Abstract

In most tropical countries, tea plants are grown in highlands, however, also can grow in lowlands with higher temperature than highlands. High temperatures can accelerate metabolism, thus cytokinin input is needed to maintain the high metabolic rate. Shoots of tea plant grow after picking tea based on centering technique. Tea plant after first centering requires proper management practices to improve the yield. Based on this, the present study was conducted from July to September 2017 at Field Station of Ciparanje, University of Padjadjaran West Java, Indonesia with an altitude of ± 725 m above sea level to stimulate the growth of tea branches after second centering with application of cytokines to obtain a good picking field. The source of cytokinin was coconut water and benzyl amino purine (BAP). The experimental method was Randomized Block Design with four replications. The treatment consisted of different concentrations of coconut water (25, 50 and 75%) and BAP (60, 90, 120 ppm). The results showed that application of 50% coconut water and BAP 120 ppm increased the number of branches up to 17.16 and 17.67, respectively and 50% coconut water increased the leaf area (2,072 cm2) after the second centering in lowlands.