Response of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Seedling Growth on Various Growing Media and Organic Plant Supplements

Abstract

Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao L.) as a plantation crop which success is determined by healthy and quality seedlings. The use of planting media with a mixture of manure and plant organic supplements may result in healthy soil because it contains soil microorganisms that are beneficial and may support the growth of cocoa seedlings. Purpose of this study was to determine the initial growth response of cocoa seedlings on various growing media and dosages of an organic plant supplement as liquid organic fertilizer. The research was conducted in February–September 2022 in a nursery located in Kradenan, Purwoharjo, Banyuwangi Regency and in Agricultural Laboratory of University of Jember, Bondowoso Campus, Bondowoso Regency. Study was carried out in a 4 x 4 factorial using a randomized block design with three replications. The first factor was planting media which consisted of four levels of treatment, namely soil + chicken manure, soil + goat manure, soil + cow manure, and soil + rabbit manure. The second factor was dose of organic plant supplement which consisted of 4 levels, namely the control treatment of 0, 50, 100, and 150 mL polybag-1. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and follow-up tests using Duncan’s multiple range test at 5% level. Variables observed included seedling height, number of leaves, stem diameter, leaf length, leaf width, number of roots, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight of seedlings. The results showed that there was an interaction effect on all parameters except seedling height, number of leaves, and number of roots. The conclusion of the study showed that there was an effect of interaction treatment with the best treatment combination planting media using cow manure and organic plant supplement dose of 50 mL polybag-1.

Full text

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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Response of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) seedling growth on various growing media and organic plant supplements
Pelita Perkebunan 39(1) 2023, 21
—
31
DOI: 10.22302/iccri.jur.pelitaperkebunan.v39i1.538 ISSN: 0215-0212 / e-ISSN: 2406-9574
Response of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Seedling Growth
on
Various Growing Media and Organic Plant
Supplements
Lutfika Revi Innaya1), Setiyono1*), Ayu Puspita Arum1), and M. Ghufron Rosyady1)
1)Agricultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of
Jember
*) Corresponding Author:
setiyono.faperta@unej.ac.id
Received: 13 January 2023 / Accepted: 17 February
2023
Abstract
Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao L.) as a plantation crop which success is determined
by healthy and quality seedlings. The use of planting media with a mixture of
manure and plant organic supplements may result in healthy soil because it contains
soil microorganisms that are beneficial and may support the growth of cocoa
seedlings. Purpose of this study was to determine the initial growth response of
cocoa seedlings on various growing media and dosages of an organic plant supplement
as liquid organic fertilizer. The research was conducted in February–September
2022 in a nursery located in Kradenan, Purwoharjo, Banyuwangi Regency and in
Agricultural Laboratory of University of Jember, Bondowoso Campus, Bondowoso
Regency. Study was carried out in a 4 x 4 factorial using a randomized block design
with three replications. The first factor was planting media which consisted of
four levels of treatment, namely soil + chicken manure, soil + goat manure, soil +
cow manure, and soil + rabbit manure. The second factor was dose of organic
plant supplement which consisted of 4 levels, namely the control treatment of 0,
50, 100, and 150 mL polybag-1. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance
and follow-up tests using Duncan’s multiple range test at 5% level. Variables
observed included seedling height, number of leaves, stem diameter, leaf length,
leaf width, number of roots, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight of seedlings.
The results showed that there was an interaction effect on all parameters except
seedling height, number of leaves, and number of roots. The conclusion of the
study showed that there was an effect of interaction treatment with the best treatment
combination planting media using cow manure and organic plant supplement dose
of 50 mL polybag-1.
Keywo rds: Cocoa seeds, growing media, plant organic supplement dosage,
organic
INTRODUCTION
Cocoa plantation area in Indon
e
s
i
an
declined as much as 3.93% year-1 (BPS,
2020). Th
e
data indicates a decrease in the
cocoa p
la
n
ta
tion area from 1,611,014 ha in
2018 w
it
h the production of 767,280 tons to
1,528,382 ha in 2020 with production of
713,378
t
ons.
