Tuber formation and endophyte dynamic in potato black nightshade grafting with application of goat manure liquid fertilizer

A research on the grafting of potato and black nightshade plants can be a new interesting report. This research was carried out in the greenhouse of Horticultural Seed Center Station in Pakem, Yogyakarta, Indonesia at an altitude of 780 m above sea level. In this research, a potato plant was used as the rootstock while a black nightshade plant was used as the scion. This research was conducted to examine the effect of grafting on tuber formation and endophyte dynamic of potato-black nightshade grafted with an application of liquid fertilizer made from goat manure. The plants consisted of three levels: potato plants, grafted plants, and black nightshade plants. Liquid fertilizer application consisted of two levels: without liquid fertilizer application, and with liquid fertilizer application. The liquid fertilizer was applied once a week in the range concentration of 1900-2000 µSCm-1 with total volume 0.5 liter per plants. Tuber formation was affected not only by the grafting of the plants but also by liquid fertilizer application. Potato with liquid fertilizer application produced the highest weight of tubers. There were about 66 % of grafted plants that produced tubers with sprouts, around 21.5% that produced irregular tubers and 12.5 % that produced regular tubers. Application of liquid fertilizer resulted a larger total bacteria in potato plants, in black nightshade plants, as well as in grafted plants. A population of bacteria in grafted plants was accumulated more in the connected stem, whereas the total of bacteria in the lower connected stem (rootstock) was larger than that in the upper connected stem (scion).