Pengaruh Media Tanam dan Waktu Pemberian Nutrisi terhadap Pertumbuhan dan Hasil Microgreens Bayam Merah (Amaranthus tricolor L.)

Abstract

Microgreens are a new innovation in urban agriculture. Red spinach microgreens are nutrient rich plants that are beneficial for health and provide a solution to limited land availability with a short harvest period and can be consumed directly. However, their cultivation requires appropriate growing media and nutrients to enhance microgreen yields. This study aims to evaluate and analyze the effects of growing media and time of nutrient application on the growth and yield of red spinach microgreens. The research was conducted at Royal Sumatera, Jl. Cluster Topaz No. 151, Medan Tuntungan, North Sumatra Province, at an elevation of approximately 32 meters above sea level, from March 2025 to May 2025. The study was designed based on a factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The first factor was the type of medium (charcoal husk, cocopeat, cocopeat + vermiculite), and the second factor is the time of nutrient application (3–6 days) 300 ppm, (7–10 days) 500 ppm, (11–14 days) 700 ppm; (4–7 days) 300 ppm, (8–11 days) 500 ppm, (12–14 days) 700 ppm; (5–8 days) 300 ppm, (9–12 days) 500 ppm, (12–14 days) 700 ppm. The research results show that the cocopeat growing medium treatment produced the higher plants (3–12 HST), heavier fresh shoot weight (142,66 grams), and was followed by the vermiculite + cocopeat growing medium. The nutrient application period (3–6 days) 300 ppm, (7–10 days) 500 ppm, (11–14 days) 700 ppm after planting, resulted in higher total flavonoid content compared to nutrient application time of (4–7 days) 300 ppm, (8–11 days) 500 ppm, (12–14 days) 700 ppm, and (5–8 days) 300 ppm, (9–12 days) 500 ppm, (12–14 days) 700 ppm. No interaction was found between the type of growing medium and the time of nutrient application on all observed parameters of red spinach microgreens.