Mayura (c) and RV Garvita (d)

(a) Research Center for Estate Crops, National Research and
Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Indonesia
*rdevirusmin[at]yahoo.com
(b) Research Center for Marine and Land Bioindustry,
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN),
Lombok Indonesia, Indonesia
(c) Research Center for Horticultural Crops, National
Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong,
Indonesia
(d) Research Center for Applied Botany, National Research
and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Indonesia

Abstract

In chili cultivation, seed quality is the main factor affecting plant productivity. Slow chili seed growth, coupled with several stages of planting, namely seeding, nursery, and transplanting to the field, causes seed vigor to weaken and growth hampered due to stress during transplanting. The study aims to determine the optimal composition of seaweed waste seedling media and the mycorrhizal application to enhance chili seedling vigor and growth in the nursery. The study used a Completely Randomized Factorial design and four replications. The first factor is the composition of planting media: (1) Control (soil + manure in polybags), (2) Seaweed waste seedling media without microbes, (3) Seaweed waste seedling media + microbes. The second factor is mycorrhizal application: (1) with mycorrhizal application, (2) without mycorrhizal. The results of the study showed that seaweed waste seedling media with the addition of microbes, combined with the application of consortium mycorrhizal during seeding, produced the best growth, biomass weight, chlorophyll content, and mycorrhizal infection in chili seedlings in the nursery.

Keywords: mycorrhizal, planting medium, growth, chlorophyll content, nursery

Topic: Agricultural Production