Research of Nursery Methods for Producing Chinese Chive Seedlings for Hydroponic Cultivation

This study was conducted to establish a standardized process for plug seedling production of Chinese chives for hydroponics.The research aimed to determine the germination characteristics and to investigate the effect of sowing amount and leaf cutting on growth during plug cultivation.The results showed that 'Speedgreen' had the highest germination rate, while the traditional variety 'Dume' exhibited a significantly lower germination rate.The germination rate of the 'Speedgreen' was 92% in 3 days, while the 'Greenbelt' reached 66% on the 3rd day and 83% on the 6th to 7th day, and then stopped increasing.The germination rate of 'Dume' was very low, less than 1% until the 7th day and about 24% on the 14th day.The mean germination time (MGT) was 2.28 to 1.38 days for the 'Speedgreen' and 'Greenbelt' as commercial varieties, but 9.22 days for the 'Dume'.The coefficient of velocity of germination (CVG) and germination index (GI) were also the best for the 'Speedgreen'.In the results of the water absorption characteristics of the seeds, the maximum water absorption rate of the 'Dume' was about 85%, while the 'Speedgreen' and 'Greenbelt' reached 97%.In a study on increasing the number of tillers, the increase in the number of leaves was not proportional increment to the seeding amount, and the increase in the number of leaves due to cutting treatment tended to increase as the cutting height increased.It would be good to sow about 8 to 10 seeds per cell in the plug tray.In particular, stem cutting as a treatment to induce increased tillering was deemed effective when performed at a point at least 5 cm above the subterranean part of the chive and that treatment will increasing fresh weight.