Prorcss Report No. 127 
October 1995
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station System Lowell T. Frobish, 
Director Auburn University, Alabama
r
Ve ae
Tlarlety
Report
.i* '. ~; y
:i. 4 _
Contents
A uthors ............................................................................................................................................ 
1
Introduction ......................................................................................................... . . 2
Hot and Dry Conditions Prevail in Spring and Summer 1995 ..................................................
4
Sweet Corn Varieties Differ in Yield and Quality.......................................... 
................
'General Lee' Top Marketable Yielder in Slicer Cucumber Trial................................. 12
Eggplant Varieties Differ in Color and Shape ..................................................
14
Small Melons: Cantaloupe, Canary Melon, Honey Dew, Spanish Melon, and Galia...........17
Heat Wave Affects Bell Pepper Size in Variety Trials ............................................................ 20
Colored Bell Pepper Varieties Evaluated on Bare Ground - nd Plastic Mulch .................. 24
Some Summer Squash Varieties May Mask Virus Effects.....................................................28
Fresh-Market and Roma-Type Tomatoes Included in Trials .................................................. 32
Shortage of Seeds Reveals Alternate Watermelon Varieties ....................... 36
Sponsors and Suppliers............................................................................ ............................... 39
October 1995
Information contained herein is available to all without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin.
Authors
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Department of Horticulture: (334) 844-4862
Eric Simonne, Postdoctoral Fellow, Horticulture
Joseph Kemble, Assistant Professor, Horticulture
Ellen Bauske, Extension Associate, Horticulture
Vanessa Drouot, Visiting Scholar, Horticulture
Karl Harker, Agricultural Meteorologist, SE Agricultural Weather Service
E.V. SMITH RESEARCH CENTER
(334) 727-7403
Jim Bannon, Director
James Witt, Horticulture Unit Superintendent
CHILTON AREA HORTICULTURE SUBSTATION
(205) 646-3610
Jim Pitts, Superintendent
Kenneth Short, Associate Superintendent
Robert Boozer, Area Horticulturist
GULF COAST SUBSTATION
(334) 928-2740
Emmett Carden, Superintendent
Ronnie McDaniel, Associate Superintendent
Malcomb Pegues, Assistant Superintendent
LOWER COASTAL PLAIN SUBSTATION
(334) 682-4662
Joe Little, Superintendent
Paul Rose, Assistant Superintendent
NORTH ALABAMA HORTICULTURE SUBSTATION
(205) 734-5820
Marlin Hollingsworth, Superintendent (retired)
Arnold Caylor, Interim Superintendent
PIEDMONT SUBSTATION
(334) 896-4422
John Owen, Superintendent
SAND MOUNTAIN SUBSTATION
(205) 528-7133
John Eason, Superintendent (retired)
Marvin Ruf, Interim Superintendent
UPPER COASTAL PLAIN SUBSTATION
(205) 487-2150
Randall Rawls, Superintendent
WIREGRASS SUBSTATION
(334) 693-2363
Henry Ivey, Superintendent (retired)
Larry Wells, Interim Superintendent
Brian Gamble, Assistant Superintendent
Introduction: Spring 1995
Vegetable Variety 
Trial Report
Eric Simonne
AN INCREASING NUMBER 
OF HOME
owners and commercial growers 
is involved in
vegetable production in Alabama. 
Variety evalu-
ation aims at selecting the cultivar 
best adapted
to specific growing conditions, 
market window,
or home use. Variety evaluation 
also provides an
opportunity to observe various 
types and colors
within a crop type. It cannot be over-stated: 
the
choice of a variety is critical since 
a poorly
adapted variety may affect earliness, 
yield,
postharvest quality, and subsequently, 
income.
In the spring of 1995, replicated 
variety trials
for bell pepper, sugar-enhanced 
(se) and
supersweet (sh
2
) sweet corn, cantaloupe, cucum-
ber, yellow summer squash, 
tomato, and water-
melon were conducted. Vegetables 
with a poten-
tial in Alabama, such as zucchini 
squash, colored
pepper, small melons, and 
eggplant, were also
evaluated. Production systems 
included bare-
ground planting and plasticulture, 
combined with
overhead or drip irrigation.
Each test was rated on a 1-5 
scale, based on
weather conditions, fertilizer, 
irrigation, pest pres-
sure, and overall performance 
(Table 1). Results
from trials with ratings of 
2 and under are not
reported.
Variety trials were fertilized 
according to rec-
ommendations by the Auburn 
University Soil
Testing Laboratory. The actual 
fertilizers and
chemicals used are described 
only to provide de-
tailed information about 
the cultural practices
employed. Mention of fertilizers 
or chemical
names represent neither a recommendation 
nor
an endorsement of these products. 
A list of chemi-
cals recommended for pest 
and weed control in
vegetable production in Alabama 
may be found
in IPM Commercial Vegetables: 
Insect, Disease,
Nematode and Weed Control 
Recommendations
(Publication 95IPM-2 from the 
Alabama Coop-
erative Extension Service).
Like last year, Auburn University 
vegetable
variety trials received strong support 
from the
Alabama Agricultural Experiment 
Station System
(AAESS) and the vegetable industry. 
Variety tri-
als were conducted at nine AAESS 
substations.
In southern Alabama, participating units 
included
the Gulf Coast Substation in Fairhope, 
Wiregrass
Substation in Headland, and Lower 
Coastal Plain
Substation in Camden. In the central 
part of the
state were the Horticulture Unit of 
the E.V. Smith
Research Center in Shorter 
and Piedmont Sub-
station in Camp Hill. In northern 
Alabama were
the Chilton Area Horticulture 
Substation in
Clanton, Upper Coastal Plain 
Substation in
Winfield, North Alabama Horticulture 
Substation
in Cullman, and Sand Mountain 
Substation in
Crossville. Without the commitment 
of AAESS
personnel the results presented in 
this report could
not have been available in a timely 
manner.
