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, E-mail: Leonard.Besemann@ndsu.edu

'SUGAR ENHANCED' SWEETCORN HYBRID PERFORMANCE TRIAL

Richard Greenland, Leonard Besemann and Heidi Eslinger


Results summary

Table 24. Baby corn harvest date and spread, and number and weight of marketable baby corn ears

Table 25. Baby corn ear characteristics

Table 26. Effects of secondary ear removal for baby corn on ear diameter, # of ears per acre and yield of se sweetcorn

Table 27. Corn development, ear height, ear removal score, and percent lodging for se sweetcorn

Table 28. Number of ears per acre and yield of se sweetcorn

Table 29. Husk characteristics of se sweetcorn

Table 30. 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:

Maddock sandy loam, Hecla sandy loam and Embden sandy loam; pH=6.3; 2.5% organic matter; soil-P and soil-K were very high; soil-S was low.

Previous crops:

2004 - soybean, cabbage and pumpkin ; 2003 - field corn ; 2002 - onion and cabbage

Seedbed

preparation:

Disked on November 16, 2004. Multiweeded (field cultivated) on May 5 to smooth the seed bed and incorporate fertilizer.

Planting:

Seeded on May 6 in 30-inch rows. Planting depth was 2 inches. Plots were seeded at a rate of 35,000 seeds/acre, then later thinned to 25,000 plants/acre.

Plots:

Plots were 30 ft (12 rows) wide by 17 ft long. There were 4 reps.

Fertilizer:

On April 15, broadcast 26 lbs N/acre and 30 lbs S/acre as 21-0-0-24. Knifed in 125 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 + Agrotain (2.4 qt/ton of N) on June 17.

Irrigation:

Underground drip irrigation as needed.

Pest Control:

Outlook + AAtrex 9-O (1 pt/acre + 0.5 lb ai/acre on May 6), cultivation (June 22), and hand weeding controlled weeds. Applied Dipel (1 lb/acre on July 6) to control European corn borer and corn earworm.

Harvest:

Secondary ears from one of the two center rows from each plot were harvested as baby corn from July 8 to July 26 (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 July 27 to August 12; 22 to 29 days after half-silk date.

RESULTS


           Harvested as baby corn, Honey Select had the highest yield while Avalon had the best appearance. Harvesting secondary ears as baby corn slightly reduced yields. Most hybrids had good yield and quality. Avalon was the best looking. WH 0807 was the most difficult to remove from the stalk. Avalon, BC 0805 VP, Charisma and Renaissance produced the highest marketable yield and had above average quality. BC 1136, Buccaneer, Charisma and Precious Gem were the sweetest. Honey Select, Infinite Delight II and Brocade had the best taste.


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Table 24. Baby corn harvest date and spread, and number and weight of marketable baby corn ears in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2005 sugar enhanced baby corn performance trial.


Hybrid

Seed

source1

Days to

harvest

Harvest

spread2

Number of ears

Yield

unhusked

husked

unhusked

husked

 

days

days

---- 1000s per acre ----

--------- lbs/acre --------

 

Accord

MM

77

6

5.4

4.9

572

72

Avalon

RG

74

4

13.1

13.1

2320

262

BC 0805 VP

RG

76

6

13.8

13.3

2221

241

BC 1136

RG

74

5

9.7

8.2

1792

152

Bon Jour

MM

70

7

11.8

9.2

1704

194

Brocade

MM

73

7

10.5

10.5

1960

189

Buccaneer

MM

73

6

7.9

5.6

1453

117

Charisma

SW

72

5

15.6

12.8

2553

318

Colonial

RG

72

6

10.0

8.2

1802

165

Exotic 65

MA

66

5

14.9

13.8

2032

213

Harris 1001

HR

71

6

16.4

12.8

3248

277

Honey Treat

RG

70

6

12.3

11.3

1681

215

Honey Select

SW

74

5

17.9

16.1

3410

362

Infinite Delight II

MA

68

6

16.4

13.8

2156

240

Luscious

MM

71

4

8.2

5.6

1486

142

Precious Gem

MM

75

6

12.8

11.5

1804

245

Providence

RG

77

6

11.8

11.5

1868

208

Renaissance

HR

69

6

13.1

12.6

1761

169

WH 0807

RG

72

6

13.3

13.3

1857

245

 

Probability

<0.0001

0.87

0.0001

<0.0001

<0.0001

<0.0001

LSD (0.05)

2

--

4.8

4.4

915

91

C.V. (%)

1

38

27

28

33

30

1See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.

2Days from first harvest to last harvest.


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Table 25. Baby corn ear characteristics for the 2005 Oakes Irrigation Research Site sugar enhanced baby corn performance trial.

Hybrid

Seed

source1

Ear weight

unhusked

Ear

husked

Ear

length

diameter

Appearance

Overall

 

----- ounces/ear ------

--------- inches ---------

1 to 5

1 to 10

 

Accord

MM

1.6

0.22

3.0

0.47

3.6

6.5

Avalon

RG

2.8

0.32

3.7

0.55

3.9

8.1

BC 0805 VP

RG

2.6

0.29

3.5

0.56

3.9

7.7

BC 1136

RG

3.0

0.30

3.4

0.58

3.7

7.3

Bon Jour

MM

2.3

0.33

3.2

0.54

3.5

6.4

Brocade

MM

3.0

0.29

3.5

0.56

3.3

7.7

Buccaneer

MM

2.9

0.33

3.3

0.56

3.6

7.1

Charisma

SW

2.6

0.42

3.8

0.58

3.6

7.6

Colonial

RG

2.9

0.32

3.6

0.58

3.7

7.3

Exotic 65

MA

2.2

0.25

3.1

0.53

3.5

7.5

Harris 1001

HR

3.1

0.34

3.9

0.58

3.1

6.8

Honey Treat

RG

2.2

0.30

3.7

0.57

3.7

7.7

Honey Select

SW

3.0

0.36

3.8

0.60

3.9

7.5

Infinite Delight II

MA

2.1

0.28

3.3

0.55

3.7

7.6

Luscious

MM

2.9

0.40

3.6

0.63

3.4

7.1

Precious Gem

MM

2.2

0.33

3.9

0.55

3.7

7.1

Providence

RG

2.5

0.29

3.6

0.55

3.8

7.8

Renaissance

HR

2.2

0.22

3.2

0.54

3.2

7.4

WH 0807

RG

2.2

0.29

3.6

0.55

3.7

7.9

 

Probability

<0.0001

<0.0001

0.0002

0.003

<0.0001

<0.0001

LSD (0.05)

0.4

0.07

0.4

0.06

0.3

0.7

C.V. (%)

11

15

8

7

6

6

1See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.


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Table 26. Effects of secondary ear removal for baby corn on ear diameter, number of ears per acre and yield of sweetcorn in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2005 se sweetcorn performance trial.



Treatment

Unhusked

Husked

marketable

total

marketable

total

ears

yield

ears

yield

ears

yield

ears

yield

 

1000s/A

tons/A

1000s/A

tons/A

1000s/A

tons/A

1000s/A

tons/A

 

Secondary ears not removed

20.6

7.9

23.4

8.5

19.2

4.9

23.4

5.5

Secondary ears removed

19.3

7.6

21.1

8.0

18.0

4.7

21.1

5.2

 

Probability

0.0149

0.07

<0.0001

0.0009

0.03

0.15

<0.0001

0.007

C.V. (%)

15

12

12

11

17

14

12

12