Soil:

 Maddock sandy loam; pH=7.0; 2.0% organic matter; soil-P and soil-K were very high; soil-S was low.

Previous crops:

2002 - sweet corn; 2001 - pumpkin; 2000 - carrot.

Seedbed

preparation:

Disked twice; April 11 and April 24. Multiweeded (field cultivated) twice on April 24 to incorporate herbicide and fertilizer.

Planting:

Direct seeded cabbage and a barley cover crop (0.45 bu/acre) on April 29 with a Monosem precision planter. Cabbage seeds were spaced about 6 inches apart in 21-inch rows. Plants were later thinned to about 12 inches apart (about 29,000 plants/acre). Seeds were placed about ½ to ¾ inches deep into a flat, fine seedbed. A row of barley was planted between and parallel to the cabbage rows. Started transplants in greenhouse on April 8. Bare-root cabbage was planted on May 2, plug transplants on May 7. As it was planted, each plant received ½ cup of fertilizer solution (1 gal 10-34-0 in 100 gal of water).

Plots:

Main plots were 34 ft long by one row (21 inches) wide. Each main plot was divided into two 17-ft long sections. The study had 4 reps.

Fertilizer:

On April 9, broadcast 11 lbs N/acre and 52 lbs P₂0₅ as 11-52-0, 30 lbs K₂O as 0-0-60 and 18 lbs N/acre and 20 lbs S/acre as 21-0-0-24. Sprayed 50 lbs N/acre as 32-0-0 on April 24. Applied 55 lbs N/acre on June 7 and 50 lbs N/acre on July 15 as 28-0-0.

Irrigation:

Overhead sprinkler irrigation as needed

Pest

Control:

Weeds were controlled using Treflan (1 pt/acre applied preplant incorporated on April 24), Poast + Dash (1.5 pt + 1 pt/acre on May 31, which also killed the barley cover crop), Lentagran (2 lb/acre on June 11), and by hand weeding. Sprayed Sevin (1 qt/acre on June 16 and June 30) to control flea beetle. Asana (8 oz/acre on May 28 and August 21) and DiPel (1 lb/acre on July 14, July 22, July 30, and Aug 6) controlled cabbage looper and cabbage worm.

Harvest:

One section of each main plot was hand harvested when heads were firm and of marketable size (early harvest). The other section was harvested about two weeks later (late harvest). Cabbage head characteristics were measured on representative cabbage heads selected at each harvest from each plot.

