Abstract:
Halimeda sp. is a seaweed that is are underutilized despite being abundant in tropical areas such as Indonesia. Seaweed has the potential to be liquid organic fertilizer due to it containing essential nutrients, as well as plant growth substances, including auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, which stimulate growth and increase crop production. On the other hand, Trichoderma sp. is a fungus that acts as a bio-activator, decomposer of organic matter, and controller of plant pests and diseases. The two factors combined are expected to complement each other as raw materials for liquid organic fertilizer, which improve soil structure and aid plant growth. This research was aimed at to determine the composition and content of seaweed-based organic fertilizers, some of which are enhanced with Trichoderma sp. isolated from soil. In this study Halimeda sp. was sampled from water, Trichoderma sp. was isolated from soil followed by morphology testing both macroscopically and microscopically and molecular testing of Trichoderma sp., and lastly, formulating liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) and its analysis. Trichoderma sp. was identified as T. viride strain TV-15. This species combined with Halimeda sp. LOF showed that both control and Halimeda sp. based LOF yielded a good level of organic carbon, iron and copper. These findings revealed that Halimeda sp. and Trichoderma sp. showed great potential as liquid organic fertilizers.
Keywords:
Growth
,
fertilizer
,
Soil
,
Plant growth substances
,
seaweed
,
Trichoderma sp