Variety trial plots are open to 
the public; con-
tact local substation superintendents 
for more in-
formation. Additional copies of the 
Spring 1995
Vegetable Variety Trial Report may 
be requested
by calling the AAESS Office of Research 
Infor-
mation at (334) 844-4877.
Members of the vegetable industry 
provided
analytical services, donated transplants 
and seeds,
and actively supported this program 
(see the ap-
pendix). Such support was much 
appreciated and
essential to daily operations.
Many factors affect the performance 
of a veg-
etable variety: soil type, growing 
environment,
and weather conditions. Therefore, 
the informa-
tion in this report should be 
used as a primary
source of information to pre-select 
the varieties
that have shown to have potential 
for good yields
and quality under the conditions 
described in this
report. On-farm evaluation 
will test the perfor-
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 3
DESCRIPTION OF RATINGS
Rating Weather Fertilizer Irrigation Pests Overall
5 .....................Very Good Very Good Very Good 
None Excellent
4 .............................................. Favorable Good Good Light 
Good
3 ............................................. Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable Tolerable 
Acceptable
2 .............................................. Adverse Low Low Adverse 
Questionable
I .............................................. Destructive Very Low Insufficient Destructive Useless
mance of a variety under more specific conditions.
The final choice of a variety may have to be ad-
justed after this second evaluation.
In previous AAESS variety trial reports
(Progress Reports 125 and 126), 
detailed infor-
mation on fertilization was included. In the spring
of 1995, leaf samples were taken regularly and
were used to quantify the effect of such fertiliza-
tion and cultural practices on leaf nutrient con-
tent.
For fast growing crops such as vegetables, a
continuous monitoring of nutrientand water ap-
plications is essential to achieve highest yield and
quality. Soil testing and leaf analysis are the only
means available to assess nutrient levels in the
soil and the plant. While soil testing has become
part of standard cultural practices, leaf analysis
is still under-used as a real-time nutrient moni-
toring tool.
In Alabama, soil testing and plant analysis
services are available primarily through the AU
Soil Testing Laboratory. Some growers also rely
on out-of-state private laboratories for their soil
and plant analyses.
Soil testing is not a substitute for plant analy-
sis, and leaf analysis cannot replace soil testing.
They are most useful together. Soil testing deter-
mines the amount of available nutrients in the
growing zone at the time of sampling, while tis-
sue analysis provides information on the amount
of nutrients that have been taken up by the crop.
Because ratios between essential nutrients can
then be calculated, foliar analysis is useful in de-
tecting "hidden hunger" and nutrient imbalances.
In general, the nutritional status of a crop is
evaluated by comparing the foliar nutrient con-
tent to published sufficiency ranges. Each of the
essential elements is rated as "low," "sufficient,"
or "high." Sufficiency ranges for most vegetable
crops can be found in the Commercial Produc-
tion Series on cucumber, squash, tomato, and wa-
termelon (Alabama Cooperative Extension Ser-
vice, Timely Information). Additional sufficiency
ranges may be obtained from the AU Soil Test-
ing Laboratory at (334)844-3958.
Users may find some differences in analyti-
cal services provided by state-supported or pri-
vate laboratories. Differences are not in the qual-
ity or range of analytical services offered by ei-
ther. State and private laboratories have access
to similar equipment, both have quality assurance/
quality control programs, and both have qualified
and trained personnel. The main advantages of
state-supported laboratories are the cost of analy-
sis, the recommendations included with the re-
suits, and the connection between the state labo-
ratory and the Extension Service. Private labora-
tories are usually more expensive and may be re-
luctant to make recommendations. However, pri-
vate laboratories often offer a much quicker turn-
around time (two to four days) and often offer
customized services.
A common criticism made to plant analysis
is that it is of limited practical use because of the
broadness of the sufficiency ranges. Published
sufficiency ranges were developed under a wide
variety of cultural practices and growing condi-
tions. Because of their broadness, sufficiency
ranges are almost universal.
Some leading sectors of the horticulture in-
dustry make extensive use of leaf analysis to
monitor nutrient applications. These growers have
developed and use their own sufficiency ranges.
Because they have collected leaf samples at regu-
lar intervals on plants showing problems and on
healthy plants, it becomes possible to narrow pub-
lished sufficiency ranges around a target value
developed under their specific growing condi-
tions. For these growers, leaf analysis is not only
a way to confirm visual symptoms of problems,
it has become a real-time managerial tool.
4 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
Hot and Dry Conditions Prevail
in Spring and Summer 1995
Ellen Bauske and Karl Harker
VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIALS WERE
conducted from April to August at the Gulf Coast
Substation (GCS) at Fairhope, Wiregrass Substa-
tion (WS) at Headland, E.V. Smith Research Cen-
ter (EVSRC) at Shorter, Piedmont Substation (PS)
at Camp Hill, Chilton Area Horticulture Substa-
tion (CAHS) at Clanton, North Alabama Horti-
cultural Substation (NAHS) at Cullman, and Sand
Mountain Substation (S3MS) at Crossville. With
a few exceptions noted below, the period from
April to August was characterized by hot and dry
weather conditions. Rainfall deficits were the
most severe (8-10 inches) from Central through
East Central Alabama.
Adequate to sometimes excessive rains high-
lighted the spring and summer weather at the GCS
(Figure 1). June was the only month when rain-
fall averaged less than normal. More than 8.5
inches of rain fell in July, and more than 9.5 inches
fell in August. Hurricane Erin moved inland
across Pensacola, Fla., on the morning of Thurs-
day, Aug. 3, and proceeded northwest passing just
north of the station. More than five inches of rain
were associated with Erin. Maximum wind gusts
of 50 miles per hours occurred during the early
afternoon hours of Aug. 3. Spring and summer
temperatures averaged within a degree of normal,
except May and August when temperatures aver-
aged two degrees above normal.
