Application of Growth Regulator and Soaking Duration on Arabica Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Germination

Abstract

The germination process of Arabica Coffee takes a long period of time caused by Arabica coffee contains caffeine which inhibits the activity of the amylase enzyme so that the germination process is inhibited. For this reason, it is necessary to speed up the germination by soaking using growth reguator. This study aims to obtain the right growth regulator and soakin time duration for germination of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica L.) which has been peeled off its endocarp. The experiment was conducted in the green house at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara in October-December 2019, used a randomized block design (RBD) with two treatment factors. The first factor is giving growth regulator with 5 treatments ( control, coconut water, shallot extract, coconut  water with onion extract and IAA). The second factor is soaking duration with 3 levels (6 hours, 12 hours, and 18 hours). The results showed that coconut water significantly increased the percentage of germination, index of vigor  and dry weight. The soaking duration treatment did not significantly affect the germination of Arabica coffee. The interaction between giving growth regulators and soaking time did not significantly affect the germination of Arabica coffee.