One of the efforts to increase coco
a
production may be started from nursery.
Cocoa seedlings will have good qu
alit
y
depending on the selection of seeds of wh
ic
h
may have a major impact in
l
ong-
te
rm
(Iskandar et al., 2015). Activities in nurs
e
ri
e
s
that must be paid attention are the
sel ection o f nursery location, selection of
planting m
ate
r
ial
s, polybags, planting media,
seeds, as well as activities of seed planting,
shelter, watering, weeding
a
nd control of pests
and diseases. Proper nurs
e
ry management
may produce good seedlings (Fadillah et al.,
2019; Karmaw
ati
et al., 2010).

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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Innaya et
al.
According to Mulyani et al. (2018) s
ee
d
quality affects growth and d
e
v
el
opmen
t
of
cocoa plants. Efforts to increase the qu
alit
y of
cocoa can b
e
carried out by improving p
la
n
ti
ng
media and providing plant supplement. Th
e
planting media used plays an important ro
le
in achieving healthy plant growth because
it
affects the process of absorption of nu
t
r
ie
n
t
s by
plant roots (Lismawati et al., 2021; Mu
l
y
a
n
i
et
al., 2018).
Fertilization is important because it w
ill
provides nutrients needed by plants to grow
a
nd
develop. Liquid organic fertilizer may
i
mprov
e
physical, chemical, and biological prop
e
rt
ie
s
of soil which eventually increase crop pro-
duction and quality. Therefore, fert
ilizati
on
dosage used for cocoa plant in nurseries mus
t
be considered (Aji, 2016; Siregar, 2021).
The planting medium in cocoa nurs
e
ri
e
s
must be able to provide good fertility for p
la
n
t
s
so that a mixture of organic matter such
a
s
manure (Widyastuti et al., 2021; Nora et a
l
.,
2015) will be able to provide good soil phys
ical
and chemical properties. Generally, a good
planting medium is able to maintain op
ti
m
al
humidity in the area around the roots, prov
i
d
e
sufficient oxygen, and fulfill sufficient nu
t
r
ie
n
t
s
for the growth of seedlings. Sufficient
a
v
ail
-
ability of nutrients, water and oxygen in p
la
n
ti
ng
medium can be provided by organic f
e
r
tilize
rs.
Top soil as a medium can be used in
c
o
c
o
a
nurseries because it has sufficient nu
t
r
ie
n
t
con
t
en
t
.
The b
e
s
t
growing media are soil and
manure with
a
composition of 2:1 for cocoa
plant nurs
e
r
ie
s. Several types of manure are
used as a grow
t
h medium for plants such as
chicken m
a
nure, goat manure, cow manure,
rabbit manure,
a
nd so on (Fadillah et al., 2019;
Loss et al., 2019
;
Lubis et al., 2019). The
results of s
e
vera
l
studies indicate that the
application of m
a
nur
e
to the planting medium
will affect the r
e
spons
e
of plants (Rangkuti,
2019; Sitompul et a
l
.,
2014; Tarigan et al., 2014; Widyastuti et a
l
.,
2021). Well decomposed manure will prov
i
d
e
good nutrient content. Criteria for
mat
ur
e
composting has a brown to black brown
c
o
l
or
and has an earthy or musty smell caused by
actinomycetes (Agus et al., 2014).
The early growth of cocoa plant s
e
eds
requires supplements to grow and d
e
v
el
op
properly. One of the supplements is org
a
n
ic
plant supplement which used as a f
e
r
tili
zer
because it contains soil microorganisms
t
h
at
are beneficial to plants. According to W
ica
ksono
et al. (2015) soil microorganisms have a m
aj
or
role in the decomposition of organic
matte
r
into nutrients required by plants (W
ica
ksono
et al., 2015).
