Scientia Horticulturae, 45 ( 1 9 9 0 ) 1 1 - 2 0 11

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., A m s t e r d a m

The effect of nitrogenous fertilizer and plant

spacing on the yield of three Chinese vegetables -
Kai lan, Tsoi sum and Pak choi

T.R. Hill
Western Australian Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 522, Carnarvon 6701, W.A. (Australia)
(Accepted for publication 10 April 1990)

ABSTRACT

Hill, T.R., 1990. The effect of nitrogenous fertilizer and plant spacing on the yield of three Chinese
vegetables - Kai lan, Tsoi sum and Pak choi. Scientia Hortic., 45:11-20.

The effect of nitrogenous ( N ) fertilizer and plant spacing on the yield of Kai lan (Brassica albog-
labra, Bailey ), Tsoi sum (Brassica parachinensis, Bailey) and Pak choi (Brassica chinensis L. Bailey)
was studied.
Decreasing inter-plant spacing result in the increase of marketable and total yields for all three
Chinese vegetables. At tlae closer spacings, plant weights were similar or less than those at wide spac-
ings. The yield increases were a result of the increased plant numbers per hectare.
All vegetables responded to the addition of N fertilizer with increasing yields. Kai lan yields at the
closest spacing, 0.1 × 03 m, were still increasing at the highest rate of N, 400 kg h a - ' . At other spac-
ings, the m a x i m u m yield was reached at 200 kg h a - 1 N. Tsoi sum yields increased to 200 kg h a - l N
and then remained constant. Pak choi yield was maximized at 200 kg h a - ' N at the closest spacing.
The addition of extra N fertilizer resulted in an increased incidence of soft rot damage and reduced
yields in Pak choi.
The treatments did not significantly affect the time for Tsoi sum, Pak choi or Kai lan to reach
harvest maturity.

Keywords: Chinese vegetables: nitrogen fertilization; plant spacing.

Abbreviation: N = nitrogen.

INTRODUCTION

Chinese vegetables are new crops for Western Australia and are in increas-
ing demand in the local market and have potential for export to southeast
Asia. To ensure their commercial viability the production of high yields and
quality is critical.
It has been shown that optimizing the nitrogen (N) fertilization in combi-
nation with plant spacing on brassica crops leads to increased yields. (Akra-
tanakal et al., 1977; Koay and Chua, 1979; Chung, 1985). Purashothaman

0304-4238/90/$03.50 © 1990 - - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

12 T.R.HILL

and Ravoof (1985), noted that these vegetables are easily subjected to nu-
trient stress and that besides lowering yields any visual symptoms of low nu-
trition greatly reduce the acceptability and market value of these crops.
Three Chinese vegetables were investigated in this study:
( 1 ) Kai lan (Brassica alboglabra, Bailey) or Chinese broccoli, is a perennial
plant which is commonly grown as an annual vegetable crop.
(2) Tsoi sum (Brassica parachinesis, Bailey) or flowering white cabbage is
an annual plant which is extensively grown throughout southeast Asia.
(3) Pak choi (Brassica chinensis L. Bailey) or Chinese white cabbage, is a
perennial plant grown commercially as an annual. It is native to China but is
extensively grown throughout Asia.
The objective or this study was to determine the effect of plant spacing and
N fertilizer on the yield of these Chinese vegetables.

MATERIALSAND METHODS

Site. - A field study was carried out at the M a n j i m u p Horticultural Research

Centre (34 ° 15' S) in south Western Australia. The soil type is a sandy loam
(7% gravel, pH 5.9) over clay at 60 cm, Dr 4.12, (Northcote, 1979). The site
was previously an annual clover and grass pasture which was ploughed under,
and a cereal hay crop was grown. All cereal plant tops were harvested and
removed from the site prior to trial preparation.

