Application of Foliar Fertilizer and Planting Media on Cattleya sp. Orchid Growth

Abstract

Cattleya is one of the orchid genera, it has many fans. Labellum is large and strike colors. Intergeneric crosses have been made to produce soft colored flower, such as white, pink, red, yellow and brown. Cattleya orchids are known to have large flowers, and they are commonly referred to as The Queen of Orchid. These species are cultivated by several botanists as cut flower commodities. The price of cattleya is costly, so it becomes a business opportunity that needs to be developed. This study aims to examine the types of foliar fertilizers and planting media used on the growth of cattleya orchids. It was conducted between May and August 2021 in the experimental garden of the Faculty of Agriculture, UPN Veteran Yogyakarta using a Split Plot Design with factorial. The first factor, which is foliar fertilizer, consists of quick grow, AB mix, and focus grow. The second factor of planting media includes fern roots, black moss, and kadaka roots media. The result showed that AB Mix on fern and kadaka media produced similar plant height compared to other treatments. While on kadaka media, it produced the best leaf length and width, as well as shoot length. Furthermore, the shoot emergence and the number of roots did not show a significant difference. The plants that received quick grow treatment on kadaka and black moss media had similar growth. The number of roots provided the best growth of kadaka and ferns. Further study should be conducted to test AB Mix with various concentrations and planting media.