UF/IFAS - Vegetarian Newsletter

Collards are a relatively minor crop in north Florida, mainly being produced for local markets. Much of the production is by small or low income growers. Many of the small or low income growers are using some of the old open-pollinated varieties. This trial was conducted to compare some of the new hybrid varieties to older open-pollinated varieties.

A replicated trial was conducted at the NFREC-Quincy on an Orangeburg loamy fine sand soil. Nine varieties were evaluated, 5 hybrids (H) and 4 open-pollinated (OP). Before transplanting Treflan 4 EC at 1.5 pts/a was incorporated. Total fertilizer applied was 150-80-80 lbs/a of N-P₂O₅-K₂O. Between row spacing was 3 feet and in-row spacing was 12 inches. Insecticides were applied as need to control worms. Varieties was seeded on 12 August 2002 into 1-in cell flats. The crop was transplanted on 24 Sept and harvested on 30 Nov. Data collected included yield, average head weight and percentage of off types. Design was a randomized complete block with 4 replications.

Data are presented in Table 1. ‘Blue Max’ (H) and ‘Flash’ (H) produced the highest yields and were significantly greater than all other varieties except ‘SCO 0104' (H). ‘Blue Max’ (H) and ‘Flash’ (H) also produced the largest head weights and were significantly greater than all other varieties except ‘SCO 0104' (H) and ‘Georgia’ (OP). ‘Georgia’ (OP) produced the highest percentage of off types and was significantly higher than all other varieties except ‘Heavi Crop’ (H) and ‘Top Bunch’(H). Two of the hybrids, ‘Top Bunch’ and ‘Heavi Crop’ did not perform well in this trial.

‘Georgia’ is considered to be one of the industry standards and in this trial it ranked number 4 for yield. One reason that the small or low income growers are slow to switch over is due to the cost of hybrid varieties, but increase in yield should make up this difference. Also the hybrids are much more uniform than the OP.

Table 1. Collard Variety Trial Fall 2004, NFREC, Quincy, FL.
Variety	Source	Yield (25 lb crates/a)	Head Wt. (lb)	Off types (%)
Blue Max (H)^Z	Abbott & Cobb	1537 a^Y	2.65 a	0.0 b
Flash (H)	Sakata	1374 ab	2.37 ab	0.0 b
SCO 0104 (H)	Siegers	1230 bc	2.12 bc	0.0 b
Georgia (OP)	Sawan	1105 cd	2.04 b-d	6.2 a
Vates (OP)	Sawan	1102 cd	1.90 cd	0.0 b
Morris Heading (OP)	Sawan	1102 cd	1.90 cd	0.0 b
Top Bunch (H)	Sakata	1056 cd	1.87 cd	2.1 ab
Heavi Crop (H)	Siegers	1006 d	1.76 cd	2.1 ab
Champion (OP)	Sawan	954 d	1.64 d	0.0 b
^Z H = hybrid, OP = open pollinated ^Y Mean separation by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test, 5 % level.