Optimizing AB Mix Nutrients and Wick Length in Chili Cultivated Using Nutri-Pot Method via Response Surface Methodology and Central Composite Design

Abstract

Driven by the need to address environmental issues arising from excessive fertilizer usage in agriculture activity, this study aims to determine the optimal AB mix nutrients application towards Capsicum frutescens planted using Nutri-pot system. Mathematical and statistical methods using Response Surface Methodology software have been employed to study the effect of different nutrients concentrations and wick lengths parameters towards the Capsicum frutescens growth. The parameters were measured as response variables and optimised using quadratic model of central composite design with face centered (k=1) arrangement. Results depicted that both parameters showed considerable impact on the chosen response variables with the coefficient of determination values of R² < 0.9915, P-value < 0.0001, F-value of 163.54 and the lack of fit value of 0.8608, all provided strong evidence in favour of validating the prediction models. The optimal conditions of AB mix nutrients towards Capsicum frutescens were recorded at 2.54 mS/cm of nutrients concentration and wick length of 18.15 cm. Under these conditions, the maximum plant’s height simulated using Analysis of Variance and Response Surface Methodology was 38.73 cm, which was comparable with the experimental result that recorded 40.2 cm as the maximum height. Research on optimizing nutrient application is crucial, as it serves as an effective management tool for conserving resources and minimizing environmental pollution.