The precise dosage of organic p
la
n
t
supplements used for cocoa plant nurs
e
ri
e
s
needs to be known. The use of liquid organ
ic
fertilizer can increase cocoa plant growth
i
f
the dosage given is sufficient for the p
l
an
t
’s
needs due to the macro and micro nu
t
ri
e
n
t
s
contained in the organic fertilizer (L
i
sm
a
w
ati
et al., 2021; Nugroho et al., 2021). The r
e
s
ea
rch
results of Fadillah et al. (2019) showed
t
h
at
the combination of manure and liquid org
a
n
ic
fertilizer on planting media resulted in a s
i
gn
i
f
i
-
cant interaction on the leaf number of
c
o
c
o
a
seedlings. Therefore, understanding the
interaction and
i
nf
l
u
e
n
ce
of planting media and
organic plant supp
le
m
e
n
t
were the aims of this
s
t
udy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The research was carried out in a nurs
e
ry
located in Kradenan, Purwoharjo, B
a
nyuw
a
ng
i
for growing of cocoa seedlings and
t
h
e
Agriculture Laboratory of Jember Un
i
v
e
r-
sity, Bondowoso Campus, Bondowoso for
analysis of several parameters, from Febru
a
ry
2022 to September 2022. Organic p
la
n
t
supplement was used as liquid fertilizers that
c
on
tai
n
e
d macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg,
and S),

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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Response of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) seedling growth on various growing media and organic plant supplements
micronutrients (Mn, Mo, Fe, Bo, Co, Zn)
and soil microorganisms. M an ure
t
r
ea
t
m
e
n
t
s were m
a
nur es of chicken, goat,
cow, and rabbit which hav
e
been
decomposed naturally for two mon
t
hs. The
C/N ratio of chicken, goat, cow, and rabbit
manures w
e
re 21.8, 30.5, 33.9 and 17.8,
respectively. NPK composition of the
manures and org
a
n
ic
plant supplement used
in this study, name
l
y, chicken manure (1.00%
N, 0.80% P, 0.39% K); goat manure
(1.44% N, 0.50% P,
1.21% K); cow manure (0.57% N, 0.23%
P, 0.62% K); rabbit manure (2.40% N, 1.40
% P, 0.60% K); and organic plant supp
l
e-
ment (12.98% N, 5.12% P, 14.20% K).
The experiment was carried out in a 4 x
4 factorial using a randomized block d
e
s
i
gn
with three replications resulted in 48
e
xp
e
ri-
mental units. The first factor was p
la
n
ti
ng
media which consists of four levels, nam
el
y
:
top soil mixed with manures of chicken, go
at
,
cow and rabbit. Ratio between top soil and
manures was 3:1. The second factor w
a
s
organic plant supplement doses which
c
ons
i
s
t
of four levels, namely 0 mL, 50 mL, 100 mL,
and 150 mL po
l
yb
a
g-1.
The size of nursery area used w
a
s
3 m x 4 m, and cleaned from w
e
eds and
rubbish. The nursery was shaded us
i
ng UV
plastic and paranet. The size of polybag
con
tai
ners used in this experiment were 20
cm x 30
c
m with the capacity of 4 kg was
filled w
it
h the planting media of 3.5 kg.
Cocoa seeds of ICCRI 08 H hybrid w
e
r
e
sown using fine sand and watered ev
e
ry
morning and afternoon. The selected
c
o
c
o
a
seeds are of normal size and free from p
e
s
t
s
and diseases. Selected and healthy two
lea
f
seedlings were transferred to po
l
yb
a
gs
containing planting media 10 days after sow
i
ng
(DAS). The transfer was carried out s
i
mu
lta
-
neously on the same day.
Plant maintenance was carried out by
daily watering adjusting soil moisture
c
ond
i
-
tions. Inferior plant replacement using s
i
m
ila
r
age seedlings, continued with routine w
ee
d
i
ng
and pest control using pesticides when n
ee
d
e
d.
Manure was applied before planting
c
o
c
o
a
seedlings by evenly mixing with soil as p
la
n
ti
ng
medium. The organic plant supplement app
li
-
cation was carried out after the plants w
e
r
e
three weeks old after planting in po
l
ybags
until they were three months old with
a
n
interval of two weeks. Application was don
e
in the morning by pouring a pred
et
erm
i
ned
dose as treatment around the plant after b
ei
ng
diluted with water, namely 10 mL in 5 L of
water. After being diluted, the solution was
applied according to the treatment dose,
namely 50 mL, 100 mL, and 150 mL po
l
yb
a
g-1
by pouring it around the p
l
an
t
s.