April weather conditions were typical at the
WS with both rainfall and temperatures averag-
ing near normal (Figure 2). Less than normal rain
fell during May andc June with deficits for each
month near 1.5 inches. May averaged a couple of
degrees warmer than normal, while June averaged
slightly cooler than normal. July and August both
averaged a degree or two hotter than normal. Fre-
quent periods of excessive heat occurred with
maximum temperatures of 950 or above on 11 days
in July and eight days in August. Scattered show-
ers and thunderstorms produced the normal
amount of rain during July and August.
Persistent drier-than-normal conditions pre-
vailed from April through August at EVSRC (Fig-
ure 3). Monthly rain deficits of one to three inches
were common with a total deficit during the pe-
riod of just under 10 inches. Less than two inches
of rain fell during May and June, with only 2.5
inches reported during July and August. Tem-
peratures during April and June averaged about
normal. However May, July, and August averaged
between 40 and 50 hotter than normal. July and
August were extremely hot with maximum tem-
peratures of 1000 or hotter occurring on five days
in July and six days in August. Days with tem-
peratures of 950 or above occurred on 19 days in
July and 13 days in August. Hottest temperature
during the summer was 1040 on Wednesday af-
ternoon, Aug. 16.
Rainfall deficits began at the PS in the spring
and continued through much of the summer (Fig-
ure 4). Monthly rainfall deficits of two to four
inches were common from April through July,
with a total deficit of 11.35 inches for the period.
May was particularly dry with less than one inch
of rain reported. Much-needed rains finally fell
in August with a total near six inches. Frequent
periods of hot weather in July and August added
to the drought conditions. Maximum temperatures
of 950 or above occurred on 18 days in July and
10 days in August, 
with 1000 or above 
occurring
on two days in July and six days in August.
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 5
April weather conditions at CAHS were typi-
cal with rainfall and temperatures showing little
deviation from normal (Figure 5). Weather con-
ditions the remainder of the spring and summer
were drought-like with monthly rain totals aver-
aging one to three inches below normal. A rain
deficit of 8.5 inches accumulated from May
through August. Extreme heat added to crop stress
problems, particularly in July and August. Au-
gust was particularly hot; maximum temperatures
were 1000 or above on five days of the month,
with the average temperature 4.7 degrees above
normal.
Rainfall and temperatures averaged near nor-
mal in April at NAHS (Figure 6). May was
slightly hotter than normal with rainfall more than
two inches below normal. June and July rainfall
averaged near seasonal values. June was more
than two degrees cooler than normal, and July was
Precipitation (in) Temperature (OF)
10 85
9-
8-
6-
5- -70
4- .- 6
3- 
P 
6
0 55
Apr. May June July Aug.
Fairhope
Apr. May June
Shorter
July Aug.
only slightly warmer than normal. Augustwas hot,
although rainfall again averaged about usual for
the month. Maximum temperatures of 950 or
above occurred on 11 days in August.
Rainfall at SMS averaged below normal for
each month from April through July (Figure 7).
A total rain deficit of 6.6 inches accumulated dur-
ing the period. May was particularly dry with only
1.5 inches reported. July was the next driest month
with 2.6 inches. The weather pattern changed in
August as showers and thunderstorms became
more frequent, producing a monthly rain total of
7.8 inches. April, May, and July averaged one or
two degrees above normal, while June averaged
a degree cooler than normal. August was a hot
month with temperatures averaging almost four
degrees above normal. Maximum temperatures of
950 or above occurred on three days of the month.
Precipitation (in) Temperature (OF)
Headland
Apr. May June
Camp Hill
July Aug.
Total monthly precipitation, average temperatures, and normal precipitation and temperatures (30-year averages) for Gulf
Coast Substation at Fairhope, Wiregrass Substation at Headland, E.V. Smith Research Center at Shorter, and Piedmont
Substation at Camp Hill.
WILII LI11/ av~lar~ L~IIIU~IULUI~ 'T. I U~t~1~~3 CLUVV~ 1IIVI~ II~UU
6 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
Apr. May June July Aug.
Clanton
Apr. May June
Crossville
July Aug.
Cullman
Total monthly precipitation, average temperatures, and normal precipitation and temperatures (30-year averages) for Chilton
Area Horticulture Substation at Clanton, North Alabama Horticulture Substation at Cullman, and Sand Mountain Substation
at Crossville.
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 7
Sweet Corn Varieties Differ
in Yield and Quality
Eric Simonne, Robert Boozer, Emmett Carden, Marlin Hollingsworth, Joseph
Kemble, Ronald McDaniel, Malcomb Pegues, Jim Pitts, and Kenneth Short
SWEET CORN IS A POPULAR CROP
among home owners and commercial growers. In
1993, approximately 5,500 acres were planted for
commercial production in Alabama (Alabama
Vegetable Production Statistics, Alabama Coop-
erative Extension Service).
Sugary (su), sugar-enhanced (se), and
supersweet (sh
2
) sweet corn varieties were evalu-
ated at the Gulf Coast Substation (GCS) in
Fairhope, the Wiregrass Substation (WS) in Head-
land, the Chilton Area Horticulture Substation
(CAHS) in Clanton, and the North Alabama Hor-
ticulture Substation (NAHS) in Cullman (Tables
1 and 2).
At all locations, cultural practices for su, se
and sh
2 
types were similar. However, within each
location, sh
2 
varieties were separated by 300 feet
from other field and sweet corn plantings because
cross pollination alters grain characteristics, in-
cluding sweetness. At all locations, two-row plots
20 feet long and five feet wide were established.
Within-row spacing was eight to 10 inches, cre-
ating a stand of approximately 26,000 plants per
acre. Yields were corrected for stand.
