Abstract: A field experiment has been conducted to study the effects of different organic materials on soil nutrients, yield and quality of purple cabbage and nutrient utilization. The results showed that application of organic materials enlarged soil nutrient content, increased the yield and quality of purple cabbage. A significant increase in soil organic matter content has been found in the MM and PM treatments, which increased over 36% compared with that of the control. With the application of HM and MM, a remarkable increase has been found in ammonium nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium content in soil. A higher yield was also obtained in the treatments of HM and MM, which was 22% more than that of the control. The accumulated amount of nitrate was the smallest in the treatment of SM. The balance index of nitrogen and potassium in the edible part of purple cabbage was lower and its nutrient utilization was higher than that of phosphorus. In all treatments, MM had the lowest nutrient balance index, whose nutrient use efficiency was the highest. Therefore, in the process of organic agriculture, combination of manure and other fertilizers such as mushroom residue, peat, straw material will help to balance the soil fertility, improve nutrient utilization, and further improve crop quality and the comprehensive benefits while the crop production is guaranteed.

Key words: purple cabbage, organic materials, nutrient utilization rate