Oakes Irrigation Research Site
Carrington Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 531, Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Phone: (701) 742-2744, FAX: (701) 742-2700, E-mail:										Kelly.c.Cooper@ndsu.edu
Onion Hybrid Performance Trial
K. Cooper, L. Besemann and H. Eslinger
Onions have done well under irrigation in North Dakota.  Yellow sweet Spanish is the predominate type grown.  This study tested 21 varieties: sixteen sweet Spanish hybrids, two red hybrids and three white hybrids.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Soil:	Embden sandy loam; pH = 7.2; 2.1% organic matter; soil N 34 lbs/acre; soil P, soil K and soil S were very high.
Previous crop:	2015 – spring wheat.
Seedbed preparation:	Spring conventional tillage.
Planting:	Direct seeded onions (250,000 seeds/acre) April 29 with a Monosem precision planter.  Onions were planted two lines per row with 2.5 inches between lines.  The rows were on 16 inch centers.
Plots:	Plots were 3 ft (two rows) wide by 21 ft long.  The study had four replications.
Fertilizer:	Broadcast 19 lbs N/acre, 50 lbs P2O5/acre, 45 lbs K2O/acre and 10 lbs S/acre as 9‑24‑21-5 April 19. Stream bar 50 lbs N/acre May 30, June 30 and July 1 as 28-0‑0.
Irrigation:	Overhead sprinkler irrigation as needed.
Pest control:	Moxy 2E (6 oz/acre) May 23, Section 2EC (8 oz/acre) June 3, Moxy 2E (12 oz/acre) + Goal Tender (5 oz/acre) June 10, Prowl (1.5 pt/ac) June 23, Moxy 2E (8 oz/acre) + Goal Tender (4 oz/acre) June 28, Select Max (12 oz/acre) + NIS (1 pt/acre) July 8, Select Max (12 oz/acre) August 2 and hand weeding for weed control.
Harvest:	Pulled all onions September 9 and left to field dry/cure. Onions were bagged September 19 and September 20 and graded November 22 to December 2.
RESULTS
Delgado had the highest yield in the onions with diameters of 3 to 4 inches and the highest overall yield.  The onions were doing well until two wind/rain events occurred a week apart.  The most severe storm occurred August 10.  The resulting heavy rain (one inch per hour) and small hail deposited 3.2 inches precipitation, accompanied by winds in excess of 45 MPH.  A substantial number of tops/leaves on many plants were broken.  The damage allowed disease (bacterial blight) to infect the damaged leaves which we believe greatly diminished further increases in bulb size.
Table 1.  Onion hybrid performance trial at the Oakes Irrigation Research Site in 2016.
	Seed	Maturity2	Half							Single	Total
Hybrid	Source	Days	down	>4"	3 to 4"	2¼ to 3"	1 to 2¼"	Total	Culls	Center	Bulbs
				----------------------cwt---------------------------						%	/ac
Calibra	Bejo	115	22-Aug	0	79	86	20	186	122	45	101316
Crockett	Bejo	118	24-Aug	0	82	156	38	277	146	70	143126
Dawson	Bejo1	115	22-Aug	0	71	51	22	143	101	70	82842
Delgado	Bejo	115	25-Aug	5	202	126	28	361	154	65	130291
Gunnison	Bejo	110	15-Aug	0	165	113	25	304	62	75	105594
Hamilton (BGS 167)	Bejo	118	24-Aug	0	161	139	30	329	150	75	138070
Mondella	Bejo	110	18-Aug	0	112	145	27	284	104	85	123485
Red Angel	Bejo1	110	22-Aug	0	67	59	21	147	63	25	82842
Red Bull	Bejo	115	18-Aug	0	89	100	26	214	122	65	111623
Sedona	Bejo	120	22-Aug	0	93	54	10	157	129	90	70202
Commendable	Seminis	115	26-Aug	0	57	64	13	133	138	85	85370
SV4643NT	Seminis	110	16-Aug	0	166	140	28	334	129	45	136125
SV6646NW	Seminis	120	23-Aug	0	157	89	19	265	201	90	129513
SV6672NW	Seminis	116	17-Aug	0	129	112	24	265	174	100	134958
Tucannon	Seminis	118	20-Aug	0	160	140	27	327	161	100	135736
SS-1108	Solar Seed	106	15-Aug	0	65	176	45	286	34	70	119596
Mean			21-Aug	0	116	109	25	251	124	72	114418
C.V.%			14.1	477.1	46.7	35.1	42.1	34.1	31.3	29.8	25.8
LSD 0.10			3.23	2	64	46	13	101	46	25.5	35108
LSD 0.05			3.9	2	77	55	15	122	55	30.6	42104
Planted April 29; pulled/harvested September 9; previous crop = wheat
Fertilizer lbs/acre; 170 N, 50 P, 45  K, 10 S; Irrigation = 11.70 inches
1Supplied by Barry Vculek.
2Maturity given by seed supplier.
Oakes Irrigation Research Site
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