Comparison of Organic Liquid Fertilizer and Urea Liquid Fertilizer Utilization for Grade Improvement of Tea Seedling

Abstract

Tea productivity should be supported by growth material quality, particularly tea seedling. The ready-planted tea seedling was often insufficient due to the minimum requirement are not met, therefore the stimulating agents were needed to increase the maturity of tea seedling. This research investigates the effect of organic liquid and urea liquid fertilizer application on growth-promoting of tea seedling. The experiment was conducted at tea nursery and grade C of GMB 7 tea seeds were selected. Randomized Block Design was done by five treatments (tap water, 1% Urea Liquid Fertilizer, 2% Urea Liquid Fertilizer, 0,5% Organic Liquid Fertilizer, 1% Organic Liquid Fertilizer) and 5 replications, the application of treatments once every two weeks. The observed parameters were seed height, number of leaf, shoot root dry weight and S/R ratio. Application of organic liquid fertilizer showed up to 56% improvement compared to all applications of urea liquid fertilizer but not significantly different compared to tap water application on seed height and number of leaf. Application of urea liquid fertilizer causes leaf-burnt to plant tissue that subsequently inhibit the growth of tea seedling. However, organic and urea liquid fertilization were not sufficient to upgrade the seed to ready-planted seed (grade A).