Pengaruh Pencucian dan Pemberian Beberapa Amelioran terhadap Perbaikan Sifat Kimia serta Pertumbuhan Tanaman Jagung pada Tanah Gambut Dataran Tinggi Toba

Abstract

This study aims to determine the Effect of Leaching and Application of Several Ameliorants on the Improvement of the Chemical Properties and growth of Maize Plants of Toba Higland Peat Soil. This research was conducted in a screen house and Research and Technology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, University of North Sumatra. This study used a factorial randomized block design consisting of 2 factors with 3 replications. The first factor was leaching which consisted of 2 treatments, namely: without leaching (P0) and leached with 2,5 L deionized water (P1). The second factor was ameliorant which consisted of 4 treatments, namely: control (A0), zeolite (A1), dolomite (A2) and steel slag (A3) with a dose of 125 g/5 kg of wet peat each. The results showed that leaching with deionized water did not affect the improvement of the chemical properties of the Toba highland peat soil and the growth of maize plants. The application of wood ash ameliorants was the best in increasing soil pH, exchange bases (K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Na+), base saturation, plant height, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and decreased CEC the greatest. There was no interaction between leaching with deionized water and the application of ameliorant Mucuna bracteata compost, wood ash, and volcanic ash on the improvement of the chemical properties of peat soil and the growth of maize plants.