Parameters of growth were obs
e
rved
at three weeks after transplanting until
t
h
e
age of three months. Data collection
i
n
cl
ud
e
d
plant height, leaf number, stem diameter,
lea
f
length, leaf width, root number, root
le
ng
t
h,
fresh, and dry weight of cocoa s
e
ed
li
ngs.
In the last week of observation the
c
o
c
o
a
seedlings were removed and cleaned from so
il
attached to the roots using water to r
e
du
ce
the potential for the roots to break off from
the plants. The root length of cocoa s
ee
d
li
ngs
was measured from the base of the s
t
em
to the tip of the root. Root number was m
e
a-
sured by counting number of main s
ec
ond
a
ry
roots in the soil according to Rao & Ito (1998).
The fresh weight of cocoa seedlings w
a
s
determined by weighing all parts of the p
la
n
t
.
The dry weight of cocoa seedlings w
a
s
determined after being dried using an oven
at 65 0C until reached a constant w
ei
gh
t
.
Measurements were made in the last w
ee
k.
Observed data obtained were analyzed us
i
ng
analysis of variance and follow-up
t
es
t
s
using Duncan’s multiple range test at the 95%
significant
le
v
el
.

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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
2
2
Innaya et
al.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Summary of Analysis of variance f o r
all
observed variables was presented in
Table 1. Based on that results, there are
i
n
te
r
acti
on of planting media and organic
plant supp
le
ment on growth cocoa seedlings
except for plant height, leaf number, and root
number. Type of planting media affected all
obs
e
rv
e
d variables, while organic plant
supplement
al
so affected all variables except
leaf numb
e
r
Treatment Interaction
Interaction between growing media and
organic plant supplement resulted in a s
i
gn
i
f
i
-
cant effect on growth of cocoa seedlings
i
n
every observed variable except for p
la
n
t
height, leaf number, and root number. Us
e
of planting media in the form of manure and
use of organic plant supplement prov
i
ded
different responses to the growth of
c
o
c
o
a
seedlings due to the content of these
t
wo
materials as needed by plant growth. Th
e
significant interaction effect on s
e
ed
li
ng
diameter, leaf length, leaf width, root
le
ng
t
h,
fresh weight, and dry weight of cocoa
i
nd
icate
d
that the nutrients needed by the plants ar
e
available in sufficient quantities. The av
ail
-
ability of sufficient nutrients will trigger an
increase in plant metabolism and perfor-
mance in managing the food it gets so
t
h
at
it will eventually increase plant growth
a
nd
development (Marpaung, 2013).
Figure 1 showed that the best
i
n
te
rac
ti
on
in term of plant diameter was found in p
la
n
ti
ng
media with cow manure combined with 50 mL
polybag-1 of organic plant supplement. S
i
m
ila
r
l
y,
leaf length (Figure 2) shows the best
i
n
te
raction of combination of cow manure with
a dos
e
of 50 mL polybag-1 organic plant
supp
le
m
e
n
t
. Also, for leaf width (Figure 3)
shows the b
e
s
t
interaction of combination of
cow manur
e
with a dose of 50 mL polybag-1
organic p
la
n
t
supplement as well.
Meanwhile, the size of stomata was
positively correlated with numb
e
r of leaf
stomata which are needed by p
la
n
t
s in the
process of photosynthesis as a m
ea
ns of
entering and leaving CO in plants. Rosn
ia
w
at
y et
al. (2015) stated that the amount of CO
t
h
at
enters, automatically produces more
pho
t
osynthate and the photosynthate results
w
ill
be used for the growth of other plant
org
a
ns.
