COMBINED APPLICATION OF FERMENTED BAMBOO (Bambusa spinosa) AND MOLLUSK (Achatina fulica) LIQUID FERTILIZER CAN IMPROVED LETTUCE (Lactuca sativa var. CURLY GREEN) PRODUCTION

Giant bamboos (Bambusa spinosa) are abundant along the Philippine countryside that contains carbohydrates, protein, and mineral. Meanwhile, the Japanese snail (Achatina fulica) is a mollusk pest found in most gardens in the Philippines. By increasing soil organic matter, organic farming can reinstate the damaged soil's natural fertility, which will improve crop productivity like in leafy vegetables such as lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. Curly Green). Four treatments (T0: commercially available liquid fermentation-based fertilizer, T1: fermented bamboo shoot-based liquid fertilizer, T2: fermented Japanese snail-based liquid fertilizer, and T3: Combination of both bamboo and Japanese snail-based liquid fertilizer) in three replications were conducted to determine their effects on the weekly height, leaf length and above and below ground fresh weight of lettuce. The recommended rate (10ml/L) for commercial liquid fertilizer was followed for all treatments. For the erectness of leaves (plant height) and length of leaves, the combined use of bamboo and Japanese snail-based liquid fertilizer is generally comparable to using commercially available liquid fermentation-based fertilizer. At termination, the combined application of Japanese snail and bamboo shoot liquid fertilizer was 13.88±0.51SE cm high and had leaves 15.78±0.78SE cm long. Lettuce applied with the commercial liquid fertilizer was 14.01±1.11SE cm high, with leaves measuring 15.75±0.86SE cm long. All treatments have approximately four fully opened leaves 20 days after transplanting. For above and below ground fresh weight, lettuce applied with fermented bamboo shoot-based liquid fertilizer alone performed the least after four weeks at 80±4.47SE and 39.33±2.89SE g/plant, respectively. These suggest that the combined application of bamboo shoot and Japanese snail has the potential to be used as liquid fermented fertilizer for organic lettuce production.