Hybrid

Seed

source¹

Early

stand²

Days to

harvest

Harvest

spread³

Number

of heads

Yield

Overall

score

Head

shape⁴

Head

size

1000s/A

---------- days ----------

1000s/A

tons/acre

1 to 10

1 to 5

lbs/head

Almanac

BE

21.2

  81 ab⁵

  9 a

20.1

32.5 a

7.2 cde

3.2 c

3.3 ab

Artost

BE

22.7

  80 ab

15 ab

22.3

26.6 bcd

7.8 ab

3.0 d

2.4 de

Bartolo

BE

21.2

110 h

29 d

17.6

21.6 def

7.5 bcd

3.8 b

2.5 de

Bronco

BE

20.9

  91 de

15 ab

19.4

28.3 ab

8.0 a

3.1 d

2.9 bc

Cairo

BE

22.3

100 fg

24 bcd

18.3

17.5 f

7.3 cde

3.0 d

1.9 fg

Cambria

BE

22.3

  85 bc

17 ab

20.5

25.5 b-e

6.7 f

3.0 d

2.5 de

Fresco

BE

19.4

  89 cd

14 ab

16.8

29.0 ab

7.2 de

3.0 d

3.5 a

Gazebo

BE

19.0

  84 abc

10 a

16.8

20.9 ef

7.5 bcd

3.0 d

2.5 de

General

BE

21.2

  79 a

13 ab

19.6

21.5 c-f

6.9 ef

2.9 d

2.2 ef

Morris

BE

22.7

  81 ab

17 abc

21.6

26.9 bc

7.7 abc

3.0 d

2.5 de

NIZ 17-660

VL

21.7

104 gh

16 abc

18.6

29.4 ab

7.2 de

3.0 d

3.2 ab

Ramada

BE

22.7

  95 ef

13 a

20.1

26.6 bcd

8.1 a

3.1 d

2.6 cd

Ranchero

BE

20.9

  93 de

28 cd

19.8

17.7 f

7.2 de

3.0 d

1.8 g

Saratoga

BE

22.7

118 i

31 d

16.8

19.3 f

7.1 ef

4.1 a

2.3 e

Probability

0.24

<.0001

0.0014

0.12

<.0001

<.0001

<.0001

<.0001

C. V. (%)

10

5

41

14

14

4

3

9

Hybrid

Seed

source¹

Early

stand²

Days to

harvest

Harvest

spread³

Number

of heads

Yield

Overall

score

Head

shape⁴

Head

size

1000s/A

---------- days ----------

1000s/A

tons/acre

1 to 10

1 to 5

lbs/head

Clarissa

BE

37.8 abc⁵

114 def

23 bcd

19.1 ab

15.6 fgh

4.8 g

7.0 a

1.6 j

Amtrak

BE

34.8 bc

120 ef

15 ab

9.2 c

13.3 gh

7.0 cd

4.5 b

3.0 a

Artost

BE

34.4 cd

  97 ab

17 ab

20.5 a

25.7 abc

7.4 ab

2.9 e

2.5 b-f

Bartolo

BE

38.1 abc

127 g

30 d

16.1 b

18.7 def

7.1 bcd

4.4 b

2.3 d-h

Bronco

BE

41.0 abc

107 c

20 a-d

20.9 a

27.3 ab

7.3 abc

3.4 c

2.6 a-e

Cairo

BE

37.0 abc

115 de

28 cd

18.3 ab

17.8 efg

7.2 bcd

3.1 e

2.0 hij

Cambria

BE

39.2 abc

  97 b

16 ab

20.1 ab

22.8 bcd

6.3 f

3.0 e

2.3 e-h

Fresco

BE

41.0 abc

107 c

25 bcd

21.9 a

30.6 a

6.5 ef

2.9 e

2.8 abc

Gazebo

BE

41.7 ab

  96 ab

15 ab

21.2 a

23.3 bcd

7.2 a-d

3.1 de

2.2 fgh

General

BE

37.3 abc

  91 a

15 ab

21.2 a

22.3 cde

6.2 f

3.0 e

2.1 ghi

Matsumo

BE

42.8 a

106 c

22 bcd

22.3 a

29.9 a

6.9 de

2.5 f

2.7 a-d

Morris

BE

27.5 d

  98 b

11 a

19.0 ab

22.4 b-e

7.0 cd

3.0 e

2.4 c-g

NIZ 17-660

VL

37.7 abc

120 f

20 a-d

18.3 ab

24.9 bc

7.0 cd

3.1 de

2.7 abc

Ramada

BE

43.6 a

111 cd

25 bcd

22.0 a

29.8 a

7.7 a

3.3 cd

2.7 a-d

Ranchero

BE

39.2 abc

107 c

19 abc

19.0 ab

17.0 fg

6.9 cde

3.0 e

1.8 ij

Saratoga

BE

34.8 bc

131 g

17 ab

8.4 c

11.4 h

7.3 abc

4.5 b

2.9 ab

Probability

0.01

<.0001

0.02

<.0001

<.0001

<.0001

<.0001

<.0001

C. V. (%)

13

4

35

16

16

4

5

12

Hybrid

Seed

source¹

Early

stand²

Days to

harvest

Harvest

spread³

Number

of heads

Yield

Overall

score

Head

shape⁴

Head

size

1000s/A

--------- days --------

1000s/A

tons/acre

1 to 10

1 to 5

lbs/head

Almanac

BE

22.3

  83 c⁵

12 a

22.7

40.8 a

7.5 cde

3.3 c

3.6 a

Amtrak

BE

23.8

108 h

27 cde

19.4

23.1 g-j

6.6 g

4.1 b

2.4 efg

Artost

BE

23.1

  79 b

12 a

22.7

31.3 cde

7.9 ab

3.0 d

2.8 cd

Bartolo

BE

22.7

110 h

34 e

18.7

21.8 hij

7.4 cde

4.3 ab

2.3 fg

Bronco

BE

23.1

  89 de

12 a

22.3

32.7 bcd

7.6 bc

3.1 cd

2.9 cd

Cairo

BE

23.1

  93 f

21 bcd

20.5

19.0 j

7.2 def

3.0 d

1.9 i

Cambria

BE

23.8

  83 c

11 a

21.6

29.2 c-f

6.9 fg

3.0 d