At GCS, a 13-13-13 fertilizer was broadcast-
applied preplant on April 5 at a rate of 300 pounds
per acre. Planting date was April 6. Ammonium
nitrate (NH
4
NO
3
) was sidedressed on May 1 (se
test) and May 8 (sh
2 
test) at a rate of 180 pounds
per acre (60 pounds of nitrogen [N] per acre).
Plants were trickle irrigated as needed. The pre-
emergence herbicide was Dual 8E broadcast on
April 6 at a rate of one quart per acre. Insect con-
trol consisted of applications of Lannate LV (at a
rate of 1.5 pints per acre) on May 31, and June 8
and 16; Asana XL (at a rate of 9.5 ounces per acre)
on June 5 and 14; and Lorsban 4EC (at a rate of
TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995
SWEET CORN VARIETY TRIALS'
GCS CAHS NAHS
W eather .................... 5 5 5
Fertility .................... 5 5 5
Irrigation .................. 5 5 5
Pests ......................... 5 4 4
Overall ..................... 5 5 5
'See the introduction on page 3 for a description of the rating
scales.
one pint per acre) on June 6.
At NAHS, planting date was May 10. Fertili-
zation consisted of a preplant application of 900
pounds per acre of 13-13-13. Preplant herbicides
were Aatrex and Princep (at rates of two and one
quarts per acre, respectively). Insect control was
provided by applications of Asana at a rate of 9.6
ounces per acre on June 30, and July 3, 5, 7, and
10. Due to rainfall pattern, no irrigation was
needed.
At CAHS, planting date was April 22. Fertil-
izer consisted of 100 pounds of N per acre, 40
pounds of phosphorus (P), and 70 pounds of po-
tassium (K) banded four inches to the side and
two to three inches below the seeds. No sprays
were used.
Su/se varieties were harvested on June 13, 15,
and 20 at GCS; on June 16, 26, and 30, and July 5
at CAHS; and on July 19 at NAHS. Sh
2 
varieties
were harvested on June 15 and 20 at GCS; on June
24 and 30, and July 4 and 10 at CAHS; and on
July 18 at NAHS. After harvest, ears were graded
following the Sweet Corn Grader's Guide (Cir-
cular ANR-679 of the Alabama Cooperative Ex-
tension Service). Yield (Table 3) and ear charac-
teristics (Table 4) were determined.
8 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 
STATION SYSTEM
TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, TYPE, COLOR, AND EARLINESS OF SELECTED SWEET CORN VARIETIES
Variety Seed source Color Type Earliness'
Dazzle ............................ ... ............. Asgrow Bi-color sh
2  
+10
Festival .............................................. Asgrow Bi-color sh +6
SS 7801 .......................................................... A&C White sh
2  
78
Frontier .................................................... Asgrow White sh
2  
+10
Even Sweeter ................................................. Asgrow White sh
2  
+14
Snow White ........................................ .. Harris Seeds White sh
2  
81
Treasure ......................................................... Harris Seeds W hite sh2 83
Challenger ......................................................... Asgrow Yellow sh
2  
+8
Maxim .............................. .............. Harris Seeds Yellow sh
2  
81
Punchline ........................................................ Asgrow Yellow sh
2  
--
RXY 7703ss ................................................... Seneca Yellow sh
2  
77
SS 7710 ............. ... .......... .... ........................ A&C Yellow sh2 83
SS 7630 ....................................................... A&C Yellow sh
2  
84
Sweet Belle ................................. Asgrow Yellow sh
2  
+ 12
Geronimo ..................................... .. Stokes Bi-color se 63
Sir Galahad ..................................................... Stokes Bi-color se 85
Fantasia ..................................... Asgrow White se --
Silverado ................ ...................... Harris Seeds White se 80
Snow Belle................................... Asgrow White se +8
Spring Snow ................................................. Harris Seeds White se 66
Starshine ............................ .......................... Seneca W hite se 71
Arrow ........................... ............................... Seneca Yellow se 72
Flavor King .................................... Stokes Yellow se 85
King Arthur ...................................................... Stokes Yellow se 66
Legend ......................................... Harris Seeds Yellow se 73
Merlin ........................... ............. .......... Stokes Yellow se 84
RXY 6603 ............................................... Seneca Yellow se 66
Sugar Ace ......................... ................. Harris Seeds Yellow se 79
Sweet Dawn .................................................... Harris Seeds Yellow se 64
Kandi Korn ........................................ TWilley Yellow su 89
Silver Queen ..................................... Rogers White su 94
'Earliness of Asgrow sweet corn varieties are reported relative to the variety 'Champ.' For example, the Asgrow variety 
'Dazzle' matures
ten days later (+10) than 'Champ.' All other reports of days to harvest are from respective seed catalogues.
TABLE 3. YIELD OF SELECTED SWEET CORN VARIETIES
Type Variety Kernel color Yield Ear no. 
Ear set ht.
lb./a. no./a. in.
Gulf Coast Substation
su ........................ ........................ Kandi Korn Yellow 5,890 18,803 9
sh ................................................. Treasure 
W hite 14,331 27,171 
14
sh
2 
.......................
........................
... Snow White White 11,167 
25,279 16
sh ............. Even Sweeter 
White 10,416 24,349 
19
sh .................................................. Frontier 
W hite 10,278 24,096 
10
sh
2 
................................................ SS 7801 
W hite 8,135 25,010 
5
sh
2 
.....................
.........................  
Maxim Yellow 12,558 
25,225 15
sh ............................................ Sweet Belle 
Yellow 11,975 23,691 
16
sh ................................................. Challenger 
Yellow 10,114 23,336 
9
sh% .... 1"..... SS 7630 Yellow 
9,467 19,366 15
sh .......... ..... 
