• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2011

In developing soil wetting agent using polyoxyethylene nonylphenyl ether (PNE) and polyoxyethylene castor oil (1:1; v/v), the effect of application rates on changes in concentration of PNE, initial wetting of peatmoss + perlite (7:3) medium, and growth of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L. 'Knockwang') plug seedlings were investigated. The elevation of application rates of wetting agent increased the amount of water retained by the root media. The treatment of 2.5 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$ showed similar water retention to + control ($AquaGro^L$ 3.0 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$). Most of the liquid wetting agent (LWA) incorporated during the medium formulation leached out in the first and second irrigation, then it decreased gradually until 10 times in irrigation. In investigation of the influence of LWA on position of water infiltrating into root media, the vertical water movements in treatments of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$ were much faster than those in 0.0 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$ (-control), but relative speed of water movement decreased by the elevation in application rate of LWA to 2.0 or 2.5 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$. The evaporative water loss of root media that to contained various rate of LWA and irrigated to reach container capacity was the fastest in -control among the treatments and it delayed as the application rate of LWA was elevated. The plant height of 22.2 cm in 0.5 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$ and stem diameter of 3.26 mm in 1.0 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$ were the highest among the treatments tested. The treatment of 1.0 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$ also had the heaviest fresh and dry weights such among treatments tested as 3.08 g and 0.861 g per plant, respectively. The elevated application rate over than 1.5 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$ resulted in decreased seedling growth. The results mentioned above indicate that optimum application rate of LWA is 1.0 $mL{\cdot}L^{-1}$.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.110-116
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• 2019

This study was conducted to determine the effects of a pre-planting fertilizers with various $NH_4{^+}:NO_3{^-}$ ratios in a coir dust:peatmoss:perlite (3.5:3.5:3.0, v/v/v) medium on the growth of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Nokkwang) plug seedling. Nitrogen levels were fixed to $300mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ and the $NH_4{^+}:NO_3{^-}$ ratios were varied to 0:100, 27:73, 50:50, 73:27, and 100:0. The 50-cell trays were filled with treatment media containing pre-plant fertilizers, then seeds were sown. After seeds were germinated, the trays were moved to greenhouse and seedlings were feed with 13-2-13 and 20-9-20 fertilizers, alternatively. The changes in pH and EC were measured every week and soil solution for nutrient concentrations were analyzed in week 0, 3, and 7. The measurements of seedling growths as well as analysis of tissue nutrient contents were also conducted in week 7. The varied $NH_4{^+}:NO_3{^-}$ ratios did not influence on the pHs of root media after incorporation of pre-planting fertilizers, but the ECs were heightened as proportion of $NH_4{^+}$ to $NO_3{^-}$ were elevated. During the raising of seedlings, the pHs rose over time in the treatments of 0:100 and 27:73 ($NH_4{^+}:NO_3{^-}$). The concentrations of all macro-elements in root media decreased gradually as seedlings grew in all treatments. The seedling growths 7 weeks after seed sowing were the highest in the treatments of 27:73 and 50:50 ($NH_4{^+}:NO_3{^-}$) and those became worse in the treatments of higher $NH_4{^+}$ ratios than 73%. In terms of inorganic element contents based on the dry weight of above ground tissue, the treatment of 0:100 showed the lowest content of Ca, Mg, Na, Cu, Mn, and Zn. Based on the results, it is desired that $NH_4{^+}$ ratio in pre-planting fertilization is maintained to be 50% or less for the raising of hot pepper plug seedlings.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.410-419
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• 2018

It is urgently required to construct safety data on agricultural by-products imported for use as medium materials for domestic mushroom production. However, research on microorganisms is insufficient. This study was conducted to investigate the presence of bacteria that have the possibility of harmful effects on human, plants and mushroom in wheat straw, peatmoss, cottonseed hull, cottonseed meal, and beet pulp imported from Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany. Bacteria were found in the range of $1.35{\times}10^2$ to $8.34{\times}10^6CFU/g$. As a result of 16S rDNA sequence analysis, total of 19 genera and 45 species of bacteria were identified. Bacillus genus was dominant, followed by Paenibacillus genus. At the species level, diverse species was in the order of Firmicute, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. Regarding the agricultural by-products, straw and peat moss had more diverse bacteria than other agricultural by-products. Among the indentified bacteria, 6 species of 5 genera (Enterobacter asburiae, Enterobacter ludwigii, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas monteilii, Bacillus anthracis, and Cellulosimicrobium funkei) were present as potent harmful bacteria to human. Surprisingly, both the human and plant pathogenic Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumonia was present. Bacillus altitudinis was present as a plant pathogen. Lysinibacillus sphaericus, an insect pathogen, and Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense, a mushroom pathogen, were also present. The results of this study confirmed that several kinds of pathogenic bacteria were present in the agricultural by-products for the mushroom cultivation medium imported into Korea. Our work suggests that hygiene inspection and management is urgently needed for imported agricultural by-products to be safely used for mushroom production.