Comparison of Growth Characteristics and Yield of Ginseng Plants Grown in Blue-White Vinyl Greenhouses in Different Regions
Background : This study was conducted to examine the suitability of the blue/white vinyl for ginseng cultivation greenhouses in different regions in an effort to develop a stable ginseng cultivation technology and contribute to popularizing ginseng greenhouse farming. Methods and Results : For comparison purposes, ginseng plants were cultivated in the traditional shading and greenhouse shading facilities. The average temperature in the greenhouse shading facilities during the period of May through October was 20.5℃ in Namwon, 21.4℃ in Jinan, and 23.3℃ in Iksan, with Iksan recording a 1.9–2.8℃ higher average temperature, presumably due to its location in a plain area with low elevation. The average temperatures in the traditional shading facilities ranged between 22.9℃ and 25.7℃, 2.4–2.6℃ higher compared with the greenhouse shading facilities. As for the incidence of disease and pest, as low as 0.1–0.3% of the plants grown under greenhouse shading were infected with Colletotrichum dematium, Alternaria panax, and Rhizoctonia solani, whereas much higher incidences were noted in the control plants, with 3.3–11.3%, 4.7–17.0%, 0.1–0.5%, and 3.0–5.7% infected with Colletotrichum dematium, Alternaria panax, Rhizoctonia solani, and Phytophthora cactorum, respectively, throughout the regions. Heat injury occurred only in Iksan (0.3%) in the case of greenhouse-shaded plants, whereas the control plants suffered from much severer heat injury: 3.5% in Namwon, 10% in Jinan, and as high as 35.3% in Iksan. As for the roots, Namwon outperformed other regions in root length (29.7 ㎝), taproot length (8.7 ㎝), and taproot diameter (25.3 ㎜), and also the root fresh weight (53.4 g), followed by Jinan (48.7 g) and Iksan (40.4 g). In yield as well, the greenhouse in Namwon outperformed other regions with 1,297㎏/10a, followed by Jinan (1,183 ㎏) and Iksan (932 ㎏). The effect of greenhouse blue-white vinyl shading on yield by region was analyzed to increase of 177% in Namwon, 209% in Jinan, and 173% in Iksan with respect to their respective traditional shading facilities. Conclusion : The suitability of the blue/white vinyl shading in ginseng cultivation greenhouses was tested experimentally in three different regions. As a result, greenhouse-shaded ginseng plants were found to be much less affected by heat injury compared with traditionally shaded ginseng plants, resulting in much higher yields in all regions. This allows the conclusion that greenhouse ginseng cultivation can contribute to more stable ginseng yield and popularization of ginseng cultivation.