• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.179-183
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• 2003

In comparison of physicochemical properties between expanded rice hulls (ERH) and a commercial nursery soil (Bunong), the pH and content of organic matters were higher in ERH than those of Bunong soil. However, the content of available phosphate, $\textrm{NH}_4\textrm{-N}$ and $\textrm{NO}_3\textrm{-N}$ were lower in ERH as compared with Bunong soil. The growth characteristics of seedlings were evaluated for 15-day old seedlings grown in five different nursery soils including ERH. The plant height was the tallest (22.8cm) in Bunong soil and shortest (12.8cm) in ERH. There was no difference in number of leaves among five types of nursery soils. The best results based on the seedling quality and root intensity was obtained from the seedlings grown in the nursery soil which ERH was used for bedding and Bunong soil for covering in the seed tray. The weight of a seed tray with Bunong soils was 27% heavier than that of 'ERH + Bunong soil'.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.203-208
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• 2013

Differences in the filling amount of substrates in container can influence severely on the soil physical properties and crop growth. This research was conducted to secure the fundamental informations related to the changes in soil physical properties as influenced by the filling amount of coir dust-based substrates in container. For the experiment, three substrates were formulated by blending coir dust (CD) with expanded rice hull (CD+ERH, 8:2, v/v), carbonized rice hull (CD+CRH, 6:4, v/v) or ground and aged pine bark (CD+GAPB, 8:2, v/v). Based on the optimum bulk density, the amount of substrates filled in 347.5mL aluminum cylinder were adjusted to 90, 100, 110, 120, and 130%. Then the changes in total porosity (TP), container capacity (CC), and air-filled porosity (AFP) by various filling amounts were measured. The TP decreased linearly in CD+ERH and CD+GAPB and quadratically in CD+CRH as the filling amounts of the media increased from 90% to 130%. The CC in CD+ERH and CD+GAPB media increased as the filling amount increased from 90% to 120%, then decreased in 130%, showing quadratic change. The CC in CD+CRH was the highest in 90% filling amount and decreased gradually as the filling amount of root medea increased. The AFPs in CD+ERH and CD+GAPB media were 38 and 37%, respectively in 90% filling amount and they decreased drastically until 110% filling, then gradually in 120 and 130% filling amount showing the quadratic changes. The AFP of CD+CRH at 90% filling amount was 22% and it decreased as the filling amount increased until 130%, showing linear change. These results indicate that the increase in filling amount of substrates influenced more severely the AFP than CC, and careful consideration on container filling is required to provide a better root condition thus maximize crop growth.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.720-725
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• 2013

When highly shrinkable materials such as coir dust are major component of root media, the degrees of compaction during container filling of root media severely influences the physical properties of root media. It results in the changes in total porosity (TP), container capacity (CC) and air-filled porosity (AFP). This research was conducted to secure the fundamental information in changes of soil physical properties as influenced by the compaction of root media during container filling. To achieve this, three root media were formulated by blending coir dust (CD) with expanded rice hull (CD + ERH, 8:2, v/v), carbonized rice hull (CD + CRH, 6:4) and ground and raw pine bark (CD + GRPB, 8:2). Based on the optimum bulk density, the amount of root media filled into 6.0, 7.5, 8.5, 10.5 and 12.5 cm were adjusted to 90, 100, 110, 120 and 130% based on the weight of root media. Then the changes in TP, CC, and AFP were measured. Elevation of the packing amount of root media in all sizes of pot resulted in the decrease of TP. But the decrease was more severe in CD + ERH and CD + CRH than those in CD + GRPB. The CC also decreased gradually as the packing amounts were elevated in three root media, but the decreases were severe as the container sizes became larger. The AFP decreased drastically by the elevation of the packing amount of root media in all sizes of pot. The AFP was the highest in CD + CRH medium when pot sizes were smaller than 7 cm, but that was the highest in CD + ERH when the pot sizes were larger than 8.5 cm among the 3 root media tested. In this research, the elevation of packing amount of three root media influenced more severely the AFP rather than CC. This result indicates that the packing amount should be controlled to maintain appropriate level of AFP because AFP rather than CC influence severely crop growth. The results obtained through this study can be used to predict the changes in physical properties of root media as influenced by packing amount in various sizes of pots.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2014

