Growth Responses of Clove Seedlings (Sizigium aromaticum L) to Natural Auxin and Household Waste Media

Abstract

Indonesia is the number 1 clove producing country in the world, in amount of 140,812 tons (The Ministry of Indonesian Agriculture, 2022). Cloves are commonly used as a flavor enhancer for food and drinks. Its warm and spicy sensation is quite popular among people, especially those who live in cold areas. In addition, cloves are also useful for aromatic mixture of cigarettes. In addition, cloves are also good for the health of the body because they are known contain phosphorus, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, sodium and vitamins. This study aims were to determine the optimum concentration of organic auxin and the effect of using household waste media on the growth of clove plant seedlings. This study used a factorial experimental method which was arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of two factors. The first factor was the dose of household waste consisting of L0 = no household waste (control/ only with 2.5 g NPK fertilizer); L1 = household waste 10%; L2 = household waste 20% and L3 = household waste 30%. The second factor was the type of organic auxins, which consist of A0 = without organic auxin; A1 = red onion organic auxin; A2 = tomato organic auxin; A3 = auxin organic mung bean sprouts. Each treatment was repeated 4 times, resulting in 64 experimental units. The results showed that there was no interaction between the dose of household waste and natural auxins on the growth of clove seedling. Household waste can replace NPK fertilizer starting from a dose of 10 g/plant. Kinds of natural auxin did not affect the growth of clove seedlings. The seedling cultivation is enough profitable.