Effect of Acadian Marine Plant Extract Powder (AMPEP) on the growth of the Seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii “Kulisusu“ seedlings cultivated in encircling tanks

Abstract

Acadian Marine Plant Extract Powder (AMPEP) is a commercial organic fertilizer extract from brown seaweed, Ascophyllum nodosum. This study aimed to examine the effect of different concentrations of AMPEP extract on K. alvarezii “Kulisusu” seedlings. We investigated the daily growth rate (DGR), ratio of wet weight and dry weight (FW: DW ratio), and the survival rate of seedlings in encircling tanks. Concentrations of AMPEP used in this study were 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 g L-1 at 30 min immersion time and without AMPEP as control for a 1-month cultivation period. The results showed that the 0.2 g L-1 of AMPEP showed higher DGR in 6-18 days of culture period (3.43-4.25%/day), the 0.6 g L-1 was higher in the 24 days culture period (3.50%/day), and the 0.8 g L-1 concentration was higher in the 30 days of culture period (3.76%/day). For FW: DW ratio, 0.2 g L-1 of AMPEP concentration showed the highest ratio (8.73:1) and was significantly different from the other treatments (p<0.05). In addition, all treatments showed a high survival rate (>93.33%) with minor variation amongst the treatments (p>0.05). The results concluded that using 0.2 g L-1 of AMPEP in encircling tanks was suitable for seedling development.