RXY 7703ss Yellow 
8,983 22,544 
11
se..... .................... Sir Galahad Bi-color 9,690 21,399 13
se ................................................. Geronimo Bi-color 4,594 21,980 5
se ................................................. Silverado W hite 6,346 18,188 7
se .......................... Starshine White 6,314 24,810 7
se ................................................. Spring Snow White 3,525 22,255 4
se .......................... Sugar Ace Yellow 9,632 23,668 11
se ...... ..................... Legend Yellow 7,938 24,762 6
se ................................................. Flavor King Yellow 7,514 18,175 15
se ................................................. RXY 6603 Yellow 6,876 22,811 7
se ............................. ................... Arrow Yellow 6,646 23,608 7
se ...... ..................... Merlin Yellow 6,236 18,451 10
se ............................................. King Arthur Yellow 5,800 23,674 8
se ................................................. Sweet Dawn Yellow 4,174 22,495 3
I
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 9
TABLE 3 (CONTINUED). YIELD OF SELECTED SWEET CORN VARIETIES
Type Variety Kernel color Yield Ear no. Ear set ht.
su ................................................ K andi K orn
su ................................................ Silver Q uee
sh
2 
.................
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......  
Dazzle
sh
2 
................
......... 
..
..... . . . . ... .  
Festival
sh
2 
.........................
.. ................ . . 
Treasure
sh
2 ......
..................... 
............ . . . .. .  
Snow W hit
sh
2 
.........................
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.. Even Sweet
sh
2 ....
.......................
................ . . ..  
RX Y 7703s
sh
2  
.........................
...... ............... ....  
Punchline
sh
2  
.............................. ...............
.  
SS 7630
sh
2 ....
........................
................. . ..  
Sw eet Belle
sh
2 ....
........................
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
.. Challenger
sh .........
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......  
Maxim
se............................ ..................... Sir G alahad
se .................... ............. .......... Geronimo
se ......................... ........................ Fantasia
se .................................................. Snow Belle
se............................................. Starshine
se .............................. .................... Silverado
se ................................................ Spring Snow
se.................................................. Flavor K ing
se ...................... ....................... Sugar Ace
se ........................... ..................... RX Y 6603
se.................. ................................ M erlin
se ......................... ................... Legend
se .................................................. K ing A rthui
se ....................... ................. A rrow
se .................................................. Sw eet D aw i
su .......................... ...................... K andi K orn
sh
2 ...... .......... . . . .....  
Snow White
sh
2  
.......................
...... ........... ... . .. ..  
Frontier
sh
2  
.......................
...... ....... ...... . . ... .  
T reasure
sh
2  
. .............
....
.
............ ... . .. ..  
Punchline
sh
2  
...............
.......
.
. ... ....... .......  
M axim
sh
2  
.................. 
.... ................ . ...  
Sw eet Belle
sh
2  
..........................
.. ... ... .... ...... . ...  
C hallenger
sh
2 .. . . . .  
...........
.. ...... ... . . . .....  
SS 7630
sh
2  . . .
...................... ...
........ ... .... .. . .  
RX Y 7703s;
se ............................ ...................... Sir G alahad
se .............................................. Geronimo
se ............................ ..................... Snow Belle
se ................................ .................. Fantasia
se ........................... .................... Starshine
se .............................................. Silverado
se.............................. .................... Spring Snov
se ................................. ................. Legend
se ................................ ................. M erlin
se .................................................. Sugar A ce
se........................................... . Arrow
se .......................... ..................... Sw eet D aw rn
se............................ ..................... Flavor K ing
se ............................ ..................... R X Y 6603
se ............................. ..................... K ing A rthut
lb./a.
Chilton Area Horticulture Substation
SYellow 11,037
n White 16,685
Bi-color 16,465
Bi-color 11,722
White 15,630
e White 13,754
er White 13,148
s Yellow 13,079
Yellow 12,991
Yellow 11,390
Yellow 11,259
Yellow 9,922
Yellow 9,880
1 Bi-color 9,354
Bi-color 8,107
White 14,023
White 13,737
White 12,897
White 9,654
v White 4,325
Yellow 14,437
Yellow 11,890
Yellow 11,176
Yellow 11,121
Yellow 10,418
r Yellow 9,901
Yellow 9,269
n Yellow 7,558
qorth Alabama Horticulture Substation
I Yellow 7,919
White 20,302
White 12,507
White 11,562
Yellow 15,560
Yellow 15,528
Yellow 15,382
Yellow 13,901
Yellow 13,361
s Yellow 10,895
Bi-color 20,275
Bi-color 11,349
White 17,241
White 17,153
White 12,677
White 11,509
v White 7,486
Yellow 14,848
Yellow 13,849
Yellow 13,825
Yellow 12,738
Yellow 12,246
Yellow 11,988
Yellow 10,590
r Yellow 8,540
no./a.
28,325
40,809
36,377
36,252
38,253
35,035
32,976
31,537
39,409
29,767
25,682
31,275
27,332
22,820
24,614
37,470
41,306
35,096
27,787
21,671
36,890
32,979
26,527
27,242
26,577
26,136
27,194
29,933
15,501
27,208
22,259
18,751
25,329
23,399
23,398
21,257
21,620
18,803
28,328
21,501
30,563
25,646
25,254
19,850
19,400
21,079
25,158
19,768
21,924
22,874
20,779
18,906
18,547
in.
17
28
19
16
19
16
19
18
15
17
18
20
15
18
8
21
19
14
11
6
23
19
14
19
15
14
13
8
26
23
23
26
26
28
26
25
28
26
17
14
18
20
12
17
10
10
14
18
17
9
23
17
15
1 --3 ---- ----- ....~,~
TABLE 4. EAR CHARACTERISTICS OF SELECTED SWEET CORN VARIETIES
Type Variety Kernel Quality Tip Ear Eye Ear Ear Cob
color rating' cover
2  
Fill
2  
Appeal
2  
Length Diameter Diameter
in. in. in.
