Cooperative Extension Service
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The University of Georgia
George
Boyhan, Extension Horticulturist-Vegetables
East Georgia Extension Center
Nessmith-Lane Building, 2nd Floor
PO Box 8112
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30460
912-681-5639 | 912-681-0376, Fax | 912-682-3481,
mobile
Back in October, I sent out the results of the watermelon and cantaloupe variety trials. Unfortunately, there was an error in the yield of one of the cantaloupe entries. Below are corrected cantaloupe results.
| Cantaloupe Variety Trial, 2004. Vidalia Onion and Vegetable Research Center, Lyons, Ga. |
|||||||
| Entry | Company | Description | No. of Fruit/Acre | Yield/Acre (lbs) |
Length (in) |
Width (in) |
Flesh Depth (in) |
| Athena | Rogers | Hybrid | 7,623 | 38,557 | 7.6 | 6.1 | 1.9 |
| Aphrodite | Rogers | Hybrid | 5,748 | 37,437 | 8.0 | 6.8 | 1.7 |
| WS-SP04 | Wannamaker | small specialty melon,
0.5-0.75 kg. 'Sprite-type,' high sugar |
7,442 | 27,491 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 1.8 |
| PX 1461-1013 | Seminis | Hybrid | 6,050 | 31,109 | 7.5 | 6.3 | 2.3 |
| Jaipur (BS 4309397) | Seminis | Hybrid | 7,260 | 38,932 | 7.8 | 6.2 | 1.9 |
| Moneyloupe (ACX 3908) | Abbott & Cobb | Hybrid | 4,538 | 27,316 | 8.3 | 6.5 | 2.1 |
| ACX 4757 | Abbott & Cobb | Hybrid 72 Maturity Fruit Shape Oval |
6,050 | 37,577 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 2.0 |
| CV | 22% | 27% | |||||
Fisher's Protected LSD (p 0.05) |
NS | NS | |||||
The VOC met January 27 for their regular monthly meeting. Among the business decided were the new officers for the coming year. Bo Herndon will be the Chairman for a second year. John Shuman was selected as Vice-Chairman and Danny Ray as the Secretary-Treasurer.
They discussed selections for the Grower of the Year award and an inductee into the Hall of Fame. Their upcoming banquet is scheduled for February 19, and both the Growers of the Year and this year's inductee into the Hall of Fame will be announced. The banquet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Partin Park's Callaway Center in Lyons.
In a previous meeting, the VOC committed to supporting the Vidalia Farm and Vidalia Laboratory if the Vidalia Farm remained open. The University has committed to keeping the farm open, and the VOC agreed to donate $25,000 now to support these facilities, with an additional $25,000 to be donated later this year. They also agreed to support additional testing for Iris Yellow Spot Virus with $3,200.
Dr. Gerard Krewer, Dr. Darbie Granberry and I have been working for several years on a new pumpkin for south Georgia. This variety differs from conventional pumpkins as a selection of Cucurbita moschatarather rather than C. pepo. This species is known for its high level of resistance to cucurbit diseases, particularly viruses.
C. pepo is highly susceptible to these diseases, which are particularly problematic during fall production. The new variety will be able to produce fruit under high disease pressure during fall production.
In trials, the new material dramatically out-performed conventional pumpkins during fall trials and had compatable yields in spring trials.
We are very excited about this new variety and will be taking it to the Variety Release Committee with the hopes of having seed available for the 2005 fall Halloween season. Below are the results of the trials with this new pumpkin.
| Table 1. Pumpkin Variety Trial, Fall 2003 | ||||||
| Entry | Source | Yield (lbs/acre) |
Yield (No./acre) |
Average Fruit Weight (lbs) |
Fruit Size Range (lbs) |
Disease Ratingz |
| Merlin | Harris Moran | 3,081 | 484 | 6.4 | 2.5-10.2 | 4.3 |
| Gold Strike | Rupp | 1,416 | 202 | 7.0 | 3.6-12.3 | 4.0 |
| Magic Lantern | Harris Moran | 7,365 | 1,210 | 6.1 | 1.7-12.7 | 4.0 |
| #12 | Experimental | 13,544 | 1,734 | 7.8 | 1.4-15.7 | 2.2 |
| #17 | Experimental | 24,567 | 3,630 | 6.8 | 2.4-13.9 | 1.0 |
| #6 | Experimental | 23,817 | 4,638 | 5.1 | 1.4-16.6 | 1.6 |
| #8 | Experimental | 30,278 | 3,832 | 7.9 | 1.8-18.7 | 1.0 |
| - | ||||||
CV |
36% | 10% | ||||
Fisher's Protected LSD (p 0.05) |
9,423 | 1.0 | ||||
| z Virus Disease Rating: 1-5, 1-no visible symptoms, 5-severe symptoms. | ||||||
| Table 2. Pumpkin Variety Trial, Spring 2004 | |||||
| Entry | Source | Yield (lbs/acre) |
Yield (No./acre) |
Average Fruit Weight (lbs) |
Fruit Size Range (lbs) |
| Magic Lantern | Harris Moran | 11,624 | 1,008 | 11.5 | 3.3-17.6 |
| Gold Strike | Rupp | 11,366 | 857 | 13.3 | 3.4-25.9 |
| #6 | Experimental | 19,368 | 2,118 | 9.1 | 2.6-18.8 |
| #1 & #8 | Experimental | 20,837 | 2,118 | 9.8 | 3.0-16.2 |
| 17A & 17B | Experimental | 25,286 | 2,470 | 10.2 | 1.4-21.8 |
| - | |||||
CV |
51% | 52% | |||
Fisher's Protected LSD (p 0.05) |
NS | NS | |||
| Table 3. Pumpkin Variety Trial, Fall 2004 | |||||
| Entry | Source | Yield (lbs/acre) |
Yield (No./acre) |
Average Fruit Weight (lbs) |
Fruit Size Range (lbs) |
| Gold Strike | Harris Moran | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| Autumn King | Seeds by Design | 0 | 0 | - | - |
| #6 | Experimental | 16,121 | 2,218 | 7.3 | 1.4-16.2 |
| Orange T | Experimental | 13,345 | 1,739 | 7.7 | 1.5-15.5 |
| 14T | Experimental | 16,935 | 2,319 | 7.3 | 1.7-18.1 |
| 12 & 17A | Experimental | 16,930 | 2,092 | 8.1 | 1.4-18.0 |
| - | |||||
CV |
57% | 51% | |||
Fisher's Protected LSD (p 0.05) |
11,000 | 1,293 | |||
I'm heading out to Little Rock, Arkansas, for the annual horticulture conference for the southeast. I could think of better things to do this weekend. The following weekend will find me at the Georgia Organics Conference in Waco, Georgia, which is about as far away from Statesboro as you can get. Talk to you next month.