Related with plant root length, the b
e
s
t
interaction is shown by combination of go
at
manure with 150 mL polybag- 1 of org
a
n
ic
plant supplement. This is in line with
t
h
e
research of Prayogo et al. (2020) that so
il
combined with goat manure can increase so
il
moisture by 40.7%, soil porosity by 56.4%,
organic C content by 2.97%, and N
c
on
te
n
t
by 0.47% which support growth of the root of
cocoa seedlings. Combination of cow manure
media and 50 mL polybag-1 of organic p
l
an
t
supplement result in the highest fresh w
ei
gh
t
(Figure 5) and dry weight (Figure 6) of
c
o
c
o
a
seedlings (Figure 6). The increase in grow
t
h
Table 1. Analysis of variance (F-count) summary of all observed
variables
F-cou
nt
Observationa
l
va
riables
Manure type (M) Liquid fertilizer dosage (LF)
Intera
ction (M x LF)
Plant
height
10.472
**
4.069
*
2.189
ns
Leaf
number
7.707
**
0.414
ns
1.119
ns
Stem
diameter
13.435
**
13.749
**
14.798
**
Leaf
length
8.061
**
5.794
**
2.581
*
Leaf
width
36.461
**
3.876
*
3.176
*
Root
number
3.685
*
3.990
*
1.945
ns
Root
length
3.567
*
6.982
**
2.771
*
Fresh
weight
15.682
**
10.165
**
9.297
**
Dry
weight
22.872
**
6.284
**
6.571
**
Not
es: ** = very significant, * = significant, ns= not significant.

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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Stem diameter
(mm)
a a a
ab a b b a a a b
bc c b c
c
Stem diameter
(cm)
6
5
Leaf length
(mm)
a
Leaf length
(mm)
a
a
Response of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) seedling growth on various growing media and organic plant supplements
7
.
0
0
6
.
0
0
5
.
0
0
4
.
0
0
3
.
0
0
2
.
0
0
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
Organic plant supplement dosage mL
polybag
-1
(A)
Growing media with manure: Chicken Goat Cow
Rabbit
7 a
b b a a a a
c
4
3
2
1
a
c b a
(B)
d b b b
Ch
ick
en
G
oa
t Cow
Ra
bbit
Manure
type
Organic plant supplement: 0 mL 50 mL 100 mL 150
mL
Figure 1 . Interaction of the simple effect of growing media at the same organic plant supplement
dose (A) and the simple effect of organic plant supplement dose on same growing
media (B) on stem diameter. Bars followed by different letter show significant differences
at 0.05.
4
0
.0
3
5
.0
3
0
.0
2
5
.0
2
0
.0
1
5
.0
1
0
.0
5
.
0
0
.
0
a
a a a
a ab a a a
b a
a a a
(A)
b
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
Organic plant supplement dosage mL
polybag
-1
Growing media with manure: Chicken Goat Cow
Rabbit
4
0
.0
3
5
.0
3
0
.0
2
5
.0
2
0
.0
1
5
.0
1
0
.0
5
.
0
0
.
0
a a a
b
b b b
a a a a
(B)
a a a
Ch
ick
en
G
oa
t Cow
Ra
bbit
Manure
type
Organic plant supplement: 0 50 100 150 mL
polybag
-1
Figure 2. Interaction of the simple effect of growing media at the same organic plant supplement
dosage (A) and the simple effect of organic plant supplement dose on the same growing
media (B) on leaf length. Bars followed by different letter show significant differences at
α
0.05.

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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Leaf width
(cm)
Leaf width
(cm)
Root length
(cm)
Root length
(cm)
Innaya et
al.
1
2
.0
1
0
.0
8
.
0
6
.
0
4
.
0
2
.
0
0
.
0
a ab a
bc c
a a a a b
b b
a a
(A)
a
b
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
Organic plant supplement dosage mL
polybag
-1
Growing media with manure: Chicken Goat Cow
Rabbit
1
2
.0
1
0
.0
8
.
0
6
.
0
4
.
0
2
.
0
0
.
0
a a a
b
ab a ab b
a a a a a
(B)
b b ab
Ch
ick
en
G
oa
t Cow
Ra
bbit
Manure
type
Organic plant supplement: 0 50 100 150 mL
polybag
-1
Figure 3 . Interaction of the simple effect of growing media at the same organic plant supplement
dose (A) and the simple effect of organic plant supplement dose on the same growing
media (B) on leaf width. Bars followed by different letter show significant differences
at 0.05.
