Oakes Irrigation Research Site
Carrington Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 531, Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Voice: (701) 742-2189, FAX: (701) 742-2700, email: rgreenla@ndsuext.nodak.edu

'SUGAR ENHANCED' SWEETCORN HYBRID PERFORMANCE TRIAL

Richard Greenland, Leonard Besemann and Heidi Eslinger

Table 34. Harvest data for baby corn

Table 35. Baby corn ear characteristics

Table 36. Corn development, ear height and ear removal score

Table 37. Number of ears per acre and yield

Table 38. Husk characteristics of se sweetcorn

Table 39. Ear characteristics of se sweetcorn

Sweetcorn grows very well in this area of North Dakota. The short summer is compensated for by long days and lots of sunshine. In our trials, sweetcorn has always matured before frost. In this trial, in addition to testing sweetcorn harvested at the regular time, we also tested sweetcorn for harvest as baby corn and the effects of harvesting secondary ears as baby corn on the yield of regular sweetcorn.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Soil:	Embden sandy loam and Maddock sandy loam ; pH=6.7; 2.3% organic matter; soil-P and soil-K were very high; soil-S was low.
Previous crops:	2002 - carrot and potato; 2001 - potato and field corn ; 2000 - cabbage, carrot, edible bean, onion, pepper, pumpkin, soybean, and sweetcorn.
Seedbed preparation:	Disked on April 24. Multiweeded (field cultivated) on May 13 to smooth the seed bed and incorporate fertilizer.
Planting:	Seeded on May 15 in 30-inch rows. Planting depth was about 1½ inches. Plots were seeded at a rate of 50,000 seeds/acre, then later thinned to 28,000 plants/acre.
Plots:	Plots were 15 ft (6 rows) wide by 17 ft long. There were 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 45 lbs N/acre as 32-0-0 on May 13. Knifed in 100 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 + N-serve (1 qt/acre) on June 16.
Irrigation:	Overhead sprinkler irrigation as needed.
Pest Control:	Gramaxone + COC + Outlook + AAtrex (2 pt/acre + 1qt/25 gal + 1 pt + 0.5 lb (ai)/acre on May 15), one cultivation (June 18), and hand weeding controlled weeds. Sprayed Asana (8 oz/acre on July 8) to control European corn borer and corn earworm.
Harvest:	Secondary ears of one of the two center rows of each plot were harvested as baby corn from July 11 to July 30 (at a growth stage of initial silking to 2 days after silking). Primary ears and secondary ears of marketable size from both of the two center rows were hand harvested August 4 to August 14; 23 to 25 days after half-silk date.

RESULTS

Most hybrids had good yield and quality. Tuxedo was the best looking. Silver King was the most difficult to remove from the stalk. Accord, Providence, Precious Gem, Silver King and White Out produced the highest marketable yield and had above average quality. Honey Select was the sweetest. Yield and quality of marketable ears was not affected by harvesting secondary ears as baby corn. Harvested as baby corn, Ecstase II had the highest yield while Brocade TSW and Cloud nine TSW had the best appearance.

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Table 34. Baby corn harvest date and spread, and number and weight of baby corn ears in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2003 sugar enhanced baby corn performance trial.

Hybrid	Seed source¹	Days to harvest	Harvest spread²	Number of ears		Yield
Hybrid	Seed source¹	Days to harvest	Harvest spread²	unhusked	husked	unhusked	husked
		Days	Days	----- 1000s per acre -----		--------- lbs/acre --------

10524	SW	65	7	17.9	15.1	3107	371
Accord	MM	72	5	4.6	3.3	623	59
Bon Appetit TSW	MM	65	5	8.5	7.2	1524	175
Brocade TSW	MM	67	3	6.9	6.7	1214	112
Cloud nine TSW	MM	66	4	10.8	10.8	2220	213
Colonial	RG	68	4	5.4	4.1	1129	75
Ecstase II	SW	61	8	26.6	25.1	3713	558
Honey Select	RG	69	6	20.8	20.5	3649	551
Luscious TSW	MM	67	10	11.3	9.0	1717	174
Native Gem	MM	60	7	20.5	19.0	3009	379
Precious Gem	MM	70	6	7.9	7.7	1260	183
Promise	MM	69	6	7.4	7.2	1184	158
Providence	RG	69	5	9.0	8.5	1638	182
Silver King	RG	70	6	16.1	13.1	2665	308
Spring Treat	MM	61	8	18.2	16.9	2416	334
Tuxedo	MM	68	7	13.8	9.5	2040	216
Welcome	MM	64	7	11.0	10.8	2067	255
Whiteout TSW	MM	67	8	13.3	10.2	2471	314

Probability		<.0001	0.04	<.0001	<.0001	<.0001	<.0001
LSD (0.05)		1.53	3.68	6.22	5.3	1095	132
C.V. (%)		2	43	34	33	37	36

¹See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.

