EFFECTS OF PALM KERNEL BIOCHAR AND FOOD WASTE COMPOST ON THE GROWTH OF PALM LILY (CORDYLINE FRUTICOSA), COLEUS (COLEUS SP.), AND BOAT LILY (RHOEO DISCOLOR)

In recent years, soil amendments have been widely used in agriculture to improve the soil quality, plant production and quality, and reduce the fertilizer usage. Thus, current study was carried out to investigate the effects of palm kernel biochar and food waste compost on soil properties, plant growth performance and physiological responses of Cordyline fruticosa, Coleus sp., and Rhoeo discolor. These plants were arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with eight treatments; control (T1), fertilizer (T2), food waste compost (T3), compost + < 20% of fertilizers (T4), biochar (T5), biochar + < 20% of fertilizers (T6), biochar + compost (T7), biochar + compost + < 20% of fertilizers (T8), with four replicates. The application of food waste compost and biochar in Coleus sp. showed the best performance concerning plant growth including the plant height (65.75 cm), the number of leaves (59), chlorophyll contents (29.70 µmol/m2), photosynthetic rate (23.53 µmol CO2 s-1), stomatal conductance (0.009 mmol m-2 s-1), transpiration rate (0.269 mmol m-2 s-1), water use efficiency (WUE) (88) and total biomass (62.50 g). It can be concluded that the addition of compost and biochar as a soil amendment can improve soil fertility and plant growth performance. © 2021, ALOKI Kft., Budapest, Hungary.