Nitrogen and Potassium Applications on the Growth of Amorphophallus muelleri Blume

Abstract

Productivity of Amorphophallus muelleri is considered low. Thus, pot experiment was conducted at the Cikabayan
Experimental Farm, Bogor Indonesia during rainy season November 2007 to July 2008, in order to determine the optimum
fertilizer dose for A. muelleri under 50% shading net. Treatments consisted of four doses of nitrogen (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg
ha-1 N) and three doses of potassium (0, 50 and 100 kg ha-1 K2O). The results showed that application of N and K fertilizers
significantly increased vegetative growth, i.e., number of leaves, number of leaflets and second leaf size, but did not affect
harvesting time. Fresh weight and dry matter content of daughter corm were significantly affected by N and K applications.
Combination of 50 kg ha-1 N and 100 kg ha-1 K2O resulted in higher corm weight than other treatments. It is evident that the
application of nitrogen and potassium is important in A. muelleri.
Keywords: disease infection, iles-iles, Indonesian konjac, nitrogen, potassium