Study of plant growth performance on red spinach in soilless growing medium using biochar as amendments / Zur Hanis Suraya Zulbahrine

A sustainable plant management approach must be implemented to reduce environmental pollution related to agricultural activities. The plant growth performance of red spinach using cocopeat as soilless growing medium was investigated to determine the suitable ratio of biochar derived from PKS. The composition of cocopeat, biochar and fertilizer used were characterized using ICPOES and FTIR analyses. The result shows the presence of minerals such as Ca, Al,K, Mg, Zn, Na and Fe in cocopeat, biochar, fertilizer X and Y. The moisture content for cocopeat and biochar are 82.7% and 10.8% respectively. Hydgrowpipe system was used in this study. Aggregate hydroponic system was implemented for red spinach cultivation with supply of nutrient rich solution. A complete randomized design was used in three replicates with two individuals each. Three treatments were selected on mixture of different medium (cocopeat:biochar), T1 (1:0), T2 (1:1)and T3 (4:1). The pH for growing mediums is slightly acidic for T1 and neutral forT2 and T3. Data were collected on growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves and plant fresh weight. T3 shows the highest mean plant height (19.6 cm),number of leaves, (13) and fresh weight (19.25 g). The least growing performance observed was on T2 with mean plant height (12.7 cm), number of leaves, (8) and fresh weight (5.25 g). The results revealed that biochar amendments at 20% enhance the red spinach plant growth performance. However, increasing the ratio causes the plant growth to declined.