Objective of this research was to develop root media containing expanded rice hull (ERH) and carbonized rice hull (CRH). To achieve this, the physico chemical properties of two materials were analysed and blended with peatmoss (PM) or coir dust (CD) with various ratio. Based on the physical properties of the blended materials, 4 root media were selected for future experiment. After the analysis of pH and EC of the selected root media, the kinds and amount of pre-planting nutrient charge fertilizers (PNCF) incorporated into each root medium were varied, and then, final chemical properties of the root media were analysed. The total porosity (TP), container capacity (CC), and air-filled porosity (AFP) were 81.3%. 39.9%, and 41.4% in ERH and 77.6%, 64.1%, and 13.5% in CRH, respectively. The percentage of easily available water (EAW, from CC to 4.90 kPa tension) and buffering water (BW, 4.91-9.81 kPa tension) were 11.37% and 5.27%, in ERH and 17.26% and 14.28% in CRH, respectively. The pH of ERH was 7.1, but it was extremely high in CRH such as 11.2. The EC and CEC were $1.31dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ and $12.1meq{\cdot}100g^{-1}$ in ERH and $6.53dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ and CEC 7.79 $meq{\cdot}100g^{-1}$ in CRH, respectively. The ranges of TP, CC and AFP in 4 selected media (PM + ERH, 6:4, v/v; CD + ERH, 8:2; PM + CRH, 7:3; CD+CRH 6:4) were 89.2-90.3%, 67.3-81.8%, and 8.3-21.9%, respectively. The pHs and ECs in root media containing peatmoss such as PM + ERH (6:4) and PM + CRH (7:3) were 4.0-4.3 and $0.33-0.365dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, whereas those of CD + CRH were 7.4-7.9 and $1.282dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$. The pHs and ECs, however, analysed before and after the incorporation of PNCF in each root medium were not significant different. This result indicated that the incorporated fertilizers in PNCF to adjust medium pH did not dissolve enough to influence medium pH, but it is very normal in root media containing dolomitic lime and sulfur powder in adjusting pH. The Information obtained in this study may facilitate an effective formulation of root media containing rice hulls.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.189-196
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• 2015

This study was performed to identify the effect of mixed bed soil on growth of aerial parts and root zone of daughter plants for nursery field strawberry seedling raising with expanded chaff. The plant height and leaf area of daughter plants were highest or largest in the mixed soil of ERH +RH (100:0, v/v), followed by ERH+RH (75:25). The higher the mixing ratio of RH, the shorter the plant height or the smaller the leaf area. A similar tendency was observed in fresh weight. Within a root diameter of 0-0.4 mm and a root height range of 0.4-0.8 mm, root surface area and volume were statistically significantly better with treatment of ERH+RH (100:0, v/v) compared to those of roots treated with ERH+RH (75:25), ERH+RH (50:50) and ERH+RH (25:75). The growth rate of aerial parts and root zone of daughter plants were noticeably lower in two mixing ratios of 50:50 and 25:75. According to the mixing ratios of ERH+CD surface treatment, the number of roots was greatest in plants treated with ERH+CD (80:20, v/v) and ERH+CD (85:15) on August 1. However, the number of roots was highest in plants treated with ERH+CD (85:15, v/v) on August 15. Root length was longest in the plant with no treatment, and drastically shortened from ERH+CD (90:10, v/v) in both surface and mixed treatment. Although root weight showed a significant difference in ERH+CD (90:10, v/v) treatment, its increase was gradual. The rate of root growth was highest in ERH+CD (85:15). These study findings suggest that the content ratios of mixed soil ERH+RH (75:25, v/v) or below and ERH+CD (85:15) are thought to be desirable for the production of high quality seedlings.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.558-564
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• 2013

