METHODOLOGY

MATERIALS

A crop shelter that was installed at Tili, Shilan, La Trinidad, Benguet was utilized

for the study. The materials that were used in the study were romaine lettuce seedlings,

polyethylene plastic pot, drip irrigation, submersible pump, weighing scale, watch timer,

measuring tape/ruler, and record book. The materials used in the preparation of Silkworm

Manure Tea will be aerator, 5-gallon bucket, corn syrup or molasses and silkworm

excrement. The growing media used were soil which are readily available in the

experimental area.

METHODS

Potting Media Preparation.

The study has 4 treatments with 3 replications each with 5 potted plants per

replication, a total of 60 plants and additional 15 sample plants served as a control.

According to DA, each pot must contained 5 kg of soil for proper development of crops.

Preparation for Silkworm Manure Tea (SMT).

The following preparation are adapted from various sources: (Avis, 2012; Folds,

Darwish, 2013; E. 2018)

1. Prepare 5-gallon bucket of water

2. Place the aerator to create bubbles

3. Add corn syrup or molasses to the water (3 tablespoons)

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4. Input of silkworm excrement

5. Brew for 24 hours

6. Take off the aerator

7. Prepare SMT

8. Apply the fertilizer to the plants through drip.

There are two methods in making compost (worm castings) tea: steep and brew.

 Steep method is the simplest and commonly used by local farmers. It does not

use aerator to extract the microorganisms in the worm castings, instead it is

only done through stirring/mixing the worm castings into the water.

 Brew method is by the used of aerator. According to the Toolbox for

Sustainable Living, actively aerated compost tea is a “water-based oxygen

rich culture containing large populations of beneficial aerobic bacteria,

nematodes, fungi, and protozoa, which can be used to bioremediate toxins”.

Good compost tea should contain thousands of beneficial microorganisms;

this increases the chances that some of them will be able to bind and break

down the range of contaminants on a site. Compost tea allows farmer to

amplify a small amount of compost into a dispersible liquid form, helping a

little compost go a lot farther (Darwish, 2013).

Cultural Practices Employed on Romaine Lettuce.

The following are adapted from DA, and Interviews of local farmers:
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1. Planting - seedlings of romaine lettuce were planted on the pots with different

treatment,

2. Application of silkworm manure tea - the prepared were applied early in the

morning through drip fertigation started one week after transplanting with an

interval of 4 days until one week before harvest,

3. Irrigation - after transplant, drip irrigation were done every morning except the

day of the application of fertilizer,

4. Weeding – removing of weeds were performed manually to avoid the

competition on absorbing nutrients from soil,

5. Pest and disease control - biological way of controlling pest was performed

through hand picking every morning. Spraying organic insecticides like

mokusaku was also performed,

6. Time of harvest – all the crops were harvested after 40 days.

According to Pi-ay, J. (2018), first application of fertilizer to romaine lettuce is one

week after transplanting to ensure that the roots of the plants are already recovered. Four

days’ interval application of fertilizer can be done until one week before harvesting.

Romaine lettuce can be harvested in 40-45 days from transplanting but for organic plants

can range until two months.

Data Gathered

The following data were gathered:

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1. Growth and Yield Parameter

A. Initial height – initial height of the plant was measured from the base to the tip

of the longest leaf of the seedling after transplanting.

B. Final height – final height of the plant was measured from the base to the tip

of the longest leaf of the grown romaine lettuce before harvest.

C. Weekly plant height – the height of the plant was measured every week from

the base to the tip of the longest leaf.

D. Weekly leaf proliferation – the number of leaves produced by each plant was

counted every week.

E. Yield components:

1. Total/Harvested yields – this was taken by measuring the weight of the

whole lettuce after harvesting including the defected leaves using

weighing scale.

2. Marketable yields – this was obtained by measuring the weight of

marketable romaine lettuce in each treatment excluding the defected

leaves using weighing scale. Average marketable yields was taken.

2. Mortality rate.

- This was obtained by computing using the formula:

Total number of dead plants

Mortality Rate= ×100
Total number of plants

3. Cost of construction – A cost analysis was performed for the cost of the materials

used in drip irrigation system.

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4. Documentation – This was taken through pictures during the gatherings of data.

Experimental layout

The study was subjected to the following treatments:

T1 – 200g of silkworm manure mixed with 20L of water

T2– 300g of silkworm manure mixed with 20L of water

T3 – 400g of silkworm manure mixed with 20L of water

T4 – 500g of silkworm manure mixed with 20L of water

Figure 1. Experimental layout design

Statistical Analysis

Each treatment has 3 replications with 5 potted plants each. The experimental

design used was Complete Randomized Design (CRD) and the data was analysed using

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Comparison among means was test using (LSD).