Growth and development response of Rubus rosifolius Sm. and Rubus fraxinifolius Poir. on the combination of doses and application time of fertilizer

Abstract

Cibodas Botanic Gardens has 13 species of Rubus or wild raspberry collections from Indonesian mountain forests. R. rosifolius and R. fraxinifolius are Indonesian native species with high potential to be developed as fruit crops. Currently, an effort to domesticate and cultivate Rubus spp. is still ongoing. This research aimed to study the effect of the combination of doses and fertilizer application time on R. rosifolius and R. fraxinifolius growth and development. The research was conducted in Cibodas Botanic Garden. Four combinations of treatments, i.e., K1 (4.74 g/pot of NPK fertilizer with one-time application), K2 (9.48 g/pot of fertilizer with two times application), K3 (14.22 g/pot of fertilizer with three times application), K4 (18.96 g/pot of fertilizer with four times application) were used in this experiment. The results show that doses and time applications of fertilizers were not significantly affecting R. rosifolius and R. fraxinifolius growth. Moreover, the factor of Rubus species has a more significant effect on R. rosifolius and R. fraxinifolius growth. The combinations of R. rosifolius + K3 and R. fraxinifolius + K4 produced the highest value in the number of fruits per plant, fruit size, and fruit weight.