007 NO-TILL CABBAGE PRODUCTION USING RYE COVER CROPS

Abstract

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. Capitata) was grown for five years with treatments comparing no till and conventional production systems. Each year, raised beds were formed in the fall and selected plots were seeded with rye (Secale cereale). The rye was allowed to grow during the winter, and the following spring it was either mowed, killed with herbicide, or allowed to grow indefinitely. Different seeding rates of rye and different fertilizer rates were used. Some plots were mowed and the residue removed from the plots, while certain plots had no rye planted but received the rye residue that was removed from other plots. Rye was also gathered and pulverized, and the liquid extract removed from this suspension was sprayed onto plots. Cabbage was planted into each plot in the spring. The yield of cabbage grown in various rye-covered plots was compared to the yield from bare soil plots and from plots covered with black plastic mulch. In general, the plots covered with the various rye treatments had less yield than did the bare soil plots. Plots covered with black plastic mulch often had a greater yield than did the other plots.