Irrigation Studies on Summer Cabbage

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Abstract
The response of summer cabbage to different irrigation treatments during the period from planting-out until harvest was studied. In all the experiments the soil was brought to field capacity by rain or irrigation soon after planting-out. The yield of plants subjected to different sustained irrigation treatments increased with the amount of water applied. The smaller the maximum permitted soil moisture deficit, the bigger was the average weight of the cabbage heads. Depriving the plants of rain and irrigation for periods of up to five weeks during the first nine weeks after planting-out had little effect on the final yield; dry periods of three weeks later in the life of the plants markedly reduced the yield. Irrigation in the last two to three weeks before harvest substantially increased yields, whether the crop had previously been well supplied with water or subjected to drought. Irrigated plants matured earlier and were more uniform than nonirrigated ones but the ratio of marketable weight to total weight of the individual heads was not differentially affected by different irrigation treatments. Spacing the plants closer together reduced their size and delayed maturity. At the closest spacing used (13 in. × 13 in.) a number of plants failed to reach a marketable condition. The percentage of unmarketable plants was greatest with no irrigation.