6
0
.0
5
0
.0
4
0
.0
3
0
.0
2
0
.0
1
0
.0
0
.
0
a
a a ab
b b
b b a a a a
(A)
a ab ab b
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
Organic plant supplement dosage mL
polybag
-1
Growing media with manure: Chicken Goat Cow
Rabbit
6
0
.0
5
0
.0
4
0
.0
3
0
.0
2
0
.0
1
0
.0
0
.
0
a
b ab
c
a ab
ab b
a
b ab ab
(B)
a a a a
Ch
ick
en
G
oa
t Cow
Ra
bbit
Manure
type
Organic plant supplement: 0 50 100 150 mL
polybag
-1
Figure 4. Interaction of the simple effect of growing media at the same organic plant supplement
dosage (A) and of the simple effect of organic plant supplement dose at the same growing
media (B) on root length. Bars followed by different letter show significant differences
at 0.05.

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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Fresh weight
(g)
Fresh weight
(g)
Response of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) seedling growth on various growing media and organic plant supplements
and development of cocoa seedlings is
t
hough
t
to be due to the availability of essential m
ac
ro
and micro nutrients in the manures
a
nd
organic plant supplement. Combination of
cow manure planting medium with organ
ic
plant supplement of 50 mL polybag-1 to ob
tai
n
stem diameter, leaf width and length, fresh
a
nd
dry weight of cocoa seedlings is cons
i
dered
to be due to the content of macroelement su
c
h
as N, P, K, S, Ca, and Mg as well as m
ic
ro-
elements such as Fe, Mo, Zn, and Cu wh
ic
h
are naturally contained in cow manure and
ca
n be optimized by application of organic
p
la
n
t
supplement. Yusuf et al. (2018)
des
c
r
i
bed the interaction between the two
t
r
eat
men
t
factors triggering actions and
r
eacti
ons between the two factors that will
affect p
l
an
t
growth.
Low availability of N, P, and K nu
t
ri
e
n
t
in cow manure can be triggered by the add
i
-
tion of organic plant supplement which
c
on
te
n
t
of those nutrients was relatively high. Th
e
s
e
elements according to Widyastuti et al. (2021)
have a role in stimulating vegetative grow
t
h.
This statement was supported by the work of
Hasiholan et al. (2017) that N is needed for
vegetative growth of plants especially
t
h
e
formation of chlorophyll which plays a ro
le
in the process of photosynthesis. Nu
t
ri
e
n
t
P is also needed and plays a role in the form
a
-
tion of ATP. Cell activity which includes
cell
elongation, cell division, and cell
e
n
l
arg
e
m
e
n
t
requires ATP for plant growth and d
e
v
el
op-
ment. Rosniawaty et al. (2015) stated
t
h
at
the content of element K can increase
cell
size and volume in cocoa seedlings b
eca
us
e
3
5
.0
3
0
.0
2
5
.0
2
0
.0
1
5
.0
1
0
.0
5
.
0
a a a a
a
b a a
c
c b b
a
(A)
a
a
b
0
.
0
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
Organic plant supplement dosage mL
polybag
-1
Growing media with manure: Chicken Goat Cow
Rabbit
3
5
.0
3
0
.0 a
a
2
5
.0 b
2
0
.0 b
1
5
.0
1
0
.0
5
.
0
0
.
0
a
b b b
a
bc b
c
(B)
a
b bc
c
Ch
ick
en
G
oa
t Cow
Ra
bbit
Manure
type
Organic plant supplement: 0 50 100 150 mL
polybag
-1
Figure 5. Interaction of the simple effect of growing media at the same level organic plant
supplement dosage (A) and the simple effect of organic plant supplement dose at the
same growing media (B) on fresh weight of seedlings. Bars followed by different letter
show significant differences at 0.05.

28
28
PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Dry weight
(g)
Dry weight
(g)
Innaya et
al.
