Effect of manure, rock phosphate fertilizer and mycorrhiza biofertilizer on growth of coconut seedling

Abstract

Promoting the growth of coconut seedlings in the nursery stage will help the seedlings to be strong, resulting in high growth and yield of coconuts. This study aimed to investigate the effects of manure, rock phosphate fertilizer and mycorrhiza biofertilizer on growth of coconut seedling in period nursery. The experiment was conducted at Suratthani Seed Research and Development Center. The randomized complete block design with four replications was used. Treatments was seven fertilizer types including 1) control, 2) Manure 120 g/plant 3) Manure 170 g/plant, 4) Rock phosphate fertilizer 3 g/plant, 5) Rock phosphate fertilizer 6 g/plant, 6) Arbuscular mycorrhiza 5 g/plant and 7) Arbuscular mycorrhiza 10 g/plant. The results showed that the germination index and germination percentage of coconut seedlings were not significantly different among fertilizer types. However, it was found that arbuscular mycorrhiza at the rate of 10 g/plant produced the highest of plant height and number of leaves per plant of coconut seedling at 20 weeks of age. In addition, the coconut root infection percentage of arbuscular mycorrhiza was the highest when applied with mycorrhiza biofertilizer at a rate of 10 g/plant, which the value was 15.45 percentage.