1Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Univeristy of Muhammadiyah Malang, Malang, Jawa Timur. 65146, Indonesia
2Department of Agronomy, Agriculture Faculty, University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. 55281, Indonesia
3Department of Environmental Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. 55281, Indonesia
Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Univeristy of Muhammadiyah Malang, Malang, Jawa Timur. 65146, Indonesia
*Corresponding author's e-mail: l.wahono@gmail.com Department of Agrotechnology, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Indonesia
Efficient nutrient management requires estimating factual fertilizer requirements. This study was aimed to test the use of chlorophyll meter SPAD-502 to estimate the nitrogen status of tea maintenance leaf. The test was carried out by correlating the SPAD readings with destructively measured leaf nitrogen content using samples obtained from nitrogen fertilizer dosage experiments. Observations were made at 15, 32, 45 and 62 days after the application of N fertilizer treatments. The results showed that the SPAD readings and total nitrogen leaf content correlated significantly with the time of observation. Estimation of leaf N content based on the SPAD readings follows linear line equation y = 0.0311x + 1.5856 with coefficient determinant (R2) = 0.62 significantly at P<0.01. It was concluded that SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter is reliable to assess the leaf nitrogen content of tea maintenance leaf and is adequate to predict future nitrogen fertilizer requirements.
Camellia sinensis L, Foliar nitrogen, Non-destructive, SPAD-502
