Growth response of pepper (Piper nigrum L.) seedlings to application of Arbuscula Mychorrizae Fungi (AMF) and NPK fertilizer

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effect of mycorrhizal fungi and NPK fertilizers on the growth of pepper (Piper nigrum L.) seedlings. The study was conducted from December 2017 to February 2018 in the form of a two-factor factorial randomized block design (RBD) trial. The first factor was the inoculation of mycorrhizae fungi which consisted of four levels, namely control or without mycorrhizae, 10 g plant−1, 15 g plant−1, and 20 g plant−1 of the mycorrhizae. The second factor is the application of NPK fertilizer with three levels, namely without NPK fertilizer, NPK fertilizer 1 g plant−1, NPK fertilizer 1.5 g plant−1, NPK fertilizer 2 g plant−1. The results of this study indicate that the application of 20 g of mycorrhizae per plant resulted in better growth of pepper seedlings indicated by the parameters of root volume (1.83 mL). The application of NPK fertilizer 1.5 g per plant resulted in highest plant height (3.32 cm). There was no interaction between mycorrhizal fungi treatment and NPK fertilizer in affecting the growth of pepper seedlings.