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

ONION HYBRID PERFORMANCE TRIAL, 1996

Richard G Greenland and Leonard Besemann

Onions grow well and onion production has increased rapidly in North Dakota. Growers are producing mostly yellow sweet Spanish onions and some storage onions. This trial consisted of 20 onion cultivars.

Results summary

Table 34. Onion yields.

Table 35. Maturity, stand, and quality of onions.

Table 36. Percent sugar, NO3, K+, and pH.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Soil: Maddock sandy loam; pH=7.5; 2.4% organic matter; soil-P was medium; soil-K was high; soil-S was very low.
Previous crops: 1995 - soybean; 1994 - carrot; 1993 - pumpkin and winter squash.
Seedbed preparation: Disked twice on April 17. Multiweeded (field cultivated) twice on April 18 to incorporate fertilizer and smooth the seedbed.
Planting: Drilled barley cover crop on April 18 (1 bu/acre, 7-inch rows). Direct seeded onions on April 19 with a Stanhay vegetable planter at a population of about 200,000 seeds/acre. Planted in paired rows (3" apart), with the paired rows on 16" centers. Onions were planted perpendicular to the barley cover crop. Sprayed Fusilade + Penetrate II on May 21 (1 pt/acre + 1 pt/25 gal) and on June 4 (10 oz/acre + 1 pt/25 gal) to kill the barley cover crop.
Plots: Plots were 3 ft (two paired rows) wide by 17 ft long. The study had 4 reps.
Fertilizer: On April 17, broadcast 14 lbs N/acre and 70 lbs P2O5/acre as 10-50-0, 16 lbs N/acre and 19 lbs S/acre as 21-0-0-24, and 94 lbs K20/acre as 0-0-60. Sprayed 18 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 on April 17. Side dressed with urea twice: 70 lbs N/acre on June 19; and 50 lbs N/acre on July 9.
Irrigation: Overhead sprinkler irrigation as needed.
Pest control: Weeds were controlled with: Dacthal (8 lbs/acre on May 6 which was preemergence to onions but post emergence to barley); Prowl (1.5 pt/acre on May 21); Buctril and Goal (1.0 and 0.6 pt/acre on June 7); Buctril and Goal (0.5 and 0.3 pt/acre on July 2); Fusilade + Penetrate II (1 pt/acre + 1 pt/25 gal on May 21, June 4, and July 30). No insect control needed.
Harvest: Pulled from Aug. 30 to Sept. 16 (depending on maturity). Onions were allowed to dry in the field until about the middle of October, when they were bagged. The tops were removed and onions graded on Nov. 4.

RESULTS

Pinnacle, Oro Grande, and Santos had the highest yields of large onions. Teton also had high yields but half of the yield was medium or small in size. Fabius yielded well and had excellent quality. Pinnacle and Oro Grande had a high percentage of single centers. Mercury was the best yielding red onion. Yields and quality of most hybrids were good this year.

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Table 34. Onion yields in the Oakes Irrigation Research Station 1996 onion hybrid performance trial. Hybrids listed in order of maturity.
Hybrid Source1 >4" 3 to 4" 2.25 to 3" <2.25" Doubles Total

--------------------------------------- cwt/acre ---------------------------------------

Yellow onions
Norstar TH(AS) 0 f 2 92 i 338 ab 56 bcd 0 488 hij
Paragon TH(SS) 0 f 182 hi 352 ab 45 b-e 0 590 e-h
Tamara BZ 0 f 245 gh 298 bc 45 cde 0 595 e-h
Golden Cascade NH(SC) 48 c 480 bc 181 f-i 19 hij 6 787 abc
Copra TH(AS) 0 f 89 i 314 ab 62 abc 0 467 ij
Teton PS 0 f 355 d-g 365 a 31 e-h 1 776 abc
Brown Beauty NH(SC) 10 ef 208 hi 237 def 81 a 0 573 f-i
Discovery TH(RC) 2 ef 247 gh 162 ghi 38 d-g 5 491 hij
Prince BZ 0 f 249 gh 292 bcd 43 cde 0 613 efg
Candy (MD) NH(PS) 5 ef 169 hi 180 f-i 64 ab 6 446 j
Fury NH(SC) 5 ef 327 efg 244 cde 42 def 2 661 def
Pinnacle PS 8 ef 621 a 178 f-i 23 f-j 0 841 ab
Oro Grande FM 40 cd 539 ab 215 efg 16 hij 1 870 a
Augustus FM 42 cd 459 bcd 238 c-f 17 hij 2 817 ab
Fabius FM 51 bc 445 b-e 138 ij 9 j 4 698 cde
Valient TH(PE) 27 cde 425 b-e 95 j 10 ij 0 580 fgh
Santos VL 139 a 431 b-e 85 j 18 hij 4 751 bcd
Red onions
Mercury NH(PS) 2 ef 402 c-f 182 f-i 20 g-j 4 621 ef
Bennies Red TH(AS) 14 def 283 fgh 136 hij 25 e-j 8 489 hij
Fuego PS 7 ef 233 gh 206 e-h 30 e-i 5 504 g-j
C.V.(%) 90 25 19 39 227 12

