The effect of earthworm and organic fertilizer used on growth of Ipomoea reptans L. poir / Nur Khairiah Zainal Abidin

The increases of vegetable crop productivity and limitation of chemical fertilizer uses can be done in several ways, one of them is by organic fertilizer application. The trial was conducted in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan starting from March until May 2016. The aims were to study the growth of Ipomoea reptans l. poir by using different sources of organic fertilizers, compare the size of Ipomoea reptans l.poir in the presence and absence of earthworm and observe the difference in dry mass of Ipomoea reptans l. poir by using different treatments. The treatments of organic fertilizer were given in 3 levels (40, 80,120 gram). Chicken manure, cow manure, and sheep manure were used in the experiment based on 3 replications. Plant with no fertilizer group served as control. The parameters observed were plant height, leaf number, and dry mass. The results showed that the height of plant, dry mass and the number of leaves were increasing in all the treatments over control. As a conclusion, use of sheep manure as fertilizer obtained the highest growth and the presence of earthworm promoting the growth and size of the land spinach.