The objective of this research was to secure the fundamental information in changes of soil physical properties as influenced by the compaction of root media during container filling. Three root media were formulated by blending peatmoss (PM) with expanded rice hull (PM + ERH, 8:2, v/v), carbonized rice hull (PM + CRH, 6:4) and ground and aged pine bark (PM + GAPB, 8:2). Based on the optimum bulk density, the amount of root media filled into 6.0, 7.5, 8.5, 10.5 and 12.5 cm were adjusted to 90, 100, 110, 120, and 130%, then the changes in total porosity (TP), container capacity (CC), and air-filled porosity (AFP) were measured. The TP decreased significantly as the packing amount of three root media were elevated in all sizes of container. The TP did not show significant differences among the root media in small sizes of containers, but showed significant differences when sizes of containers became larger. As packing amount of three root media were elevated, the CCs in all sizes of containers were decreased. The PM + CRH had the lowest CC among three root media in containers smaller than 8.5 cm, but had the highest CC in those larger than 10.5 cm. These results indicated that the decreases in CC were influenced by the sizes of containers as well as kinds of root media. The elevation of packing amount in three root media diminished significantly the AFP. The AFP in PM + GAPB medium was two times as high as those of PM + ERH or PM + CRH when equal packing densities were applied in all sizes of containers. As the container sizes became larger in three root media, the extents in decreasing of CC were distinct than those of AFP. Above results indicate that elevation in packing amount of three root media decreased significantly the TP, CC and AFP, but these were influenced differently by sizes of containers and kinds of root media. The results would be useful for expectation in the changes of physical properties in various sizes of containers filled with peatmoss based root media.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2015

This research was conducted to investigate the changes in moisture retention capacities of expanded rice-hull (ERH)-based root media and their influences on the growth of mother and daughter plants in vegetative propagation of 'Seolhyang' strawberry. The proportion of water at the container capacity of ERH medium was in the range of 20 to 23%. This range was lower than the 60 to 66% of strawberry-specialized medium, the 30 to 34% of soil mother material (SMM) and the 30 to 35% of loamy sand. The moisture content of ERH was reduced to 10 to 12% at 8 hours after irrigation, and there were large variations among replications of ERH medium. Among four kinds of root media formulated to contain ERH, the medium of ERH + coir dust (CD) (55 + 45%, v/v) had 26.5 and 32.5% water contents at 20 and 40 days after irrigation to daughter plants, respectively. The m edia o f ERH + sandy loam (S L) and E RH + S MM showed similar trends i n moisture r etention. The pH and EC i n the all root media tested were in the range of 6.7 to 7.1 and 0.03 to $0.08dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, respectively. The pHs and ECs measured at 20 and 40 days after irrigation were not significantly different in each root medium. Among the root media formulated to contain ERH, the growth of daughter plants was the highest in the treatment of ERH + SL (55 + 45%, v/v). As the blending rate of coir dust was elevated in the ERH + CD media, moisture retention capacity increased gradually, but the growth of daughter plants became worse even though the medium showed higher moisture retention capacity than other root media tested. The growth of roots and aboveground tissues of daughter plants deteriorated in the root media formulated by blending ERH + perlite (PE) at various ratios. The results of this research suggest the optimum formulations of root media and management of moisture content in raising of strawberry daughter plants when ERH is a component of root media.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.219-226
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• 2015

