Effect of Natural Farming Inputs as Nutrient Source Applied at Different Levels on Hydroponically Grown Lettuce

Abstract

Nutrient solution concentration is one of the most practical and effective ways of controlling and improving the yield and nutritional quality of crops for human consumption. The study was conducted to determine the effect of natural farming inputs as nutrient source applied at different levels on hydroponically grown lettuce. It was conducted at Cagayan State University – Piat Campus from September to October 2019. The Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications was used to test the following treatments: T₁–25ml SNAP solution (Control), T₂-5grams Master Blend (Control), T₃–10ml SNAP+5ml FFJ+5ml FPJ+15ml KAA, T₄-10ml SNAP+5ml FFJ+5ml FPJ+15ml KAA, T₅–10ml SNAP+5ml FFJ+5ml FPJ+20ml KAA, T_6–10ml SNAP+5ml FFJ+5ml FPJ+20ml FAA, T₇–20ml KAA and 20ml FAA. The plants are grown in T₁ (SNAP solution) consistently produced the tallest, number of leaves, longest roots and the heaviest fresh weight per plant. Master Blend can also be used as a nutrient solution for hydroponics since they are not significantly different from each other. Plants in T₇ applied with 20ml KAA and 20ml FAA can also be used as a nutrient solution. However, only there was a delay of one week in maturity which is 37 days as compared with commercial (SNAP and Master Blend) having 30 days maturity. In the absence of SNAP solution and master blend, the fermented Fish Amino Acid (FAA) and Kuhol Amino Acid (KAA) as organic is a potential culture media for hydroponically lettuce production.