• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2024

The objective of this study were to assess rooftop urban agriculture and analyze the differences in soil, growth, physiology, and productivity to elucidate the effect of companion planting with various plants, including lettuce (Lactuca sativa), rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus), marigold (Tagetes patula), Korean perilla (Perilla frutescens), and garlic chives (Allium senescens). Measurements were taken every other week from May to August 2023, totaling eight measurement. Regarding the characteristics of the soil planted with lettuce and aromatic plants, the combined planting of lettuce and garlic chives created a favorable soil environment for plant growth. Consequently, the best growth was observed when lettuce and garlic chives were companion planted. Companion planting of lettuce and garlic chives appears to be the most efficient concerning growth and physiology. The productivity of companion planting lettuce and aromatic plants also showed high-quality lettuce when lettuces and garlic chives were companion planted. Therefore, companion planting of lettuces and garlic chives in rooftop urban agriculture is suitable for growth, physiology, and productivity.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study was conducted as part of research to promote garden diversity and seek sustainable garden management plans, as well as to determine the trends in understanding and use of companion plants as an eco-friendly farming method and provide the results as the basic data for sustainable urban agriculture. Methods: To determine the trends in garden activities, eco-friendly pest control, and use of companion plants, a survey was conducted on 230 urban residents participating in the Urban Agriculture Expert course. 223 copies of the questionnaire were collected excluding missing values, and IBM SPSS statistics Ver. 25 Program was used for frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, and regression analysis. Results: Most of the respondents were female (71.3%), homemakers (26.5%), were in their 50s (29.1%), and had 2 members in the family (27.8%). 164 respondents (73.5%) had experience in gardening, most of them once a week (31.7%) and for self-consumption (55.5%). Both men and women raised crops for safe food production (32.3%), and they most preferred the city garden type (39.9%). For the preparation of nourishment for eco-friendly garden management, most respondents (60.1%) purchased fertilizers from the market. For the reason why eco-friendly pest control is necessary, all respondents except 4 of them (98.2%) responded that it is necessary 'because it affects my health as I eat it (73.5%)', indicating that they still had a high level of interest in health. Only 43.9% of the respondents said that they had heard of companion plants, 89.2% responded that companion plants were effective in eco-friendly management, and 87.4% showed the will to participate in gardening using companion plants in the future. Finally, the regression analysis confirmed that the awareness of companion plants and satisfaction with gardening activities are key variables that increase the intention to participate in gardening activities in the future. Conclusion: Since plants require special care depending on the period and various diseases and insect pests occur, there must be continuous research on companion plants as an eco-friendly farming method. Moreover, by actively using companion plants in urban gardens with the utility value in not only eco-friendly pest control but also in helping plant growth, urban agriculture is expected to be continuously activated and promoted by increasing satisfaction in gardening activities with aesthetic landscaping and pest control.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.973-978
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• 2023

This study determined the mechanisms of selection of companion plants that will increase natural enemies and compared and analyzed the effect of suppression of pest density and changes in pest and natural enemy density and spatial distribution, aiming to select suitable companion plants to control major pests that are problematic in organic tomato facility cultivation. As a result of the companion plant selection, 13.5 days were identified in the area with daily flowers among five species of flowering plants. In the experiment to determine the timing of natural enemies, the best results were found in the treatment group introduced two weeks before the pest occurred. As a result of the actual package test, farmers could see that the density of greenhouse pollen decreased significantly (100-500% for adults and 11-67% for larvae compared to no treatment) in the treatment with companion plants. Based on the results of this study, we expect that ecological pest management using companion plants that attract natural enemies will help to increase biodiversity through vegetation management, secure the safe production of organic products and improve the sustainability of agriculture.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.760-770
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• 2023