Gulf Coast Substation
su ............................. Kandi Korn Yellow 12.33 4.47 4.00 3.87 7.7 1.2 0.6
sh, ........................... Treasure Bi-color 12.15 4.40 3.95 3.80 6.9 1.2 0.6
sh, 
. . . . .. . .
.........
. .. . . . . . . 
Even Sweeter White 13.20 4.40 4.50 4.30 7.4 
1.3 0.6
sh
2 
...........
........ .. ...
... Snow White White 13.10 4.45 4.60 4.05 7.7 
1.3 0.6
sh
2 ...
......
..... . . .....  
SS 7801 White 10.40 4.05 3.20 3.15 6.1 1.2 
0.6
sh
2 
............
.... ... ... .....  
Frontier White 10.35 3.70 3.30 3.35 7.3 
1.4 0.6
,........................... Sweet Belle 
Yellow 14.60 5.00 
4.80 4.80 7.9 
1.4 0.6
sh, .........
........ . . .....  
Maxim Yellow 14.25 4.50 4.85 4.90 6.8 
1.3 0.6
sh, ........................ SS 7630 Yellow 13.85 4.65 4.60 
4.60 7.5 1.3 0.6
sh .
...  . . . . ... . .  
RXY 7703ss Yellow 13.40 4.35 4.35 4.70 7.9 1.2 
0.6
sh, ....... Challenger Yellow 12.60 4.30 4.20 4.10 7.3 
1.5 0.6
se .......................... Sir Galahad Bi-color 13.25 4.40 4.45 4.40 
7.9 1.3 0.6
se ............................. Geronimo Bi-color 7.25 3.95 1 95 
1.35 5.0 1.1 0.6
se .......................... Silverado White 14.45 4.75 4.75 4.95 
7.0 1.2 0.6
se ....................... . Starshine White 10.95 4.90 3.20 2.85 
6.2 1.2 0.6
se .......................... Spring Snow White 7.50 4.00 1.75 1.75 
5.1 1.2 0.5
se .......................... Arrow Yellow 13.20 5.00 4.30 
3.90 6.7 1.2 0.6
se .......................... Flavor King Yellow 13.15 4.45 4.30 4.40 
7.2 1.2 0.6
se .......................... Segar Ace Yellow 12.65 4.55 4.15 
3.95 7.2 1.1 0.5
se ............................. Merlin Yellow 11.65 3.50 4.30 
3.85 7.7 1.3 0.6
se .......................... Legend Yellow 10.90 4.00 
3.70 3.20 6.7 1.2 0.6
se .......................... King Arthur Yellow 9.85 3.95 3.35 
2.55 5.7 1.2 0.6
se .......................... RXY 6603 Yellow 9.55 3.70 3.25 
2.60 6.2 1.3 0.6
se .......................... Sweet Dawn Yellow 8.24 4.00 2.29 
1.94 4.9 1.1 0.5
Chilton Area Horticulture Substation
su............................ Silver Queen White 9.40 2.20 3.20 
4.00 6.8 2.8 1.2
su........................... Kandi Korn 
Yellow 8.15 0.90 
3.70 3.55 6.9 
1.4 --
sh, ..................... Festival Bi-color 9.25 2.00 
3.65 3.60 6.4 2.6 1.0
sh, ........................... Dazzle 
Bi-color 8.60 2.95 
3.25 2.40 5.5 
2.3 0.7
sh .
.. . . . . . ......
............. Even Sweeter White 11.15 2.60 3.85 
4.70 6.5 2.8 0.7
sh
2 
.........
........ . . .....  
Treasure White 9.60 2.13 3.67 
3.80 6.5 2.8 0.9
sh
2 .....
........
.. . . ....  
Snow White White 9.15 2.20 3.60 3.35 
6.5 2.7 1.0
sh
2
........
....... . . . . ....  
SS 7630 Yellow 11.40 3.50 3.65 4.25 
6.6 2.7 0.6
sh
2 
...........
......... . .....  
Maxim Yellow 10.95 2.95 3.80 4.20 
5.8 2.5 0.8
sh
2 
........................... Sweet Belle Yellow 10.85 3.15 3.85 
3.85 6.5 2.9 0.7
sh
2 . . ....
...
..
.....
. ..
..... RXY 7703ss Yellow 10.73 4.07 2.80 
3.87 7.5 3.0 0.7
sh
2 
.........
.. . . . .. . . . ...  
Challenger Yellow 10.40 2.75 3.50 4.15 
6.4 2.7 0.9
sh
2 
............
......... . . ...  
Punchline Yellow 9.33 2.27 3.47 3.60 
5.9 2.5 0.9
se............................. Sir Galahad Bi-color 
10.15 2.00 4.05 4.10 
6.8 1.5 --
se........................... Geronimo Bi-color 9.75 3.40 
2.95 3.40 5.3 1.5 --
se............................. Starshine White 11.25 3.00 
4.60 3.65 5.9 1.4 --
se ........................... Fantasia White 10.90 3.35 4.00 
3.55 6.2 1.4 --
se............................. Spring Snow White 10.60 3.20 
3.75 3.65 4.5 1.0 --
se.......................... Silverado White 10.55 2.70 
4.10 3.75 6.1 1.3 --
se............................. Snow Belle White 10.05 2.20 
4.05 3.80 6.1 1.3 --
se........................... Sugar Ace Yellow 12.05 3.75 
4.50 3.80 6.3 1.4 --
se.......................... Sweet Dawn Yellow 10.75 
2.95 3.85 3.95 5.8 1.1 --
se............................ Legend Yellow 10.65 2.95 
4.45 3.25 5.9 1.5 --
se............................ Arrow Yellow 10.35 
2.70 4.00 3.65 5.8 1.4 --
se............................. Flavor King Yellow 10.25 3.10 3.60 3.55 6.8 1.4 --
se.................. Merlin Yellow 10.10 1.90 
4.15 4.05 6.7 1.5 --
se........................... King Arthur Yellow 9.20 2.10 
3.75 3.35 6.0 1.5 --
se .......................... RXY 6603 Yellow 8.65 2.20 
3.20 3.25 5.8 1.6 --
'Quality rating is the sum of tip cover, ear fill, and eye appeal ratings.
