Pengembangan Teknik Budidaya untuk Peningkatan Hasil dan Kualitas Serai (Cymbopogon citratus) Menggunakan Berbagai Jenis Pupuk

Abstract

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is a plant that can be used as a botanical pesticide, but its productivity and quality in Indonesia are still quite low, so efforts need to be made to improve them thru proper variety selection and fertilization. This research aims to determine the improvement in yield and quality of two lemongrass varieties in response to the application of various types of fertilizer. This research was conducted on Jl. SMTK Medan, Padang Bulan Selayang I, Kec. Medan Selayang, Kota Medan, Sumatera Utara, with coordinates 3°33’51.7”N 98°38’41.5”E, from April to October 2025. The study used a factorial randomized block design with two factors. The first factor is lemongrass, with kitchen (common) and fragrant (red) varieties. The second factor is various types of fertilizer, including unfertilized, Urea 33.3% (0.33 grams) + TSP 33.3% (0.17 grams) + KCl 33.3% (0.25 grams), Urea 50% (0.5 grams) + TSP 25% (0.13 grams) + KCl 25% (0.19 grams), Urea 25% (0.25 grams) + TSP 50% (0.25 grams) + KCl 25% (0.19 grams), and Urea 25% (0.25 grams) + TSP 25% (0.13 grams) + KCl 50% (0.38 grams). The research results showed that the kitchen (common) lemongrass variety with the application of 25% Urea (0.25 grams) + 25% TSP (0.13 grams) + 50% KCl (0.38 grams) showed a good growth response in terms of fresh shoot weight per clump and clump circumference, while the fragrant (red) lemongrass variety without fertilizer already showed good growth in terms of fresh shoot weight per clump and clump circumference.