Continuous cropping obstacles have become a serious factor restricting sustainable development in modern agriculture, while companion planting is one of the most common and effective methods for solving this problem. Here, we monitored the effects of companion planting on soil fertility and the microbial community distribution pattern in pepper monoculture and companion plantings. Soil microbial communities were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technology. Companion plants included garlic (T1), oat (T2), cabbage (T3), celery (T4), and white clover (T5). The results showed that compared with the monoculture system, companion planting significantly increased the activities of soil urease (except for T5) and sucrase, but decreased catalase activity. In addition, T2 significantly improved microbial diversity (Shannon index) while T1 resulted in a decrease of bacterial OTUs and an increase of fungal OTUs. Companion planting also significantly changed soil microbial community structures and compositions. Correlation analysis showed that soil enzyme activities were closely correlated with bacterial and fungal community structures. Moreover, the companion system weakened the complexity of microbial networks. These findings indicated that companion plants can provide nutrition to microbes and weaken the competition among them, which offers a theoretical basis and data for further research into methods for reducing continuous cropping obstacles in agriculture.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.311-327
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• 2021

Background and objective: Recent urban agriculture meets the needs of urban residents that safety and avoids using chemical pesticides. This study was conducted to identify various factors of companion planting affecting the growth of cherry tomatoes, which will promoting urban agriculture by improving socioeconomic satisfaction with gardening activities through quality. Methods: Four types of companion plants such as marigold, zinnia, spearmint and basil, that have a companion effect with growth, sugar content, and vitamin C content. We obtained the mean and standard deviation and tested the significance at a 95% confidence level (p < .05) with Duncan's multiple range test after one way ANOVA and MANOVA. Results: Compared to monoculture of cherry tomatoes, the plant growth in the treatment plots with companion planting showed a significant increase overall(p < .05), but there wasn't interaction effect among companion plants, planting ratio and type. As for the absorption of inorganic components, the companion planting showed better absorption than monoculture of cherry tomatoes, as favorable growth, and there was an interaction effect among the individual factors. The sugar content was higher than the standard sugar content of 5.8 brix in both the treatment plots at the control, and vitamin C content was higher than the control at 26.27mg/100g in all treatment plots, but there wasn't statistically significant difference. The soil pH in the cultivation plot ranges from 5.5 to 9.0 and was weakly alkaline in all treatment plots except zinnia, showing low contents of phosphoric acid, exchageable potassium, calcium and magnesium. Conclusion: This study was conducted to analyze various factors such as the growth of cherry tomatoes, contents of inorganic components, sugar content and vitamin C content of fruits, and soil analysis according to companion plants, planting type, and planting ratio. We will study sugar content by measuring the change in growth every phase of fruits.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.197-205
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• 2020

With the purpose of designing companion planting of groundcover plants for ornamental uses, this study identified the yearly growth characteristics of nine species of different life forms, analyzed the coverage characteristics of individual plants, and suggested combinations of plants suitable for each life form. Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum, Liriope platyphylla and Hosta capitata, as short-grained plants that can grow to more than 20 cm, tended to grow for 60 days after planting in April and maintain their shape thereafter. Their aerial parts started to wither and enter dormancy after September. Saxifraga stolonifera, Dianthus chinensis and Sedum middendorffianum tended to continuously grow until September after planting in April and their growth declined after September. Lysimachia nummularia, as a creeping plant that grows creeping on the ground, started to show a rapid growth three months after planting. Sedum sarmentosum grew slowly until August and the aerial parts started to wither from September when the temperature decreases. The coverage characteristics of these nine species that grow differently after companion planting were surveyed and the growth of Sedum sarmentosum showed the highest number of companions. It was found that Hosta capitata can be companion planted with Sedum middendorffianum, Saxifraga stolonifera, and Lysimachia nummularia. These results indicate that among different shoot growth types species propagated with their stems creeping on the ground or those that can grow vegetatively with non-rhizome parts are more suitable for companion planting with others than those of which rhizomes branch.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2008

