Effect of Water Application and Zeba Products on The Growth of Palm Oil Plants (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) on Main Nursery

Abstract

The requirement of water for plants absolutely must be realized hence, it is necessary to make efforts in order to plants can still provide their water needs even though the availability of water for watering is less or even not available continuously. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of water application and zeba products on the growth of oil palm seedlings in the main nursery. The study arranged as a randomized completely block design (RCBD) with 5 treatments: without Zeba with 2 times watering; without Zeba with 1 time watering;  Zeba 10 g/polybag with 1 time watering;  Zeba 20 g/polybag with 1 time watering and  Zeba 20 g + Rock Phosphate 75 g with 1 time watering. Watering is carried out in accordance with the treatment at the time from 07.00-09.00 WIB in the morning and 16.00-18.00 WIB in the afternoon using a paddle with a volume of 2 liters of water. There were three replications for each treatment. Variables observed plant height, stem diameter, leaf number, leaf color, soil pH values. The results showed that Zeba application affects the height of oil palm seedlings in the main nursery, stem diameter, soil pH and leaf color, but does not affect the number of leaves. Twenty grams of zeba on soil showed the similar response of stem diameter, soil pH and leaf green color with 20 g zeba + Rock Phosphate fertilizer. Zeba application can save water use in the main nursery of oil palm plants