Interplanted Small Grain Cover Crops in Pickling Cucumbers Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Pickling cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) for machine harvest were interplanted with barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oat (Avena sativa L.), rye (Secale cereale L.), sorghum-sudan (Sorghum vulgare L.), or wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Cover crops 3 to 5 (7.6 to 12.7 cm) or 6 to 10 inches (15.2 to 25.4 cm) tall were killed with sethoxydim. Cover crops seeded at 12 seeds/ft2 (129 seeds/m2) provided protection from wind erosion and minimal crop competition. Additional nitrogen to obtain maximum yield was required when small grain cover crops were interplanted with cucumbers. Barley emerged rapidly, grew upright, and was killed easily with sethoxydim, making it ideal for interplanting. All cover crops caused some cucumber yield reduction under adverse growing conditions.

published proceedings

  • HortTechnology

author list (cited authors)

  • Zandstra, B. H., Chase, W. R., & Masabni, J. G.

citation count

  • 9

complete list of authors

  • Zandstra, Bernard H||Chase, William R||Masabni, Joseph G

publication date

  • July 1998