THE EFFECT OF BANANA HUMPS AND TIME INTERVALS ON THE GROWTH OF PALM OIL SEEDLINGS (ELAEIS GUINEENSIS JACQ.) IN THE PRE-NURSERY

This study was aimed to recognize the effect of the banana hump and time intervals treatment on the growth of oil palm seedlings (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the pre-nursery. This study used the experimental method with factorial randomized block design with 2 repetitions and 16 treatments. The first factor is the banana hump dose with 4 levels: 0 g (B0), 10 g (B1), 20 g (B2), 30 g (B3). The second factor is the time interval with 4 levels: 0 weeks (P0), 1 week (P1), 2 weeks (P2), 3 weeks (P3). The data were analyzed by using analysis of variance, followed by Duncan?s multiple range test with a significant of 5%. The results showed that the application of 20 grams of banana humps effectively increased the leaf length growth of palm oil seedlings in the pre-nursery to reach 6.72 cm (6th WAP), the number of leaves was around 3.08 strands (9th WAP), the root weight was 1.63 grams, the fresh weight was 5.18 grams, and dry weight was 0.98 grams (11th WAP). The 3-week interval for the application of banana humps to the growing media surface effectively increased the leaves number growth of palm oil seedlings at the pre-nursery in 7 weeks after planting so that it reached the highest number of leaves around 1.79 strands. The application of banana hump interaction with time intervals did not significantly affect the growth of palm oil seedlings in the pre-nursery.