Nutrient Release Pattern of FertiGroe Nanofertilizer and Conventional Fertilizer in Different Growth Media and Their Effect of the Growth Performance of Banana (Musa acuminata Colla (AAA) “Cavendish”)

Abstract

The nutrient release pattern of nanofertilizer in different growth media and their effect on the growth performance of “Cavendish” banana seedlings were evaluated. The experiment was laid out in a Split-Plot in Randomized Complete Block Design with media namely: garden soil (GS), coconut coir dust (CCD) and 1:1 volume mixture of Garden soil and coconut coir dust (GS + CCD 1:1 v/v) as the main plots, while types of fertilizer, FertiGroe (F) a nanofertilizer and Conventional fertilizer (C) as the sub-plots. For 28 days, the release of nutrients was observed. By day 28, FertiGroe had released more nitrogen (0.48%) into the garden soil than conventional fertilizer (0.23%). In other mediums, however, release patterns were similar. The release of potassium and phosphorus was usually consistent across fertilizer kinds and media. The type of medium used had a substantial impact on plant growth; after 8 weeks, the soil-coir mixture produced the tallest plants (16.9 cm) and most leaves (6.6). Most growth characteristics were not significantly affected by the kind of fertilizer, while conventional fertilizer resulted in longer roots (19.8 cm versus 17.7 cm). The findings show that, depending on the growing media employed, nanofertilizer can deliver nutrient release and plant growth outcome that are either equivalent to or better than those of conventional fertilizer. When applying either fertilizer, the soil-coir mixture is ideal for producing banana seedlings.