Differences in Growth after Transplanting of Kimchi Cabbage Seedlings Assessed using Image-Based Non-Destructive Grading

Kimchi cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp.pekinensis) is the most widely consumed vegetable crop in Korea.The production of vigorous seedlings is essential in vegetable cultivation to ensure stable post-transplant growth, highlighting the need for technologies that enable rapid, objective, and non-destructive assessment.This study aimed to evaluate seedling growth of kimchi cabbage using image analysis and to determine differences in early growth after transplanting among image-based seedling grades.To induce variation in seedling growth, kimchi cabbage (cv.'Cheongmyeonggaeul') seedlings were cultivated in plug trays with 72, 105, 128, 162, and 200 cells for 25 days after sowing, and then transplanted into pots.Before transplanting, images were acquired to calculate projected canopy size (PCS).PCS values allowed highly accurate prediction of leaf area and shoot fresh weight, and seedlings were subsequently classified into three grades (A-C).At 49 days after transplanting, growth responses differed by seedling grade: grade C seedlings exhibited delayed growth, whereas grades A and B showed comparable growth.These results suggest that PCS enables non-destructive estimation of seedling growth and that image analysis can be applied to select high-quality kimchi cabbage seedlings for transplanting.