Comparison of Plant Propagation Portions and the Effectiveness of Azolla with Chemical Fertilizer on the Growth of Episcia cupreata

Abstract

This research aimed to compare plant propagation portions and the efficiency of Azolla on growth and development of Episcia cupreata. This research was conducted using a factorial design in a CRD with of 2 factors: 1) plant propagation portions: mother plant and stolon, 2) nutrient source: Osmocote (chemical fertilizer; 13-13-13) ratio 6 g per plant, dried Azolla (biofertilizer) at 30 g per 1 kg of medium; Osmocote 6 g and dried Azolla 30 g), and no-fertilizer (control treatment). The results showed that both plant propagation portions, the mother plant and the stolon, were not significantly different in canopy width, plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of stolons per plant, number of flowers per plant, flower width, and tube length. This indicated that both plant propagation portions can use as plant propagation material. Factor of nutrients source, it was found that the Osmocote affected canopy width (33.37 cm), plant height (6.50 cm), number of leave per plant (87.0 leaves), number of stolons per plant (16.17 stolons), number of flowers per plant (5.25 flowers), flower width (1.93 cm), and tube length (2.34 cm) which is significantly greater than the other treatments. However, this treatment was not significantly different from canopy width, number of leaves per plant, flower width, and tube length when compared to the treatment that use Osmocote + Azolla. The interaction between two factors, stolon with Osmocote treatment or stolon with Osmocote + Azolla that affected canopy width, number of leaves per plant, number of stolons per plant, flower width, and tube length better than other treatments. Further studies is recommended to optimize the ratio of Azolla combined with Osmocote fertilizer in order to reduce the use of chemical fertilizer in Episcia cupreata production in the future.