Effect of three organic fertilizers in Botón de Oro (Tithonia diversifolia) growth under nursery conditions, Nueva Guinea, RACCS, 2017

Abstract

The choice of forages should not only be based on the agronomic virtues, but also on their nutritional value and palatability for livestock, in this sense the effects of three organic fertilizers on the vegetative growth of the Botón de Oro (Gold Button) forage (Tithonia diversifolia) were evaluated under nursery conditions, the experiment consisted of a DCA, with 30 cm long cuttings with 4 nodes, they were established in nursery in 4x8 inch bags, with 30% organic fertilizer and 70% common earth, three replicas were evaluated by treatment, each replica consisted of 49 plants for a total of 588 plants. The variables evaluated were survival of the vegetative material, leaf area, fresh biomass of leaves, height of seedlings and leaf stem relation.The highest survival was obtained when Lombrihumus and Compost were applied (92.37% and 89% respectively). The largest leaf area was obtained by application of Lombrihumus with 103.3 cm² and 95.6 cm² when compost was used. The greatest growth of seedlings is obtained with the use of Lombrihumus. The green biomass of the leaves increases by 58.62 gr when Lombrihumus is applied, and 47.61 gr when Bokashi is used. The mayares leaf stem ratio results are obtained by applying compost (0.81 grams) and Bokashi (0.81 grams). The use of organic fertilizers is recommended to promote the rapid growth of the botón de oro forage (Tithonia diversifolia).