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

CHINESE CABBAGE HYBRID PERFORMANCE TRIAL

Table 17. Early stand, days to harvest, yields, overall quality, and head shape and size of Chinese cabbage

Table 18. Head characteristics of Chinese cabbage

Although regular cabbage grows very well in North Dakota, Chinese cabbage often has not formed a good head when direct seeded, making it unmarketable. We evaluated five hybrids to see if some of the present hybrids could form a good head under North Dakota conditions when transplanted or direct seeded.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Soil:	Embden sandy loam and Hecla sandy loam; pH=6.9; 2.9% organic matter; soil-P and soil-K were very high; soil-S was low.
Previous crops:	2003 - forage sorghum; 2002 - winter squash and pumpkin; 2001 - soybean.
Seedbed preparation:	Disk on April 13. Multiweeded (field cultivated) three times; once on April 23 and twice on April 28 to incorporate herbicide and fertilizer.
Planting:	Direct seeded Chinese cabbage and a barley cover crop (0.45 bu/acre) on May 4 with a Monosem precision planter. Cabbage seeds were placed about ½ to ¾ inches deep into a flat, fine seedbed and were spaced 6 inches apart in 21-inch rows. Plants were later thinned to 12 inches apart (about 25,000 plants/acre). A row of barley was planted between and parallel to the cabbage rows. Transplants were started in the greenhouse on April 19 and transplanted to the field on May 21 in 21-inch rows with a 12-inch in-row spacing.
Plots:	Plots were 17 ft long by one row (21 inches) wide. The study had 4 reps.
Fertilizer:	On April 15, broadcast 20 lbs N/acre and 24 lbs S/acre as 20-0-0-24. Applied 50 lbs N/acre on April 23, 60 lbs N/acre on July 6, and 40 lbs N/acre on July 23 as 28-0-0.
Irrigation:	Surface drip irrigation as needed
Pest Control:	Weeds were controlled using Treflan (1 pt/acre applied preplant incorporated on April 28), Fusilade + NIS (12 oz/acre + 0.5% v/v on June 9 and June 25, which also killed the barley cover crop), and by hand weeding. Sprayed Sevin (1 qt/acre on June 24 and July 7) to control flea beetle. Asana (6 oz/acre on June 14), DiPel (1 lb/acre on June 29, July 9, July 15, July 21, July 29 and August 4) and Warrior (3.8 oz/acre on August 11) controlled cabbage looper and cabbage worm.
Harvest:	Cabbage was hand harvested when heads were of marketable size. Cabbage head characteristics were measured on representative cabbage heads selected at each harvest from each plot

RESULTS

Direct seeded and transplanted Chinese cabbage produced heads of similar quality and yield. Transplanted Chinese cabbage was earlier. This season many heads of good quality were produced, but not as good as the excellent quality seen in regular cabbage. Optiko had the highest yield, and Kabako and Nikko were the best looking Chinese cabbage hybrids.

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Table 17. Early stand, days to harvest, yields, overall quality, and head shape and size of Chinese cabbage in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2004 Chinese cabbage hybrid performance trial.

Planting method or hybrid	Seed source¹	Early stand²	Days to harvest	Harvest spread³	Number of heads	Yield	Overall score	Head shape⁴	Head size
		1000s/A	-------- days --------		1000s/A	tons/A	1 to 10	1 to 5	lbs/head

Planting method (averaged over hybrid)
Bare-root transplant		23.9	91	31	19.0	21.1	6.0	4.5	2.2
Direct seeded		36.6	109	30	18.6	21.3	5.9	4.4	2.3

Probability		0.005	0.03	0.36	0.76	0.83	0.48	0.83	0.74

Hybrid (averaged over planting method)
Bilko	BE	30.2	107	26	15.0	17.4	5.5	4.5	2.3
Kaboka	BE	28.7	104	30	17.4	19.1	6.2	4.4	2.2
Mirako	BE	29.7	101	32	19.4	21.8	6.0	4.5	2.2
Nikko	BE	31.1	97	35	20.7	22.0	6.3	4.4	2.1
Optiko	BE	31.5	92	30	21.4	25.7	5.9	4.4	2.4

Probability		0.48	0.002	0.67	0.011	0.02	0.005	0.33	0.07
LSD (0.05)		—	7	—	3.8	5.0	0.4	—	—

Probability interaction		0.70	0.85	0.90	0.19	0.20	0.80	0.75	0.48
C.V. (%)		11	7	37	19	23	7	2	9

¹See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.

²Stand before thinning direct seeded cabbage. Bare-root transplanted cabbage was not thinned.

³Harvest spread = days between first head ready to harvest until last head in plot ready to harvest.

⁴Head shape: 1 is very flat; 2 is flat; 3 is round; 4 is tall; 5 is very tall.

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Table 18. Head characteristics of Chinese cabbage in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2004 Chinese cabbage hybrid performance trial.

Planting method or hybrid	Seed source¹	Head density²	Head width	Head height	Inside color³	Outside color⁴	Core length	Core width
		1 to 5	-------- inches --------		1 to 5	2 to 4	------ inches ------

Planting method (averaged over hybrid)
Bare-root transplant		2.2	4.7	8.0	2.0	2.9	1.0	1.23
Direct seeded		2.2	4.6	8.1	2.0	2.9	1.3	1.16

Probability		0.61	0.07	0.31	1.00	0.85	0.07	0.014

Hybrid (averaged over planting method)
Bilko	BE	1.9	4.7	8.4	2.0	2.9	1.3	1.18
Kaboka	BE	2.5	4.5	7.7	2.0	2.9	1.0	1.21
Mirako	BE	2.3	4.4	8.1	2.0	2.9	1.0	1.23
Nikko	BE	2.5	4.5	7.9	2.0	2.9	1.7	1.18
Optiko	BE	1.8	5.0	8.2	2.0	2.9	0.9	1.16

Probability		<0.0001	0.0003	0.007	1.00	0.96	<0.0001	0.47
LSD (0.05)		0.2	0.2	0.4	—	—	0.2	—

Probability interaction		0.31	0.81	0.84	1.00	0.17	0.012	0.96
C.V. (%)		10	5	4	0	3	18	7

¹See Appendix A for a list of seed sources.

²Visual estimate of head density: 1 is low, 5 is high.

³Inside head color: 1 is whitish green; 2 is yellow green; 3 to 5 is light to dark green.

⁴Outside head color: 2 to 4 is light to dark green

Interaction: Core length increased when direct seeded for all hybrids except for Kaboka.