Muhammad Rizon Affandi, Sri Nuryani Hidayah Utami* and Nugroho Susetya Putra
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture UGM, Jl Flora, Bulaksumur,
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
*Corresponding Author: Sri Nuryani Hidayah Utami, Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture UGM, Jl Flora, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Received: January 02, 2020; Published: January 28, 2020
This study aimed to determine the effect of tofu dregs combined with cow dung and the number of earthworms in vermicomposting on the growth of bok choy. The vermicomposting was carried out for 40 days. The total N content in vermicompost and soil was analyzed using the Kjeldahl method and the total N content in plant tissue using the wet destruction method with concentrated sulfuric acid and peroxide acid. The results showed that the combination of tofu dregs and cow dung significantly affected pH, DHL, water content, organic C, total N, available N, and C/N ratio of the vermicompost. Meanwhile, the number of earthworms significantly affected DHL, organic C, total N, available N, and C/N ratio. The effect of vermicompost application on the soil chemical properties was only seen on the total N, while on the plant growth parameters was seen on the number of leaves, fresh weight, dry weight and N uptake of plants. The combination of organic matter sources and the number of earthworms, based on the chemical properties of vermicompost and their effect on the soil chemical properties and plant growth parameters, showed that the treatment of P5C2 (100% cow dung and 10 earthworms) was the best combination in producing the highest content of vermicompost N and the plant weight as well as increasing N content in the soil.
Keywords: Cow Dung; Earthworm; N Uptake; Tofu Dregs; Vermicompost
Citation: Sri Nuryani Hidayah Utami. “Vermicomposting of Tofu Dregs and Cow Dung to Improve Nitrogen Availability and Growth of Bok Choy Plants". Acta Scientific Agriculture 4.2 (2020): 113-120.
Copyright: © 2020 Sri Nuryani Hidayah Utami. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.