Influence of Ridge Height on Tuber Quality and Quantity in Liriope platyphylla Wang et. Tang
Background : Liriope platyphylla Wang et. Tang is a perennial plant and its tuberous root is used as herbal medicine. Liriope platyphylla is grown throughout a year from April to April of next year. Recently, the production was lowered because of severe drought/rainfall and injury by successive cropping. The ridge height affected the growth of shoots and roots as affected by drought or rainfall. It is necessary to establish the cultivation techniques for stable quantity per unit area and good tuber’s quality. This experiment was carried out to select a cultivar of good tuber quality and to determine the ridge height for high-yielding. Methods and Results : It were investigated the characteristics of roots and tubers depending on different ridge heights in four varieties of Liriope platyphylla Wang et. Tang. There was not significantly different in shoot growth by different ridge heights. The tubers distribution in less than 10cm soil depth at the surface was decreased about 6.6% in the 15cm ridge height compared to 5cm. So, the mean distributed position of tubers was deepened at higher ridge. The cultivars that tubers were mainly distributed in the 10cm depth from surface was Seoungsu and Cheongyang natives’s lines. The no. of tubers per a plant and the ratio of marketable tubers were increased about 13.2% and 20.1% in the 15cm ridge height compared to 5cm. Considering the tuber sizes and ratio of marketable tubers, Cheongshim and Maekmundong 1 has good quality than Seoungsu or Cheongyang natives’s lines. The tuber yield increased about 19.5% in the 15cm ridge height compared to the 5cm. So, high ridge was advantaged to increase the yield. Conclusion : From the above results, the quality and quantity of tubers of Liriope platyphylla Wang et. Tang was good in the higher ridge. We recommended Cheongshim cultivar because of the large tuber sizes and high ratio of marketable tubers.