1
0
.0
8
.
0
6
.
0
4
.
0
2
.
0
0
.
0
a
a
a ab a a
bc b b
c b
b
a
(A)
a
b
b
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
Organic plant supplement dosage mL
polybag
-1
Growing media with manure: Chicken Goat Cow
Rabbit
3
5
.0
3
0
.0
2
5
.0
2
0
.0
1
5
.0
1
0
.0
a
b c bc
a a a a
a a
bc ab ab
c
(B)
bc
c
5
.
0
0
.
0
Ch
ick
en
G
oa
t Cow
Ra
bbit
Manure
type
Organic plant supplement: 0 50 100 150 mL
polybag
-1
Figure 6. Interaction of the simple effect of growing media at the same level organic plant
supplement dose (A) and the simple effect of organic plant supplement dose at the
same growing media (B) on dry weight of seedlings. Bars followed by different letter
show significant differences at 0.05.
element K acts as a cofactor in the pro
ce
ss
of protein synthesis, regulation of water b
al
-
ance, and stomata movement (Hasiholan
et
al., 2017; Rosniawaty et al., 2015; W
i
dy
a
s
t
u
ti
et al., 2021).
Combination of planting medium of go
at
manure and organic plant supplement 150
mL polybag-1 was the best to obtain s
e
ed
li
ng
root length. The better root growth might b
e
related with the availability of complete
nu
t
ri- ents in goat manure which may
max
i
mi
ze
plant root length. Meanwhile, N
content
i
n goat manure combined with
organic p
l
an
t
supplement 150 mL polybag-
1 might h
a
v
e
more influence on root length
growth compared to other manures. The
organic
mat
erial contained in goat manure
was thought
t
o contribute more total pore
space so that
t
h
e
porous conditions created
make it easier for roots to penetrate the soil
and develop roo
t
s properly (Widyastuti et
al., 2021). Cons
i
d- ering that N content in
goat manure was
rela
- tively low, therefore
there are other assump- tions that affected
this growth, such as
t
h
e
presence of plant
growth promotor. Yusuf et al. (2018)
stated that the type, n
at
ure, and structure of
the planting medium gr
eatl
y determine the
success of plant growth so that it is possible
that the planting med
i
um with a mixture of
goat manure is better us
e
d for growing root
length than other m
a
nur
e
applications. The
insignificant interaction effect on the
variables of plant height,
le
af number, and
root number in this study may be due to the
nutrients absorbed by the p
la
n
t
s was not
adequate to support those grow
t
h v
ari
ab
le
s.

29
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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Response of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) seedling growth on various growing media and organic plant supplements
Growing Media Effect
Growth response of cocoa seedlings
t
o
manures in planting medium was s
i
gn
i
f
ica
n
tl
y
different to all observed variables, b
eca
us
e
naturally manure can also provide nu
t
ri
e
n
t
s
needed by plants. Widyastuti et al. (2021)
stated that nutrient uptake in the form of
N, P, and K nutrients in cow manure can
t
r
i
gg
e
r
plant growth. Manures applied, in general,
ca
n
increase humus content in planting m
e
d
i
um,
increase soil fertility, improve soil s
t
ru
ct
ures,
and trigger the activity of microorganisms
i
n
the soil to increase the availability of nu
t
ri
e
n
t
s
(Widyastuti et al., 2021).
There were three observed variables
t
h
at
were significantly affected by planting
m
e
d
i
a, namely, plant height, leaf number,
and roo
t
number. However, there was
i
n
te
r
acti
on between treatments. Table 2
shows that
t
h
e
largest plant height and root
number w
ere
found in growing media mixed
with cow manure. The difference in the
effect of
t
h
e
type of planting media in terms
of number of leaves was greater in growing
media m
i
x
e
d with goat manure. Based on
these r
e
su
lt
s, the better growth response of
cocoa s
ee
d
li
ngs was found in cow manure
mixed grow
i
ng media which might be due to
the content of cow manure was more quickly
absorbed by plants than other manures.
