Growth and P absorption of Fibraurea tinctoria lour in peat soil with an amendment

Abstract

One of the ways to maintain and increase immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic is by consuming the medicinal plant. Indonesia has many medicinal plants, one of which is 'akar kuning' (Fibraurea tinctoria Lour). F. tinctoria is a wild plant commonly found in Kalimantan and has not been widely cultivated. Therefore, efforts to develop need to be made, especially in peat soil. An approach to addressing the problem in peat soils is adding zeolite amendments and NPK fertilizer to increase growth. Therefore, preliminary research was conducted to determine the growth and P absorption of F tinctoria in peat soil. The study used Zeolite (0 and 2.5 g polybag-1) and NPK fertilizer with three levels (3, 6, 9 g plant-1). The combination treatments were arranged factorially on a completely randomized design. The study shows different responses to the leaf number, root volume, and root dry weight. Tendril length and P absorption increased along with the increase of Zeolite and NPK application.