Four cover plants such as Phlox subulata, Glechoma hederacea var. longituba, Sedum middendorffianum and Saxifraga laciniata were evaluated to investigate the effect of companion planting on reducing soil erosion in Chinese cabbage cultivated highland. The experiment was conducted using lysimeters of $5\;m{\times}2\;m$ (length$\times$width) with 5, 15 and 30% slopes. Companion plants except Sedum middendorffianum did not interface with growth of Chinese cabbage Glechoma hederacea var. longituba and Sedum middendorffianum grew faster than Phlox subulata and Saxifraga laciniata in the early growth stage suer transplanting, resulting in fast ground covering, but the ground covering by Phlox subulata and Saxifraga laciniata was delayed because growth suppression by high air temperature during summer season. Soil erosion became severe as increasing degree of slope. Assessments of the four cover plants were conducted in relation to soil conservation characteristic of scenery, endurance to the environment stress, plant growth and weed suppression. From the assessments, Phlox subulata was superior to other intercropping crops tested for reducing soil erosion in highland cultivation of Chinese cabbage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2023.07a
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• pp.455-456
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• 2023

현대인들의 바쁜 생활방식과 그로 인한 1인 가구 비율의 증가 등 사회적 요소로 인해 외로움을 겪으면서 우울증을 호소하는 사람이 증가하고 있고, 이에 따라 반려식물에 대한 관심과 시장이 증가하고 있다. 기존의 스마트 팜 시스템 관련 기술은 자동화 및 액추에이터 제어, 데이터 분석 및 예측 등 자동화와 정보 제공을 목적으로 사용되고 있다. 홈 가드닝을 통한 식물 키우기에 대한 관심 증가와 더불어 반려식물로 식물에 대한 교감을 제공하는 기능은 제공되지 않고 있다. 본 논문에서는 반려식물의 상태를 감정으로 전달하는 디지털 기반의 홈가드닝 앱을 제시한다. 제시하는 앱은 실제 스마트 팜 시스템과 실시간으로 연결되어 식물의 성장에 따라 변화하는 모습을 적합한 식물 캐릭터로 바꾸어 시각적으로 제공한다. 또한, 딥러닝 기술을 이용하여 식물의 성장 단계를 자동으로 분류하고, 식물의 생육 환경을 판단하여 캐럭터화된 식물의 표정을 제공한다. 제시하는 앱은 반려식물을 키우는 사람의 노동력을 줄여주고, 반려식물과의 교감을 제공하는 다양한 경험을 제시할 수 있다.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.789-796
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• 2018

This study aims to measure the emotional effects of pet plants, which have become popular in recent years. A questionnaire regarding perceptions of these indoor plants was administered to 78 university students. Thirty of these students took care of two species of pet plants for 90 days, and the emotional effects of this exercise were determined based on the type of words used in their daily records. The questionnaire results showed that the general recognition of emotional effects was low, though awareness of the term "pet plants" was high. However, after gardening for 90 days, participants began to consider their pet plants friends or family members, noting feelings of affection and sympathy in their daily writeups. These participants also experienced positive changes in their emotional well-being, including feelings of joy, hope, relaxation, confidence, and accomplishment. This study argues that pet plants can have positive effects on emotional stability and suggests that their adoption would be beneficial to humanity at large.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.991-994
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the effects of feeding mealworm pellets on protein digestibility and fecal composition of companion canines. The canine breeds used in the specification test were Maltese (average weight 2.0 kg) and Poodle (average weight 2.5 kg), with a total of six canines, three of each breed, without discriminating between males or females. The control feed for the two canines was based on 100 g of commercially available general feed, to which the dogs were allowed to adapt for approximately 3 d. Ony on Day 0 of the experiments, dogs were fed twice, in the morning and afternoon. One day later, the treated group was 80 g of regular feed with 20 g of mealworm pellets added, and the dog was fed for 1 to 7 d in the same manner as the control group. The addition of mealworm pellets increased the protein digestibility in both canine breeds, however, the differences were no significances (p>0.05). Based on the normal stool score of 3, no remarkable changes were observed in stool score from Days 1 to 6, showing that the canines had adapted to the mealworm pellet feed. In particular, on Day 7, feeding mealworm pellet appeared to affect the fecal properties differently between the two breeds. This difference can be owing to differences in the intestinal environment and digestion and absorption ability between the two breeds. Consequently, using mealworm pellets improved the protein digestibility of canines as well as maintained normal fecal properties.