-Tip cover, ear fill, and eye appeal ratings: 5 = excellent; 4 = good; 3 = fair; 2 = poor; 1 = 
very poor.
10 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
TABLE 4 (CONTINUED). EAR CHARACTERISTICS OF SELECTED SWEET CORN VARIETIES
Type Variety Kernel Quality Tip Ear Eye Ear Ear Cob
color rating' cover
2  
fill
2  
appeal
2  
length diameter diameter
in. in. in.
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
su ......................... Kandi Korn Yellow 11.90 4.90 3.55 3.45 7.8 1.4 0.5
sh 
.. . . . . . .. . . . . 
Snow White White 14.30 4.70 4.70 4.90 8.0 2.1 0.8
sh 
. .. . . .. .  
Frontier White 13.85 4.55 4.60 4.70 7.6 1.7 0.9
sh
2  
Treasure White 12.10 4.20 3.75 4.15 7.3 1.6 0.9
sh
2 .. . . . . . . . . ....  
Punchline Yellow 14.75 4.95 4.85 4.95 9.9 1.7 0.8
sh
2  
...........................
....... .  
Challenger Yellow 14.35 4.90 4.75 4.70 7.7 1.8 0.9
sh 
. . . . .. . . . . . . .. . 
Maxim Yellow 13.95 4.45 4.80 4.70 7.2 1.7 0.9
sh
2  
RXY 7703ss Yellow 13.80 4.95 4.25 4.60 8.4 1.6 0.8
sh
2  . . . . . . .. . . . . .
Sweet Belle Yellow 13.20 4.85 4.45 3.90 7.9 1.7 0.8
sh
2  . . . . . .. . . . . . .. .
SS 7630 Yellow 13.10 4.90 4.25 3.95 8.0 1.5 0.8
se .......................... Geronimo Bi-color 13.20 5.00 4.20 4.00 6.5 1.5 0.5
se .......................... Sir Galahad Bi-color 12.90 4.85 4.05 4.00 8.1 1.3 0.6
se .......................... Fantasia White 13.45 4.80 4.35 4.30 7.6 1.6 0.6
se............................ Silverado White 13.40 4.85 4.40 4.15 7.7 1.5 0.6
se............................ Starshine White 12.65 4.70 4.10 3.85 6.2 1.5 0.5
se............................. Snow Belle White 12.50 4.75 4.15 3.60 7.5 1.5 0.7
se............................. Spring Snow White 11.45 4.75 3.35 3.35 6.0 
0.5 0.3
se............................ Sugar Ace Yellow 14.50 5.00 4.85 4.65 7.7 
1.5 0.8
se............................ Legend Yellow 14.15 4.95 4.65 4.55 7.2 1.5 0.8
se............................ Merlin Yellow 13.65 4.45 4.75 4.45 8.1 1.5 
0.5
se............................ Sweet Dawn Yellow 13.55 4.85 4.35 4.35 7.1 
1.4 0.6
se ............................ Arrow Yellow 13.45 5.00 4.25 4.20 
7.3 1.5 0.6
se............................. King Arthur Yellow 12.10 4.80 3.85 3.45 
7.8 1.5 0.7
se............................ RXY 6603 Yellow 12.00 4.65 4.05 3.30 
6.7 1.5 0.8
se........................... Flavor King Yellow 11.05 4.50 3.30 3.25 
7.4 1.5 0.5
'Quality rating is the sum of tip cover, ear fill, and eye appeal ratings.
2
Tip cover, ear fill, and eye appeal ratings: 5 = excellent; 4 = good; 3 = fair; 2 = poor; I = very poor.
11SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
'General 
Lee' 
Top 
Marketable
'General Lee'Top Marketable
Yielder in Slicer Cucumber Trial
Eric Simonne, Arnold Caylor, Marlin Hollingsworth, 
and Joseph Kemble
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
ON MAY 10, SELECTED VARIETIES 
OF
slicer cucumbers were direct seeded on bare-
ground at a one-inch depth at the North Alabama
Horticultural Substation in Cullman (Tables 1 
and
2). Plots consisted of a single 42-inch-wide, 
20-
foot-long row with in-row spacing of eight inches,
which provided a stand of approximately 
17,000
plants per acre.
Fertilization consisted of a preplant applica-
tion four days before planting of a 13-13-13 
fer-
tilizer at a rate of 900 pounds per acre. Rainfall
provided adequate moisture throughout 
the grow-
ing season.
Curbit herbicide was applied on May 11 
at a
rate of 2.5 pints per acre. Insect 
control consisted
of applications of Sevin (at a rate 
of one quart
per acre) on May 26; Dimethoate 
(at a rate of 0.5
pint per acre) on May 26, June 2 and 9, 
and July
7; and Asana (at a rate of 9.6 ounces per 
acre) on
June 16, 23 an
sprayed with Ri
rate of two pour
9, 16, 23 and 30
Cucumbers
tween June 26
fruits were weig
Cucumber Grac
d 30, and July 7. Plants were
domil/Bravo 81W fungicide (at a
nds per acre) on May 26, June 2,
), and July 7.
were harvested eight times be-
and July 14. After each harvest,
;hed and graded according to the
dler's Guide (Circular ANR-771
from the Alabama Coopera-
tive Extension Service). Early
(Table 3) and total (Table 4)
yields were determined. Ear-
liness was evaluated by add-
ing the marketable yields of
the first four harvests.
12
TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995 SLICER
CUCUMBER VARIETY TRIAL'
Location 
NAHS
W eather .................................................................................... 
