Growth Response of Young Tea Plants on Andisol Soil of Gambung High Land, West Java, Indonesia Mixed With Ameliorants on Zero Point of Charge Status

Abstract

Andisols, that a variable charge soil, dominates West Java tea plantation land. Soil ameliorant is a substance added to soil that can be both organic and anorganic material such as compost, manure or chemical material and has a function to improve soil quality and plant growth. The study aims to select 10 ameliorants incubated in to the Andisols for 3 months that provided the best response to young tea plants. The ameliorants used were tea pruning litter, weed litter, mucuna cover crop, fluff (waste of tea product), sheep manure, chicken manure, cow manure, biogas waste of cow manure, worm casting, humic acid liquid. Completely Randomized Design was applied consisting 11 treatments including a control with 3 replications. Plant growth measurements namely number of leaves, plant height, stem diameter shown by the best 3 ameliorants that were worm casting, weed compost and sheep manure. The result of this study was in accordance with changes in increase in zero point of soil charge status that support to improve better vegetative growth