CULTURALDETAILS

General. - In all trials seed was direct sown to a depth of 1 cm. The plants
were hand-thinned to the final spacings at the two true leaf stage of growth.
Prior to planting, fertilizer dressings of superphosphate at the rate of 2000
kg h a - 1 and muriate of potash at the rate of 600 kg h a - 1 were applied by
broadcasting and incorporated by cultivation.
The irrigation system consisted of overhead impact sprinklers arranged on
a permanent 12 )< 12 m grid, applying water at 7.0 m m h -a. Irrigation was
applied to replace 100% of the Class A pan evaporation of the previous day.
Chlorphyrifos at the rate of 6 1 h a - 1 and fenamiphos at the rate of 241 h a -
were applied before planting and incorporated to control garden weevil, greasy
cutworm and root knot nematode. Permethrin was used to control insect pests,
Chlorthaldimethyl herbicide was applied immediately after seeding at the rate
of 6 kg h a - 1 and post plant weed control was by hand weeding as required.

Kai lan. - Seed of the cultivar Kai lan (Marutane Pry Ltd., Japan) was planted
on 28 May 1987. The plant spacings used were: 0.1)<0.3 m, 0.2X0.3 m,
0.3)<0.3 m and 0.4)<0.3 m.
The rates of nitrogen fertilizer (as a m m o n i u m nitrate) were: 0, 50, 100,
YIELD OF THREE CHINESE VEGETABLES 13

200 and 400 kg ha-1 N. These were applied as three side dressings, 50% of
total N one week after emergence followed by two fortnightly dressings, each
25% of total N. The cultivars selected for use in these trials were identified as
high yielding in a previous experimental programme (Hill, 1988 ). Metalaxyl
and mancozeb were applied to control downy mildew ( P e r o n o s p o r a
p a r a s i t i c a ).

T s o i s u m . - Seed of the cultivar 'Camaron daun besar' (Soon Huat Seed Co.,
Malaysia) was planted on 20 April 1987. The plant spacings used were:
0.1 )<0.1 m, 0.2)<0.2 m and 0.3)<0.3 m.
The rates of nitrogen fertilizer (as a m m o n i u m nitrate) were: 0, 50, 100 and
200 kg h a - I N. These were applied in two side dressings of 50% total N. The
first application was one week after plant emergence and the second 14 days
later.

Seed of the cultivar 'Hypro' (Royal Sluis, The Netherlands) was

P a k choi. -
planted on 28 May 1987. The plant spacings used were: 0.1 )< 0.3 m, 0.2 )< 0.3
m, 0.3)<0.3 m and 0.3)<0.4 m.
The rates of nitrogen fertilizer (as a m m o n i u m nitrate) were: 0, 50, 100,
200 and 400 kg h a - 1 N. These were applied fortnightly in four side dressings
each of 25% total N, commencing one week after plant emergence.

DESIGN

Three experiments were carried out, one for each type of Chinese vegetable.
The layout for each trial was a split-plot design with four replications. Main
plots were plant spacing with rates of N fertilizer as subplots. Plots included
internal and external plant buffers and consisted of 70 plants.
Analyses of variance appropriate to the hierarchical nature of the design
were conducted using GENSTAT (Alvey et al., 1977 ).

HARVESTING

For all the vegetables, 40 plants were harvested from each plot and total
fresh weight (t ha -1 ), marketable fresh weight (t ha -1 ), plant weight (g),
plant height (cm), basal width (cm) and days to mean harvest were recorded.

Harvesting c o m m e n c e d on 14 September 1987 and was completed

K a i lan. -
on 24 September 1987. The plants of Kai lan were harvested at ground level
when the apical buds were present but unopened. To produce a marketable
product the basal leaves of Kai lan are t r i m m e d and discarded.
14 T.R. HILL

T s o i s u m . - Harvesting was carried out on 29 and 30 June 1987. Plants o f

Tsoi sum were harvested in a similar way as for Kai lan.

