Abstract
The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of soil microbial agent with red ginseng marc on growth of watermelon during 5 months. The three treatments were distributed in a completely randomized design with four replicates per plot. After 1 week in planting dates, the growth of watermelon (full length, stem thichness, leaf length and lead width) showed no significant difference in all treatments. During elongation stage (20 days), soil microbial agent with red ginseng marc was increased by 5% in leaf thickness (May 23) and 7~14% in leaf length (May 16 and 23) when compared to other treatments. For changes in fruit bearing thickness, there were no differences among treatments. Characteristics of watermelon in harvest season have an effect on harvest and length, stalk length, naval length, weight, sugar content and yield, except for harvest and width. In particular, yields increased with treatments with two soil microbial agent (7~12%), indicating that soil microbial agent with red ginseng marc showed higher yield than the other treatments. In conclusion, red ginseng marc-treated soil microbial agents have a positive effect on the harvest season of watermelon and can provide useful information for the selection of the functional microbial properties and the registration of microbial fertilizer.