Better grow
t
h in cow manure application
was thought to b
e
due to well natural
decomposition process
t
h
at
occurs in cow
manure than in other m
a
nures. The
decomposition process in manure produ
ce
s toxic
gases, such as ammonia. Agus et al. (2014) stated
that the ammonia
c
on
te
n
t
is not easily utilized
by plants and poisonous
t
o
plants. Actually, ammonia content in n
at
ur
all
y
decomposed cow manure has lower
l
ev
el
s
of ammonia, and therefore no toxic to p
la
n
t
s
(Agus et al., 2014).
Organic Plant Supplement Effect
Organic plant supplement showed a s
i
gn
i
f
i
-
cant effect on growth of cocoa seedlings on
all observed variables except for leaf numb
e
r.
Yusuf et al. (2018) revealed that the
i
nf
l
u
e
n
ce
of a more dominant factor would result
i
n
closed reactions from other factors,
t
h
e
r
e
fore
organic plant supplement dose treatment g
a
v
e
no eff
ect
.
Although there was significant effect of
org
a
n
ic
plant supplement, but there was
interaction on the variables of seedling
height and roo
t
number. Higher value of plant
seedling h
ei
gh
t
was obtained by application of
organic p
l
an
t
supplement with a dose of 100
mL po
l
yb
a
g-1, however, it was not
significantly d
i
ffer
e
n
t
compared to dose of
50 mL polybag-1. Th
e
refore, optimal dose for
using organic plant supp
le
ment fertilizer was
50 mL polybag-1. Th
e
better effect of
application 50 mL po
l
ybag-1 compared to
other doses was due to the f
act
that the needs
of the plants have been
met
with an
additional dose of 50 mL po
l
ybag-1.
Adequate nutritional supply could optimize
t
h
e
growth of cocoa seedlings. Hutabarat et
a
l
. (2016) explained that excess nutrients
tended to result in less optimal plant grow
t
h
because these nutrients cannot be u
tili
zed
properly by plants. This study showed
t
h
at
organic plant supplement doses showed
a
n
increase in the growth of cocoa plant s
ee
d
li
ngs
in each variable compared to control
(w
it
hout organic plant supp
l
em
e
n
t
).
Table 2. Effects of manures in growing media on seedling height, leaf number, root
number
Growing media (Top soil + manures of)
Seedling height (cm)
Leaf
nu
mber
Root
nu
mber
Chicken
manure
Goat
manure
Cow
manure
Rabbit
manure
42.2
b
38.0
c
45.3
a
41.1
b
13.1
b
15.3
a
13.7
b
13.5
b
101.3
ab
94.4
b
104.5
a
94.4
b
Not
e: Numbers followed by the same letter in the same column show no significant difference based on the 5% DMRT test.

30
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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 39, Number 1, April 2023
Edition
Innaya et
al.
Table 2. Effect of organic plant supplement on height, leaf number, and root number of cocoa
seedling
Organic plant supplement dosage
(mL
polyba
g - 1 ) Seedling height (cm) Leaf
nu
mber Root
nu
mber
0
40.0
b
13.8
a
91.1
b
50
43.0
a
14.2
a
102.7
a
100
43.5
a
14.0
a
101.8
a
150
40.0
b
13.7
a
99.1
ab
Not
e: Numbers followed by the same letter in the same column show no significant difference based on the 5% DMRT test.
CONCLUSIONS
There was an interaction b
et
w
e
en
treatments on growth response of co
c
o
a
seedlings except for seedling height,
lea
f
number, and root number parameters with
the best
c
ombination was growing media of
cow manure and organic plant supplement
dose of 50 mL polybag-1. Planting media with
different
t
yp
e
s of manure affected the
response of co
c
o
a
seedling growth in all
observed var
i
ab
le
s. The best planting media
as shown in all
t
r
eat
- ments was cow manure.
Organic plant supp
le
ment in the planting
medium affected
t
h
e
initial growth response
of cocoa plant s
e
edlings in all observed
variables except
lea
f number. The best
treatment of organic p
l
an
t
supplement was
found in dose of 50 mL po
l
ybag-1.
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