P a k choi. - Harvesting was commenced on 16 September 1987 and was com-

pleted on 22 September 1987. Pak ehoi plants were harvested prior to the
formation o f seed stalks and outer leaves were trimmed and discarded to pro-
duce a marketable product.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The highest marketable yield o f Kai lan was 26.5

K a i l a n : f r e s h w e i g h t yield. -

t ha- 1 at the closest spacing, 0.1 X 0.3 m, with 400 kg ha- 1 N (Fig. 1 ). At this
spacing, yields were continuing to increase with additional N fertilizer. At
other spacings, yield increased to a maximum at 200 kg h a - t N and then
remained constant as N rate was increased to 400 kg ha-1 N.
Yield from commercial producers in Malaysia is 9-12 t ha "1 (Idris and
Abidin, 1987 ).
The response o f Kai lan to plant spacing was modified by the rate o f N. At
low rates o f N, no differences were noted between plant spacings. At the high-
est N rate, 400 kg ha-~, yield increased as the spacing between plants de-
creased (Fig. 1 ). Results are similar to Wong and Lee (1974).

30 i i I i i i i i i i i i i

l O c r n x 30crn
•"~ 25

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-- 15
>- 20cm x 3 0 c r n
10
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,¢. 5
L.
0

I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 4-00 4-50

Rete of N (kg hG -1)
Fig. 1. The effect of nitrogen and plant spacing on marketable yield of Kai lan. The vertical
LSDo.05 bar, a, is for comparison between N rates and spacings. The LSD0.o5 bar, b, is for com-
parison of N rate at the same level of spacing.
YIELDOF THREECHINESEVEGETABLES 15

100 i i i i i i i i i i i i i

Un
v 40cm x 30cm

t'-- 80 30¢rn x 30cm

Q)
20cm x 30cm I I
-,I--'
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Q_

L_
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o

0 I I I I I I I I I I I I I

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 4,50

Rote of N (kg ha -1)

Fig. 2. The effect of nitrogen and plant spacing on marketable plant weight of Kai lan. LSD
details as given for Fig. 1.

At closer spacings individual plant weight was lower than at wide spacings
(Fig. 2 ). Marketable yield increased owing to the increased numbers of plants
per hectare. Dufault and Waters (1985 ) reported similar results with other
brassica plants, cauliflowers and broccoli. It is likely that if closer spacings
were used in conjunction with high rates of N, further increases in marketable
yield could result.
Downy mildew (Peronospora destructor) caused cosmetic damage t o older
leaves in this experiment and leaf trimming was required at harvest, which
reduced marketable yields.

Kai lan: plant conformation. - Where no N fertilizer was applied plants were
short and stunted. The application of 50 kg ha-1 N resulted in significant
plant height increases at all spacings (Table 1 ). Further increases in N rate
did not change plant height.
Plant width also increased in response to the addition of the first 50 kg h a - 1
N, but did not respond to extra nitrogen. The effect of plant spacing on plant
width was modified by the rate of N. At low rates of N, plant width did not
vary between spacings. At rates/> 100 kg h a - 1 N, plant width increased as the
spacing between plants in the row was increased.

Kai lan: harvest. - Plants from all treatments reach harvest maturity in 102-
107 days.
16 T.R. HILL

TABLE 1

The effect of plant spacing and nitrogen fertilizer on some yield components of Kai lan

Spacing N~rtilizer(kgha -1 )
(m)
0 50 100 200 400 Mean
(a) Plantheight(cm)
0.1×0.3 11.50 24.63 25.58 27.42 29.80 23.78
0.2×0.3 10.43 24.13 24.42 28.70 23.95 22.33
0.3×0.3 8.75 16.72 21.23 18.67 19.88 17.07
0.4×0.3 10.70 13.47 20.30 18.65 18.55 16.33
Mean 10.34 19.74 22.91 23.36 23.04

Spacing P < 0.001 LSD = 2.19

N P<0.001 L S D = 1.94
Spacing × N P < 0.01 LSD = 4.14 (3.92)

