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

'SUPERSWEET' SWEETCORN HYBRID PERFORMANCE TRIAL

Richard Greenland, Leonard Besemann and Delores Anderson

Table 23. Corn development, ear height and ear removal score

Table 24. Number of ears per acre and yield

Table 25. Husk characteristics of sh₂ sweetcorn

Table 26. Ear characteristics of sh₂ 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.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Soil:	Maddock sandy loam and Egeland loam; pH=7.9; 2.0% organic matter; soil-P and soil-K were very high; soil-S was low.
Previous crops:	2001 - edible bean; 2000 - pumpkin and winter squash; 1999 - edible bean.
Seedbed preparation:	Coulter chiseled 15 inches deep on April 18. Multiweeded (field cultivated) May 14 and May 15 to incorporate fertilizer and smooth seed bed.
Planting:	Seeded on May 15 in 30-inch rows. Planting depth was about ¾ inch. Seeding rate was 50,000 seeds/acre. Stand was later thinned to 28,000 plants/acre.
Plots:	Plots were 12.5 ft (5 rows) wide by 17 ft long. There were 4 reps.
Fertilizer:	On April 18, broadcast 18 lbs N/acre and 20 lbs S/acre as 21-0-0-24. Sprayed 25 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 on May 15. Knifed in 100 lbs N/acre as 32-0-0 + N-serve (1 qt/acre) on June 20.
Irrigation:	Overhead sprinkler irrigation as needed.
Pest Control:	Outlook (1 pt/acre on May 17), Basagran + AAtrex + COC (1 pt + 0.5 lb + 1 pt/acre on Jun 4), two cultivations (Jun 7 and Jun 27), and hand weeding controlled weeds. Sprayed Asana (8 oz/acre on Jul 1) and Ambush (8 oz/acre on Jul 9) to control European corn borer and corn earworm.
Harvest:	Hand harvested 23 to 25 days after half-silk date. Only the center row of each plot was harvested. Harvested from Jul 30 to Aug 14.

RESULTS

Most hybrids had good yield and quality. BSS 6284, Bicolor Saturn, and 86804 were the best looking. BSS 6284, BSS 0977 VP, and Cronus had the highest yields.

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Table 23. Corn development, ear height and ear removal score for sh₂ sweetcorn in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2002 supersweet sweetcorn performance trial.

Hybrid	Seed source¹	Early stand²	Days to half-silk	Days to harvest	Ear height³	Ear removal⁴
		1000s/acre			inches	1 to 10

86804	SW	21.3 c⁵	66 d	88 d	24.3 de	9.3 abc
Bicolor Saturn	SW	32.8 ab	63 b	83 c	23.5 de	8.5 bc
BSS 6284	RG	33.3 ab	59 a	77 a	23.3 de	9.0 abc
BSS 0977 VP	RG	35.9 a	67 ef	90 d	31.8 ab	9.8 a
BSS 1690 VP	RG	30.0 b	62 b	79 b	22.5 e	6.3 c
Cronus (GSS 3587)	RG	35.1 ab	64 c	85 c	25.0 de	8.3 c
GSS 0966 VP	RG	31.8 ab	66 de	88 d	28.3 c	9.5 ab
Starship II	SW	20.5 c	69 g	90 d	32.0 a	9.3 abc
Tahoe (WSS 1921)	RG	31.5 ab	67 f	89 d	29.3 bc	9.5 ab
Tethys (BSS 9536)	RG	19.5 c	66 d	88 d	25.3 d	9.5 ab

Probability		<.0001	<.0001	<.0001	<.0001	<.0001
C.V. (%)		14	1	2	7	8

¹See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.

²Corn was over planted. After stand count, corn was thinned to about 28,000 plants/acre (unless there were fewer than 28,000 plants that emerged).

³Distance from ground to base of ear.

³Indicates ease of ear removal. The higher the score, the easier it was to remove the ear.

⁴Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level.

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Table 24. Number of ears per acre and yield of sh₂ sweetcorn in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2002 supersweet sweetcorn performance trial.

Hybrid	Seed source¹	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

86804	SW	24.1 ab²	8.9 ab	25.4 ab	9.2 ab	20.0 bcd	4.8 ab	25.4 ab	5.7 a
Bicolor Saturn	SW	25.9 ab	8.8 abc	26.6 ab	8.9 abc	23.3 ab	5.2 a	26.6 ab	5.7 a
BSS 6284	RG	26.1 ab	9.4 a	26.6 ab	9.5 a	23.1 ab	5.5 a	26.6 ab	6.0 a
BSS 0977 VP	RG	26.9 a	8.0 bc	28.7 a	8.4 bc	25.6 a	5.4 a	28.7 a	5.8 a
BSS 1690 VP	RG	22.8 b	8.4 abc	25.4 ab	9.0 ab	18.2 cd	4.2 b	25.4 ab	5.4 a
Cronus (GSS 3587)	RG	23.8 ab	7.8 bcd	24.1 b	7.8 cd	23.3 ab	5.3 a	24.1 b	5.4 a
GSS 0966 VP	RG	24.3 ab	7.6 cde	25.9 ab	7.9 cd	22.0 abc	4.7 ab	25.9 ab	5.2 a
Starship II	SW	16.9 c	6.5 e	18.7 c	6.9 de	12.0 e	3.2 c	18.7 c	4.3 b
Tahoe (WSS 1921)	RG	24.9 ab	7.8 bcd	26.6 ab	8.1 bc	22.8 ab	4.9 ab	26.6 ab	5.4 a
Tethys (BSS 9536)	RG	19.2 c	6.7 de	19.2 c	6.7 e	17.2 d	4.0 bc	19.2 c	4.4 b