²Days from first harvest to last harvest.

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Table 35. Baby corn ear characteristics for the 2003 Oakes Irrigation Research Site sugar enhanced baby corn performance trial.

Hybrid	Seed source¹	Ear weight		Ear length	Ear diameter	Appearance	Overall
Hybrid	Seed source¹	unhusked	husked	Ear length	Ear diameter	Appearance	Overall
		------ ounces/ear -------		----------- inches ---------		1 to 5	1 to 10

10524	SW	2.7 abc²	0.39 bc	3.6 a-e	0.58 abc	3.6 de	7.0
Accord	MM	2.2 cd	0.27 g	2.5 g	0.39 d	3.3 g	5.3
Bon Appetit TSW	MM	2.9 ab	0.39 bcd	3.1 d-g	0.59 abc	3.6 ef	6.7
Brocade TSW	MM	3.0 ab	0.28 g	3.1 d-g	0.54 abc	4.0 ab	7.0
Cloud nine TSW	MM	3.2 a	0.32 d-g	3.3 a-f	0.59 abc	4.0 a	7.2
Colonial	RG	3.2 a	0.28 fg	2.8 fg	0.50 cd	3.9 abc	6.7
Ecstase II	SW	2.2 cd	0.35 cde	3.3 a-f	0.64 a	3.3 fg	6.6
Honey Select	RG	2.8 abc	0.43 b	3.9 ab	0.60 abc	3.7 b-e	7.2
Luscious TSW	MM	2.4 bcd	0.31 d-g	2.9 efg	0.55 abc	3.6 def	6.4
Native Gem	MM	2.4 bcd	0.32 d-g	3.2 b-f	0.56 abc	3.6 ef	7.1
Precious Gem	MM	2.6 a-d	0.39 bcd	3.7 a-d	0.58 abc	3.8 a-e	7.2
Promise	MM	2.6 a-d	0.35 cde	3.8 abc	0.52 bc	3.9 a-d	6.8
Providence	RG	2.9 ab	0.34 c-f	3.4 a-f	0.53 abc	3.9 a-e	7.5
Silver King	RG	2.7 a-d	0.38 bcd	3.5 a-e	0.59 abc	3.6 de	7.3
Spring Treat	MM	2.1 d	0.31 efg	3.1 c-g	0.55 abc	3.7 b-e	6.9
Tuxedo	MM	2.4 bcd	0.36 cde	3.9 a	0.54 abc	3.6 ef	6.3
Welcome	MM	2.9 ab	0.37 b-e	3.4 a-f	0.62 ab	3.8 a-e	7.3
Whiteout TSW	MM	3.0 ab	0.49 a	3.7 a-d	0.61 ab	3.7 cde	6.7

Probability		0.007	<.0001	0.006	0.024	<.0001	0.46
C.V. (%)		17	12	15	14	6	15

¹See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.

²Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level. No significant differences in

values of column without letters.

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Table 36. Corn development, ear height, ear removal score, lodging, and green snap percentages for se sweetcorn in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2003 sugar enhanced sweetcorn performance trial.

Hybrid	Seed source¹	Early stand²	Days to half-silk	Days to harvest	Ear height³	Ear removal⁴	Lodging	Green Snap
		1000s/A			inches	1 to 10	%	%

10524	SW	31.5	62	83	17.3	5.8	4	5
Accord	MM	29.0	67	90	21.5	5.8	5	11
Bon Appetit TSW	MM	27.9	62	83	19.5	6.5	9	13
Brocade TSW	MM	30.5	65	87	24.5	5.5	8	11
Cloud nine TSW	MM	32.5	63	84	19.8	5.3	4	5
Colonial	RG	32.7	64	85	17.5	5.8	11	5
Ecstase II	SW	32.3	57	—⁵	—	—	—	—
Honey Select	RG	35.0	66	88	24.8	6.3	4	5
Luscious TSW	MM	33.2	62	83	20.8	6.5	9	14
Native Gem	MM	29.9	55	—	—	—	—	—
Precious Gem	MM	29.1	67	89	23.0	6.0	8