The Effect of Compost and Liquid Fertilizer Application on the Growth and Production of Corn (Zea Mays L.) in Red Yellow Podzolic Land

Abstract

Corn production in society is currently still low due to one of them, namely due to reduced soil fertility. The purpose of this study was to see the effect of applying compost with liquid fertilizer on the growth and production of corn plants. The materials used in this study were compost enriched with Trichoderma sp, liquid fertilizer, bran, goat manure, water, corn, sugar and marginal soil media while the tools used are polybags measuring 30x40 cm, buckets, shovels, hoes, scales, seedling houses, rulers, plastic sheeting, calipers and writing implements. This research method is arranged in a factorial form consisting of two factors, namely the first factor is the application of compost which consists of three levels and the second factor is the application of liquid fertilizer which consists of four levels. The parameters observed in this study were plant height (cm), number of leaves (strands), stem diameter (cm), weight of corn fruit (grams), weight of cobs (grams), total weight of seeds per cob (grams), and root weight. (m3), the results showed that the combination treatment of compost from EM4 and without liquid fertilizer gave the best results for plant height 225.00 cm, stem diameter 1.32cm, fruit weight 110.50g, seed weight 70.17g, cob weight 21.83 g, and root weight 32.67 g, while the combination of treatment with terichoderma sp compost and liquid fertilizer enriched with 2% NPK gave the best results for the number of leaves 12.83. The results showed that the combination of compost from EM4 and without liquid fertilizer gave the best results for the growth and production of corn plants.