Growth of dwarf elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Mott) planted in a mixed media of soil and closed house litter

Dwarf elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Mott) is a potential forage for ruminants. Efforts to improve the growth of this grass can be achieved by improving the growing medium with organic materials (closed house litter). This study aimed to determine the growth of dwarf elephant grass planted in a mixture of soil and closed house litter and to determine the best growing medium mixture. The study used a completely randomized design (CRD) with 4 treatments and 7 replications: A = 100% soil + 0% closed house litter, B = 75% soil + 25% closed house litter, C = 50% soil + 50% closed house litter, and D = 25% soil + 75% closed house litter. The variables observed included: plant height, number of leaves, number of tillers, leaf color, leaf chlorophyll content, leaf area pot-1, and stem diameter. The results showed that the addition of closed house litter increase the growth of the number of leaves, the number of tillers, leaf chlorophyll content, and leaf area pot^-1, but had no effect on the growth of plant height, leaf color, and stem diameter. The mixture of planting media 25% soil + 75% closed house litter, the best growth with the number of leaves (61.43 strands), the number of tillers (6.00 tillers), leaf chlorophyll content (19.24), and leaf area pot^-1 (7,948.42 cm²). It can be concluded that mixture planting media soil and closed house litter enhances the growth of dwarf elephant grass, with the best growth achieved with a mixture of 25% soil + 75% closed house litter.