Cabbage
Two varieties of cabbage were grown at the Horticulture Research Center (HRC) outside of Fort Collins, Colorado during the 2004 growing season. We grew one spring crop which was started in the greenhouse on March 29th. Seeds were planted into 72-cell trays filled with Sunshine No. 3 brand soil mix and topped with vermiculite to aid in keeping the seeds moist. Seedlings were fertilized once a week with fish emulsion fertilizer fed through an injector. They were transplanted at the HRC on May 18th into beds with 30″ centers, in a single row at 12″ spacing with one line of drip tape. Flea beetles damaged many of the heads, especially those of the green Gonzales cabbage. Below are photos, yield data, and production notes for each of the varieties.
Like all Brassicaceae crops, cabbage is transplanted in this region to avoid losses caused by flea beetle. Cabbage seems to draw less and less market attention, but some of the smaller, specialty varieties stand out. Aphids and caterpillars must be kept in check to produce clean heads.
Photo
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Variety
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Yield Data
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Production Notes
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Super Red |
1.3 lbs./head (n=59 heads) 36% damaged |
97% germination rate, very good uniformity, excellent to good maturity rate (most heads mature at the same time), medium plant size, excellent yield potential, round, small head shape, red color, good wrapper leaves, not nearly as many damaged heads as Gonzales, rated 4 out of 5 for vigor, yield, quality, pest resistance, and 5 for marketability , two harvests (August 18th and 24th) | |
Gonzales |
1.5 lbs./head (n=54 heads) 74% damaged |
97% germination rate, good for uniformity and maturity, small plant size, excellent to good yield potential, round head shape, small, wrapper leaves medium to tight, overall rating good but had lots of damaged heads, spots eaten in about 5 leaves down, marketability is very high, esp. for markets where people want smaller cabbages, low quality and low pest resistance though – averaged , two harvests (August 18th and 24th) |
Damaged cabbage heads