Role of moss on improving physical characteristics of entisols, nutrient uptake and growth of corn and green beans

Abstract

Moss (Bryophytina) is pioneer plants in terrestial environment. It effisienttly utilize nutrients from soils and release them as organic nutrients. A green house experiment was conducted using Factorial 2x4 Completely Randomized Design. There were 2 types of indicator crops, namely Corn local var. (C1) and Green beans local var. (C2) and 4 levels of moss dosage, namely: 0 tons/ha (M0), 5 tons/ha (M1), 10 tons/ha (M2), and 15 tons/ha (M3). The results of the research revealed that moss had a significant role on improving soil physical carachteristic as well as nutrients uptake by corn and green beans. Soil aggregate stability improved from a less stable aggregate (40-50) without moss to rather stable (50-60) at level 5 - 10 tons/ha, and the aggregate was stable at dose of 15 tons/ha. Nutrients uptake rate by corn, i.e.: N (7 ‰ per ton moss/ha), P (1 ‰) and K (2 ‰). Nutrient uptake rate by green beans, i.e.: N (2‰ per ton moss/ha), P (4‰) and K (10 ‰). The average growth rate of corn growing with moss was 1.7 cm/day compared to 1.3 cm/day without moss. The average growth rate of green beans was 0.76 cm/day with moss and 0.6 cm/day without moss. In conclusion, application of moss on Entisols Lombok could possibly improve soil aggregate stability, as well as increase growth rate, and nutrient uptake by corn and green beans.