PLASTIC SHADING AFFECT GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF AFRICAN AQUATIC PLANTS Anubias sp  

Anubias is a tropical aquatic plant native to central and western Africa. Well known among aquatic plant hobbyist for its sturdy, resilient and attractive appearance. Therefore, this araceae plant is highly appreciate economically on the market. Since 2012, Research Institut for Ornamental Fish Culture in Depok West Java Indonesia (BP2BIH) already initiate its cultivation through some intensive research. One major problem emerged, Anubias spp is easily dying when it's cultivated outdoor even covered with 75 - 80 % shade net. In order to overcome that problem, this study was carried out with the objective to discover optimum humidity for Anubias spp culture.

Seven months of shading trial was conducted at Depok Research Institut greenhouse. Anubias plant with average weight 5.5g and 9-10 strands of leaves were stocked on 10 Liters of plastic container. Volcanic sand mixed with fertilizer were added as growing substrate.  Treatments were given as follows: A. Open field (without plastic shade), B. Covered with perforated plastic shade and C. Covered with whole plastic shade. Every treatment was replicated three times. Plant growth such as rhizome weight, rhizome length, root length, number of leaves, leaves width and leaves length were analyzed as parameters.

At the end of the study, result showed that Anubias spp covered with whole plastic shade had significantly (P<0.05) higher rhizome weight, rhizome length, root length, number of leaves and leaves length compared to open field or not covered anubias, while leaves width were not significantly different among treatment (Table 1). This result illustrates that plastic shading is extremely important for anubias cultivation in order to maintain micro climate condition such as humidity under outdoor rearing.