Abstract

Fertilizer management is an important factor on the growth of oil palm seedlings and production cost. This experiment aimed to study the appropriate method and form of fertilizer for the growth of oil palm seedlings aged 16-32 weeks. The experiment was conducted by using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) consisting of 4 treatments as follows: Treatment 1: Soil fertilizer application according to the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture by applying fertilizer formula 15-15-15 alternating with 13-13-21 at the rate of 5 grams per plant, applying every 2 week; Treatment 2: Foliar fertilizer application by spraying fertilizer formula 20-20-20 at the rate of 5 milliliters per plant, applying every 1 week; Treatment 3: Soil fertilizer application according to the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture combined with foliar fertilizer application; and Treatment 4: No fertilizer application. The plant height, leaf greenness, leaf width and plant base width, and the leaf length of palm seedlings were measured every week. The results showed that the growth of oil palm seedling with fertilizer application of treatment 1 and 3 were higher than those of treatment 2 and 4. However, the treatment 1 and 3 did not give statistically different growth seedling. Thus, the fertilizer application of treatment 1 which used only soil fertilizer is the most appropriate for the oil palm seedling.