Influence of Chicken Manure, Pig Manure, Cattle Manure, and Coconut Peat on the Growth and Yield of Melon (Cucumis melo L.) cv. Thunder Gold 1497
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Abstract
This study investigated the effects of organic growing media mixtures derived from chicken manure, pig manure, cattle manure, and coconut peat on the growth rate, yield quality, and production cost of melon (Cucumis melo L.) cultivar Thunder Gold 1497. The evaluated parameters included the growth rates of plant height, leaf width, leaf number, and stem diameter, as well as fruit sweetness (°Brix), fruit weight, and growing media cost. Mixture ratios were formulated using a mixture experimental design. The results showed that growing media composition significantly affected plant height, leaf width, leaf number, fruit weight, and fruit sweetness (p < 0.05). Cattle manure played a dominant role in enhancing fruit weight and stabilizing plant growth, while pig manure positively influenced fruit sweetness. Optimization using the desirability function indicated that a mixture of 50.00% cattle manure and 50.00% coco peat provided the highest desirability value (0.916), resulting in high growth performance, improved fruit quality, and reduced growing media cost.
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