Utilization of agricultural waste as hydroponic media for the Deep Flow Technique system and combination of nutrients for shallot plants from seeds

Abstract

Hydroponics is one of the planting systems without using soil as a medium. This system is developing in urban areas where the availability of land is very limited. Suitable planting media and the availability of nutrients to the needs of plants are important in cultivating plant with hydroponic systems. This study aims to determine the effect of planting media and the combination of AB Mix nutrients on the growth and yield of shallots from seeds in the Deep Flow Technique (DFT) system. The research was conducted in Maku village, Dolo sub-district, Sigi district, Central Sulawesi, from February to May 2021. The research used a Split Plot Design, where the main plot was the planting media and the subplots were the combination of nutrients. The planting media used were rockwool, husk charcoal, and cocopeat. While the nutrients are given vegetable nutrition for three months, fruit nutrition for three months, vegetable nutrition for two months + fruit nutrition for one month, vegetable nutrition for one month + fruit nutrition one month with four replications. The observation components were plant height, number of leaves, number of tubers per clump, tuber weight per clump, tuber weight per seed and tuber diameter. The results showed that the treatment of planting media types and nutrient combinations had different effects on each observation component. The best treatment was husk charcoal media given vegetable nutrition at the age of one month and fruit nutrition at the age of two months.