Respon Pertumbuhan Awal Tanaman Cabai Merah (Capsicum annuum L.) pada Berbagai Komposisi Media Tanam

Early Growth Response of Chili Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) on Different Planting Media Compositions

Abstract

This experimental study aims to determine the early growth response of red chili pepper to various planting media compositions. The research using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 5 planting media composition treatments: M1 (Soil + Manure), M2 (Soil + Manure + Rice Husk 1:1:1), M3 (Soil + Compost + Rice Husk 1:1:1), M4 (Soil + Compost 1:1), and M5 (Soil + Manure + Compost 1:1:1), with 4 replications each. The observed parameters included plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight of biomass, root weight, and shoot weight. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and followed by the Honest Significant Difference (HSD) test at the 5% significance level. The analysis of variance showed that all treatments exerted a non-significant effect at the final observation phase (42 DAT). A significant fluctuation only occurred in plant height at 21 DAT, where the M1 treatment produced the lowest plant height (29 cm), which was significantly different from M3, M4, and M5, but became uniform again in the subsequent phase through a catch-up growth mechanism. In absolute numbers, the M3 treatment yielded the highest plant height (89 cm) and root weight (24.25 g), the M4 treatment yielded the highest shoot weight (74.75 g), while M5 produced the highest total fresh biomass weight (94 g). In conclusion, all variations of organic planting media compositions provide equivalent biological effectiveness for the early growth of red chili pepper.