Optimizing of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer rate for oil palm seedling (Elaeis guinensis Jacq) on main nursery

Abstract

The need of oil palm seedlings increase with the growing demand from farmers and plantation companies. The use of high quality seedlings is one of the requirements to obtain a high productivity. Thus the proper fertilization of seedlings planted at the main nursery should be done. This research aimed to determine the growth response of oil palm seedlings to various doses and to determine the optimum dose of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer on oil palm seedlings. The experiment was carried out at Cikabayan Experimental Station at IPB Darmaga Campus, Bogor, West Java. The experimental design used was factorial randomized block design with three replications. The treatment consisted of two factors, the first factor was N fertilizer and the second factor was K fertilizer. N fertilizer consists of four levels ( N1 = 0 g, N2 = 8.35 g, N3 = 16.7 and N4 = 33.4 g/seedling) and K fertilizer consists of four levels ( K1 = 0 g, K2 = 10.9 g , K3 = 21.8 g, and K4 = 43.6 g/seedling). The result of the experiment shows that N and K fertilizer increase the plant height, number of frond and stem diameter. Base on the plant height, the optimum dose of N fertilizer is 22.27 g and K fertilizer is 35.13 g during six months in the main nursery.