The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of various root media on the growth of mother and daughter plants during propagation and early yield after transplanting of 'Seolhyang' strawberry. To achieve this, daughter plants were fixed to connected small pots that contained expanded rice-hull (ERH), a strawberry-specialized commercial medium (SSCM), soil mother materials (SMM), or loamy sand (LS). Then, growth of daughter plants in above- and below-ground tissue as well as early yield after transplanting to plastic house soil were investigated. The growth of daughter plants in terms of plant height, leaf area and fresh weight were the highest in the SSCM treatment. Root growth in terms of the amount of primary roots and root dry weight were the highest in the treatments of ERH and SMM and the lowest in that of SSCM, among treatments tested. The ERH treatment also showed the highest values among treatments in root length, surface area and volume when roots with 0 to 0.4 mm in diameter were investigated. The flower bud differentiation of daughter plants began on Sept. 3 in the ERH treatments, earlier than the SMM (Sept. 5) and in SSCM (Sept. 7) treatments. The tissue N contents of daughter plants were in the range of 1.41 to 1.55% in all treatments, and no significant differences were observed among treatments. This indicates that the low moisture retention capacity of ERH and water stress, rather than tissue N contents, promote the flower differentiation of daughter plants. In the evaluation of early yield after transplant, the ERH treatment of showed the highest yield in the period from November to December, reaching 667 g fruit weight per 10 plants. The yields per 10 plants in the other treatments were 581 g in SMM, 475 g in SSCM and 295 g in LS. Above results imply that the various root media have different effects on the growth of daughter plants as well as flower bud differentiation. Therefore, improvement in early yield after transplant can be achieved through selection of proper root medium for daughter plant propagation.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.116-122
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• 2011

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of several cooling methods such as water hose cooling, mist, fog and control on growth and microclimate, and to develop a simple nutriculture bed for production of fresh leaves of narrowhead goldenaray 'Ligularia stenocephala'. When the root-zone was cooled with 240 L/hr flow rate of $13^{\circ}C$ ground water using water hose, the temperature was lowered approximately by 2 to $3^{\circ}C$ than that of control. The growth of narrowhead goldenaray were favorable in the water hose cooling compared with the other cooling methods. Nutrient culture system having part cooling effect around plant canopy was developed. The system was composed of 15 cm diameter of water hose on side wall of beds, cooling hose, and expanded rice hull media as organic substrate. When cool water which the temperature changed in the range of 14 to $22^{\circ}C$ diurnally with 240 L/hr of flow rate through water hose, the air temperature around canopy and root-zone temperature were dropped by $0.5^{\circ}C$ and $3^{\circ}C$ compared with that of conventional styrofoam bed, respectively. These results showed that newly devised bed system using water hose was simple and economical for the production of high quality narrowhead goldenaray leaves. This system might be practically used both at summer and winter season for the cultivation of narrow head goldenaray by part cooling or heating around root-zone and plant canopy.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.511-517
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• 2015

This research was conducted to evaluate the influence of root restriction materials and media on the growth of runner plantlets of 'Seolhyang' strawberry in a nursery field. To achieve this, the influence of three kinds of root media on the growth of runner plantlets was monitored when polyethylene film was used as the root restriction material. In addition, the influence of various root restriction materials (RRS) such as transparent polyethylene film (PE), non-woven fabric (NF), perforated polyethylene film (PP), and root proofing sheet (RPS) on the changes in volumetric water content (VWC) and temperature of root media as well as growth of runner plantlet were investigated when expanded rice hull (ERH) was used as the root medium. In the comparison of root media, growth parameters such as leaf area and crown thickness at 20 d after fixation as well as crown thickness and fresh weights of root and above-ground tissue at 40 d after runner plantlet fixation were higher in the ERH treatment than in sandy loam and loamy sand. When the influence of RRS was compared, the VWC of ERH was 55% just after irrigation, but decreased to 26% at just before irrigation. Ranges of the VWC as influenced by irrigation cycle were 16 to 10% in the PP and less than 10% in the NF and RPS. The soil temperature in the PE treatment was around $1^{\circ}C$ lower than in NF, PP, and RPS. The differences between day and night temperatures were also smaller in the PE treatment rather than those in NF, PP, and RPS. The growths of runner plantlet 50 d after fixation showed that plant heights as well as fresh weights of root and above-ground tissue were higher in the PE treatment than in NF, PP, and RPS. NF and PP did not effectively restrict roots inside the medium and the roots of runner plantlets penetrated through the root restriction materials resulting in the formation of root system below the restriction materials. The above results indicate that ERH is more effective than sandy loam or loamy sand as root medium. PE rather than NF, PP, or RPS as root restriction material resulted in better growth of runner plantlets in propagation of 'Seolhyang' strawberry. The results of this research will be used for production of high quality runner plantlets in strawberry propagation.