Chemical and physical properties of zeoponic and their influence on growth of forestry plant seedling and horticultural crops

Abstract

Zeolite is a hydrated microporous mineral of the aluminosilicate group, and the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of zeolite is high. Based on porous properties and high CEC, zeolite has the potential to be used as plant growth media (PGM). Zeoponic is a PGM made from zeolite mixed with compost and cocopeat added with macro and micro fertilizers suitable for plant growth. The goal of this research is to characterize the chemical and physical properties of zeoponic and several other PGM obtained from the market and to compare them for the growth of forestry plant seedlings and horticultural crops. This study was carried out from October 2021 to March 2022 in the greenhouse of the Department of Soil Science and Land Resources, Faculty of Agriculture, IPB University. The analysis of PGM was pH, electrical conductivity (EC), CEC, NO3-N, NH4-N, and bulk density. Parameters of plant growth were the height of plant, the leaves number, the leaf width and length, and the diameter of stem. The findings revealed that zeoponic has high CEC value than the other PGM, causing zeoponic to have low EC even though it contains high nutrients. With the chemical and physical properties mentioned above, the growth of mahogany plant seedlings in zeoponic is better than in other PGM. Likewise, the growth of horticultural crops grown in zeoponic is better than that of commercial media. This shows that zeoponic is a PGM suitable for growing forestry plant seedlings and horticultural crops.