Probability		<.0001	0.0007	<.0001	<.0001	<.0001	0.0008	<.0001	0.0014
C.V. (%)		10	11	10	9	13	14	10	10

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.

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Table 25. Husk characteristics of sh₂ sweetcorn in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2002 supersweet sweetcorn performance trial.

Hybrid	Seed source¹	Husk color²	Distance husk over tip³	Husk tightness⁴	Percent short shank	Husk overall score
		1 to 3	inches	1 to 3	%	1 to 10

86804	SW	1.9	1.4 a⁵	2.8 ab	71 abc	7.8 a
Bicolor Saturn	SW	1.9	0.9 bc	2.9 a	56 bc	7.9 a
BSS 6284	RG	2.0	1.1 ab	2.4 cd	49 c	7.9 a
BSS 0977 VP	RG	1.3	0.9 bc	2.3 cde	83 a	7.3 ab
BSS 1690 VP	RG	1.5	0.7 bc	2.1 de	81 a	6.4 c
Cronus (GSS 3587)	RG	1.8	0.7 bc	2.0 e	94 a	6.5 bc
GSS 0966 VP	RG	1.8	1.1 ab	2.5 bc	75 ab	7.1 abc
Starship II	SW	1.6	0.4 cd	3.0 a	53 bc	6.8 bc
Tahoe (WSS 1921)	RG	1.8	0.4 cd	2.3 cde	80 a	6.8 bc
Tethys (BSS 9536)	RG	2.0	0.1 d	2.1 de	86 a	6.8 bc

Probability		0.19	0.0013	<.0001	0.004	0.0008
C.V. (%)		22	46	11	22	7

¹See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.

²Color of husk. 1 to 3 is light to dark green.

³The distance the husk extends beyond the end of the ear.

⁴How tight husk is around ear. 1 = loose; 3 = tight.

⁵Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level. If no letters follow

values in a column then there were no significant differences between values in that column.

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Table 26. Ear characteristics of sh₂ sweetcorn in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2002 supersweet sweetcorn performance trial.

Hybrid	Seed source¹	Ear length	Ear diameter	Average rows of kernels	Tip unfilled	Tip shape²	Kernel color	Kernel yellow intensity³	Ear overall score
		------- inches ------			inches	1 to 3		1 to 3	1 to 10

86804	SW	7.8 bc⁴	1.83 a	20.0 a	0.0 a	1.0	bi	2.8 a	6.6 cde
Bicolor Saturn	SW	7.8 bc	1.74 abc	15.0 bc	0.0 a	1.0	bi	3.0 a	8.1 ab
BSS 6284	RG	8.5 a	1.81 a	15.5 bc	1.1 b	1.0	bi	2.0 b	7.5 a-e
BSS 0977 VP	RG	7.4 c	1.72 abc	17.0 b	0.0 a	1.0	bi	3.0 a	7.9 abc
BSS 1690 VP	RG	8.5 a	1.66 bc	14.5 c	0.2 a	1.0	bi	1.8 b	6.4 e
Cronus (GSS 3587)	RG	7.9 b	1.72 abc	15.5 bc	0.3 a	1.3	yel	3.0 a	7.8 a-d
GSS 0966 VP	RG	7.8 bc	1.72 abc	16.0 bc	0.0 a	1.0	yel	2.9 a	8.6 a
Starship II	SW	8.6 a	1.80 a	17.0 b	0.0 a	1.0	bi	2.8 a	6.5 de
Tahoe (WSS 1921)	RG	7.8 bc	1.65 c	16.5 bc	0.0 a	1.0	w⁵	—	7.0 b-e
Tethys (BSS 9536)	RG	7.8 bc	1.77 ab	15.5 bc	0.1 a	1.0	bi	2.8 a	7.8 a-d

Probability		0.0001	0.035	0.003	<.0001	0.46		0.004	0.018
C.V. (%)		4	4	10	153	15		17	12

¹See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.

²Tip shape: 1 is pointed; 2 is blunt; 3 is double or flat.

³Gives darkness of yellow kernels on ear: 1 = light yellow; 2 = medium yellow; 3 = dark yellow.

⁴Values in the same column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level. If no letters follow

values in a column then there were no significant differences between values in that column.

⁵The white color was more of a yellowish cream color.

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