(b) Plant width (cm)

0.1 ×0.3 0.58 1.52 0.82 1.28 1.30 1.10
0.2×0.3 0.62 1.00 1.08 1.60 1.42 1.14
0.3 × 0.3 1.20 1.58 1.58 1.28 1.52 1.43
0.4× 0.3 0.98 1.32 1.52 1.65 1.50 1.40
Mean 0.84 1;36 1.25 1.45 1.44

Spacing P<0.001 LSD=0.15

N P<0.001 LSD=0.18
Spacing×N P<0.01 LSD=0.35 (0.36)

Tsoi s u m : f r e s h w e i g h t yield. - The highest marketable yield of Tsoi sum, 46.1,

t ha- ~, was produced at the closest spacing, 0.1 × 0.1 m with 200 kg h a - ~ N
(Fig. 3 ). Yield increased in response to increasing rates o f N to 100 kg ha-
and then remained constant with the addition o f extra N.
Yields in Malaysia are 11-20 t ha- 1 (Idris and Abidin, 1987 ).
As plant spacings decreased the marketable yield o f Tsoi sum increased at
all rates o f N fertilizer. Similar results were reported by Yip et al. ( 1976 ).
When averaged over all spacings the plant weight increased in response to
N from 40.7 g at 0 kg ha ~ to 69.6 g at 100 kg ha -~. No further increase in
plant weight resulted from the addition o f extra nitrogen to 200 kg h a - 1.

Tsoi s u m : p l a n t c o n f o r m a t i o n . - The treatments in this experiment did not

affect plant height.

Tsoi s u m : harvest. - Plants from all treatments reached harvest maturity in

about 70 days.

P a k c h o i : f r e s h w e i g h t yieM. - The highest marketable yields of Pak choi were

87.9 t ha -1 and 78.3 t ha -1 at 200 kg ha -1 N and spacings o f 0 . 1 X 0 . 3 m and
YIELD OF THREE CHINESE VEGETABLES 17

50 1 I I I I I I I

0 lOcm x lOom

"T 40
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33 30
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~ 20cm x 20cm
13
ID
L

a b
~ 30cm x 30cm

I I I I I I I I

0 50 1O0 150 200 250

Rate of N (kg ha -1)

Fig. 3. T h e effect o f nitrogen a n d p l a n t spacing o n t h e m a r k e t a b l e yield o f Tsoi sum. LSD details

as given for Fig. 1.

120 I I I I I I I I I I I I I

110

~- 1O0

c- 90 o

,._/ 80

-~ 7O
60 lOcm x 30cm

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20 30cm

0 i ~ I I I I I I I I I I I I

o ~o ~oo 200 250 300 3~o

~5o 4o0 ~o

Rote of N (kg ha -1)

Fig. 4. T h e effect o f nitrogen a n d p l a n t spacing o n the m a r k e t a b l e yield o f P a k choi. LSD details

as given for Fig. 1.
18 T.R. HILL

0.2 X 0.3 m, respectively (Fig. 4). The yield increased with increasing rates of
N at all spacings to a m a x i m u m at 200 kg h a - 1. When N was increased above
200 kg h a - 1 yield fell. Field observations of plants receiving the high N rate
showed a greater incidence of soft rot on older leaves.
The response of Pak choi to plant spacing was modified by the rate of N.
At low rates of N no response was noted. At 200 and 400 kg h a - 1, yield in-
creased as the inter-plant spacing was reduced, in accordance with Koay and
Chua (1979).
Marketable weight per head increased steadily in response to N to a maxi-
m u m at 200 kg ha -1 N and then decreased with higher nitrogen (Fig. 5).
Heads produced at the wider spacings were heavier than those at closer
spacings.

P a k choi: p l a n t c o n f o r m a t i o n . - Increasing rates of N fertilizer produced taller

and wider plants (Table 2). There was no effect above 200 kg ha-~ N. As
plant spacing increased, plants again increased in height and width.