1See appendix A for seed source codes.

2Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level (no letters in column = no significant differences between values in that column).

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Table 35. Maturity, stand, and quality results for the Oakes Irrigation Research Station 1996 onion hybrid performance trial.
Hybrid Seed source1 Days to half-down2 Total bulbs Single centers Overall score Uniformity
1000s/acre % 1 to 10 1 to 5
Yellow onions
Norstar TH(AS) 117 151 a-d 15 e-h 8.0 abc 4.0
Paragon TH(SS) 118 162 abc 13 e-h 7.8 a-d 4.0
Tamara BZ 121 154 a-d 25 c-h 7.9 a-d 4.0
Golden Cascade NH(SC) 121 148 bcd 25 c-h 7.6 a-e 3.8
Copra TH(AS) 122 159 abc 10 fgh 7.5 b-e 3.9
Teton PS 122 170 a 35 b-f 7.3 cde 3.5
Brown Beauty NH(SC) 122 159 abc 0 h 7.1 de 3.6
Discovery TH(RC) 122 121 efg 0 h 7.5 b-e 3.8
Prince BZ 122 155 a-d 5 gh 7.3 cde 3.6
Candy (MD) NH(PS) 124 141 cde 20 d-h 6.0 f 3.1
Fury NH(SC) 124 149 a-d 65 a 6.9 e 3.3
Pinnacle PS 129 151 a-d 60 ab 8.3 ab 4.1
Oro Grande FM 130 162 ab 60 ab 7.4 cde 3.6
Augustus FM 131 156 abc 30 c-g 7.6 a-e 3.6
Fabius FM 133 121 efg 30 c-g 8.4 a 4.0
Valient TH(PE) 133 92 h 50 abc 7.5 b-e 3.5
Santos VL 133 123 efg 5 gh 7.5 b-e 3.6
Red onions
Mercury NH(PS) 121 135 def 45 a-d 7.5 b-e 3.8
Bennies Red TH(AS) 128 108 gh 39 a-e 7.6 a-e 3.7
Fuego PS 135 116 fg 13 e-h 7.8 a-d 3.8
LSD (0.05) 4 * * * NS
C.V. (%) 2 10 68 8 11

1See appendix A for seed source codes.

2The "days to half-down" value was the number of days from planting to when half the onion tops had fallen over. This is an indication of maturity.

*Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level.

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Table 36. Quality data of the Oakes Irrigation Research Station 1996 onion hybrid performance trial. Hybrids listed in order of maturity.
Hybrid Seed source1 Sugar NO3- K+ pH
% ------------ppm-------------
Yellow onions
Norstar TH(AS) 9.0 3075 1575 5.55
Paragon TH(SS) 8.8 2475 1200 5.65
Tamara BZ 10.5 4450 1775 5.73
Golden Cascade NH(SC) 6.2 328 1168 5.49
Copra TH(AS) 10.6 5833 1867 5.60
Teton PS 9.7 2625 1575 5.63
Brown Beauty NH(SC) 7.9 710 1250 6.01
Discovery TH(RC) 8.0 2400 1250 5.61
Prince BZ 8.5 1020 1500 5.65
Candy (MD) NH(PS) 8.0 162 1525 5.64
Fury NH(SC) 7.7 1040 1400 5.54
Pinnacle PS 8.2 1550 1375 5.54
Oro Grande FM 7.6 3300 1200 5.51
Augustus FM 8.1 2725 1300 5.54
Fabius FM 9.3 3175 1675 5.60
Valient TH(PE) 7.7 1270 1400 5.60
Santos VL 7.4 795 1043 5.41
Red onions
Mercury NH(PS) 7.0 928 1200 5.33
Bennies Red TH(AS) 8.8 1225 1425 5.65
Fuego PS 10.3 870 1825 5.65

1See appendix A for seed source codes.

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