Background : The purpose of this study was to establish the optimum organic compost composition and fertilizer application for nutrient management during the cultivation of Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) in the greenhouse.
Methods and Results : Wood chips, popped rice hulls, and mixed expeller cake were mixed with certain contents, fermented microorganisms were added, and fermented for about 100 days to produce organic composts. Organic compost was applied to the greenhouse soils at a rate of 1,500 – 3,000 ㎏/10 a, and the Korean ginseng seedlings were planted (2015) and cultivated. The growth and quality characteristics of 4-years-old Korean ginseng were investigated as follows. In all treatments, the emergence date were April 17, and the emergence rate were 70 - 74%. Soil chemical properties such as pH (6.7 - 6.8) and trace element Ca (7.9 - 9.2 cmol+/㎏) were higher than the standard values, and EC, P2O5 and OM were appropriate. Disease incidence rate were less than 0.2% in the control (treatments of livestock manure compost 1,500 ㎏/10 a) and treatment 3 (wood chips 60% + popped rice hulls 40%), but there were no disease in other treatments. Plant growth such as plant height, leaf length, and stem diameter were superior to treatment 1 (wood chips 20% + popped rice hulls 80%), and growth of underground part such as root length were excellent in treatment 1 as a whole. In particular, in the application of 1,500 - 2,000 ㎏ of treatment 1, root weight (39.9 g, 42.3 g/plant, respectively) were superior to the other treatments. In general, as woodchip content and usage amount increase, root weight tended to decrease.
Conclusion : It is considered appropriate to apply 1,500 - 2,000 ㎏/10 a of fermented compost of organic material which is mixed with wood chips (20%) and popped rice hulls (80%) with mixed expeller cake when growing Korean ginseng in the plastic house covered with blue-white vinyl.