P a k choi: harvest. - Plants from all treatments reached harvest maturity in

113-118 days.

600 I I I I I I I I I I I I I

C~

-~
c- 500
._
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4-Ocm x 30cm
~ 4o0
C
0
El_ 300
(D a b
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o 200
lOcm x 30cm

L.

o 1O0

I I I I I I I I I I I I I

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

Rate of N (kg ha -1)

Fig. 5. The effect of nitrogen and plant spacing on the marketable plant weight ofPak choi. LSD
details as given for Fig. 1.
YIELD OF THREE CHINESE VEGETABLES 19

TABLE 2

The effect of plant spacing and nitrogen fertilizer on some yield components of Pak choi

Spacing N fertilizer (kg ha- 1 )

(m)
0 50 100 200 400 Mean

(a) Plant height (cm)

0.1)<0.3 23.97 27.53 29.38 32.18 32.68 29.15
0.2X0.3 26.98 28.65 32.88 34.63 35.33 31.69
0.3X0.3 24.40 29.30 32.03 35.35 34.75 31.17
0.4 X 0.3 25.23 29.05 32.50 24.43 34.75 31.19
Mean 25.14 29.63 31.69 34.14 34.39

Spacing nsd t
N P< 0.001 LSD= 1.27
Spacing × N nsd

(b) Plant width (cm)

0.1X0.3 3.15 3.78 4.25 4.60 4.80 4.12
0.2 X 0.3 4.40 4.75 5.55 6.00 5.90 5.32
0.3 X 0.3 3.90 5.02 5.65 6.30 6.10 5.39
0.4X0.3 4.22 5.32 6.02 6.95 6.50 5.82
Mean 3.92 4.72 5.38 5.96 5.82

Spacing P<0.001 LSD=0.35

N P<0.001 LSD=0.32
SpacingxN nsd

nsd = no significant difference.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank S. G r a h a m for her able and enthusiastic technical assistance. This

experimental programme was carried out with funding support from the Re-
serve Bank, Rural Credits Development Fund, for which they are gratefully
acknowledged.

REFERENCES

Akratanakal, W., Baggett, J.R. and Mack, H.J., 1977. The influence of soil type, nitrogen and
irrigation on the yield, quality and chemical composition of cauliflower. Swed. J. Agric. Res.,
10: 65-75.
Alvey, N.G. and Rothamsted Statistics Department, 1977. 'GENSTAT'. Rothamsted Experi-
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Chung, B., 1985. The effects of sowing time and plant density on the once over harvest yields of
broccoli. J. Hortic. Sci., 60 (1): 57-64.
Dufault, R.J. and Waters, L., 1985. Interaction of nitrogen fertility and plant populations on
transplanted Broccoli and Cauliflower yields. HortScience, 20 ( 1 ): 127-128.
20 T.R. HILL

Hill, T.R., 1988. Recommended cultivars of Chinese vegetables. W. Aust. Dept. of Agric. Farm-
note, Agdex 253/32, 4 pp.
Idris, M. and Abidin, H.Z., 1987. Tanaman Sayuran. Kementerian pelajarau, Malaysia/Kuala
Lumpur, 143 pp. (in Malaysian).
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Northcote, K.H., 1979. A Factual Key for the Recognition of Australian Soils. Rellim Technical
Publications, Glenside, South Australia.
Purashothaman, V. and Ravoof, A.A., 1985. A Guide for Visual Diagnosis of Macronutrient
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Wong, K.C. and Lee, E.K., 1974. Effects of seeding method, spacing and fertilizer on Chinese
kale (Brassica alboglabra). Malay. Agric. Res., 3:214-221.
Yip, S.M., Pao, C.S., Tang, T.C. and Ng, Y.S., 1976. A note on some studies of Chinese Flow-
ering Cabbage (Brassica parachinensis Bailey). Agriculture, Hong Kong, 1 ( 5 ): 407-418.