Identification of Disease and Efforts to Protect Natural Orchid Plants Against Fungi Infection in the Liwa Botanical Garden

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Liwa Botanical Garden is located in West Lampung Regency which has an area of 86.6 hectares and is one of the conservation of ornamental plants that presents the flora of the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. One of the flagship collections of this botanical garden is a native orchid. Disease infection is still a major obstacle in the cultivation and development of native orchid potential at Liwa Botanical Garden. Based on the results of previous studies, it is known that several individual natural orchid collections from Liwa Botanical Garden showed symptoms of fungal disease infections. Disease infections can inhibit plant growth and resistance and reduce the aesthetic value periodically. Symptoms of infection include necrotic patches on the upper surface of the leaf. This research was conducted to determine the identification of diseases and efforts to protect native orchids against fungal infections at Liwa Botanical Garden through a collection of samples that showed symptoms of infection, analysis of disease symptoms, and analysis of disease resistance levels. The results showed that the response of the native orchid at Liwa Botanical Garden to fungal infections was showed symptoms of wilting in the leaves, namely in the orchids Eria sp., Dendrobium sp., and Cymbidium sp. turns black on the edge of the leaf, Thrixspermum sp. The type of orchid most commonly infected with fungus is Cymbidium sp. a total of 8 samples, and Thrixspermum sp. 3 samples, Eria sp. as many as 4 samples, Dendrobium sp. and Calanthe triplicata as many as 6 samples. The type of native orchid that is most susceptible to fungal infections is Dendrobium sp. and Eria sp. with disease intensity of 74.11% and 22.3%. The results of this activity are expected to be basic information in efforts to protect plants against diseases to support the application of conservation of native orchids on Liwa Botanical Garden.