Abstract
Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorum) is one of minor crops in Korea. Only four ACCase inhibiting herbicides are registered for P. grandiflorum and the farmers usually use general but unregistered herbicides which can cause critical phytotoxicity. So, this study was conducted to investigate effects of alachlor and pendimethalin on germination and early growth of P. grandiflorum. To evaluate the effect of alachlor and pendimethalin, two herbicides were treated to the seeds in petri-dish and soil. In the petri-dish, alachlor completely inhibited the germination as well as pendimethalin inhibited the germination slightly but not significantly. In case of soil application, alachlor inhibited germination and plant height of P. grandiflorum significantly as well as pendimethalin inhibited plant height and root length significantly. We showed the possibility of phytotoxicity of alachlor and pendimethalin to P. grandiflorum and strongly suggest that two herbicides should not be used to the cultivation of P. grandiflorum. Unregistered herbicides should not be used for weed management and additional researches for screening of safe herbicide to minor crops should be conducted as soon as possible.
