Effects of Growing Media Composition and Types of Water toward Iron Content of Red Spinach (Amaranthus tricolor L.) in Verticulture System

• Main Author: Prima Widiantoro, Herwin
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/36899
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Verticulture is a system of agricultural cultivation that is carried out vertically or multilevel, which has the role of increasing the efficiency of land use, especially in urban areas. In addition to utilizing narrow land, waste water can be used to water and provide additional nutrients for plants. In verticulture systems in urban areas, one of the commodities that can be cultivated using verticulture is red spinach. Nevertheless, research on the effect of planting media and pond water on iron (Fe) content has not been further investigated. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of the composition of the planting medium and the type of water on the iron content of red spinach, determining the relationship between the composition of the planting medium and the type of water to the Fe content, and determining the best treatment to increase Fe content. The study was conducted at Kebon Belajar, Rancaekek on March 14, 2018 until May 25, 2018 with a verticulture system, then continued with testing in the laboratory on March 14, 2018 for initial edaphic factors at Balitsa Lembang Laboratory and May 30 2018 for red spinach Fe content in BATAN Laboratory Bandung. The research was carried out using a completely randomized design with two factors, namely the composition of the planting medium and the type of water. The planting medium used was a mixture of Lembang soil (Andosol soil), compost, and goat manure. The comparison used for control media (M1) is 1: 1: 1, for treatment media 1 (M2) is 1: 2: 1, and treatment media 2 (M3) is 1: 1: 2 respectively Soil: Compost: Manure. The types of water used are pond water (A1) and plain water (A2). Microclimate factor observation is conducted every two days. Testing of Fe spinach content was carried out after harvest in 6 combinations of treatments and tested by the AAS method. The results of the observation showed that the composition of the planting medium and the type of water did not significantly affect the overall percentage of red spinach Fe content. However, the treatment of M0A0 produces the highest Fe content of 27.17 ppm followed by the treatment of M1A1 and M0A1 of 25.8 ppm and 25.15 ppm.