5
Fertility ................................................................................... 5
Irrigation ................................................................................. 5
Pests ............................................................... 
4
O verall ....................................................................................... 
5
'See the introduction on page 3 for a description of the 
rating
scales.
TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, FRUIT CHARACTERTISTICS,
AND RELATIVE EARLINESS OF SELECTED 
CUCUMBER VARIETIES
Variety Seed Source 
Days to Harvest'
Alamir ........................................................ Nunhems 
32
Dasher I ........................................................ Petoseed 
58
Encore ............................................................ Harris 
Seeds 55
General Lee .................................................. Stokes 
66
Lightning ........................
......... ............ ......
..... Asgrow 
--
Longbow ......................................................... 
Seneca 62
Medalist ........................................................... Harris 
Seeds 55
M eteor' .............................
.... ......... ............ . . ..  
A sgrow 
--
Petra ............................................................... N 
unhems 34
Seray ..... .................................. Nunhems 
36
Speedway ....................................................... Petoseed 
56
Thunder ............................................................ A sgrow 
56
Trailblazer .............................. ...................... Seneca 
62
Ultraslice Early .............................................. Stokes 
56
zenith ........................................................ 
Ferry Morse 
--
'From respective seed catalogues.
2
Formerly XPH 1701.
'Formerly XPH 1653.
TABLE 3. EARLY PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED SLICER CUCUMBER VARIETIES'
Variety Early market. wt. Early fancy wt. Early fancy no. Early US#1 wt. Early US#1 
no. Early US#2 wt.
lb./a. lb./a. no./a. lb./a. no./a. 
lb./a.
Seray ............................... 25,689 16,165 28,626 
9,523 22,610 5,522
Alamir ............................ 24,435 13,905 28,937 10,529 
28,781 4,336
Thunder .......................... 21,326 15,497 29,093 
5,829 15,246 4,955
General Lee ................... 21,038 16,678 23,492 
4,361 11,201 3,244
Ultraslice Early ............. 19,066 13,786 29,093 
5,280 14,157 2,937
Dasher II ........................... 18,327 14,682 29,248 3,645 
10,268 1,825
Meteor ............................ 18,251 12,426 24,892 5,825 
14,780 3,130
Speedway ....................... 17,501 13,762 25,825 
3,738 10,735 2,976
Petra ................................ 16,268 8,175 16,491 
8,093 20,536 5,131
Lightning ....................... 16,012 10,739 21,469 
5,272 13,379 3,211
Encore ............................ 12,583 7,373 16,180 
5,210 14,002 2,942
Zenith ............................. 12,546 8,410 18,047 
4,135 12,913 3,158
Longbow ........................ 10,929 6,775 16,958 
4,154 11,668 2,548
Trailb.laizer ..................... 8,569 5,445 12,135 
3,124 8,557 1,791
Medalist ........................... 8,216 6,077 16,647 2,139 
7,156 1,400
'Productions of June 26, 28 and 30, and July 5 combined.
TABLE 4. TOTAL PRODUCTION AND GRADE 
DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED SLICER CUCUMBER VARIETIES'
Variety Total Total Total 
Total Total Total Total Individual
marketable wt.
2  
fancy wt. fancy no. US#1 
wt. US#1 no. US#2 wt. 
cull fruit wt.
2
lb./a. lb./a. no./a. lb./a. no./a. 
lb./a. lb./a. lb.
General Lee ............ 29,177 21,983 34,071 
7,194 19,602 6,081 1,195 
0.48
Ultraslice Early ...... 28,341 20,343 42,939 
7,998 22,403 6,305 1,761 
0.41
Thunder ................... 27,649 18,946 36,249 
8,703 23,647 8,894 1,974 0.45
Seray ........................ 27,460 16,472 29,248 
10,988 26,137 7,729 3,960 0.49
Dasher II ................. 26,606 19,837 41,072 
6,769 20,380 4,131 1,087 0.41
Meteor ..................... 25,846 16,657 33,604 9,188 
24,736 7,006 2,114 0.42
Alamir ..................... 25,769 13,905 28,937 
11,864 32,048 5,747 3,673 
0.42
Speedway ................ 24,593 18,789 36,716 
5,805 16,958 5,398 1,330 0.42
Zenith ...................... 22,717 14,960 30,337 
7,757 23,492 6,298 1,416 
0.41
Encore ..................... 21,931 13,586 27,070 
8,345 23,336 7,735 2,693 0.41
Lightning ......... 21,900 13,969 28,159 
7,931 21,003 6,147 2,614 0.44
Longbow ................. 20,147 12,471 27,381 
7,676 22,247 5,917 711 0.39
Petra ........................ 18,019 8,484 17,113 
9,535 24,425 6,869 5,876 0.45
Medalist .................. 17,421 11,401 27,692 
6,021 19,291 4,586 1,371 0.36
Trailblaizer ............. 15,926 10,199 20,691 
5,727 17,113 6,148 1,212 
0.41
'Harvest Dates were June 26, 28, 30, July 5, 7, 10, 12, and 14.
2
Marketable Yield and Individual Fruit Weight were determined as Fancy 
plus US#1 grades.
13
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
14 
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
Eggplant Varieties Differ
in Color and Shape
Eric Simonne, Jim Bannon, Arnold Caylor, Marlin Hollingsworth,
Joseph Kemble, and James Witt
MOST EGGPLANT PRODUCED IN ALA-
bama is grown in home gardens. However, be-
cause the demand for eggplant in specialty mar-
kets is increasing, the performance of selected
eggplant varieties was evaluated at the Horticul-
ture Unit of the E.V. Smith Research Center
(EVSRC) in Shorter and the North Alabama Hor-
ticulture Substation (NAHS) in Cullman (Tables
1 and 2).
Five-week-old eggplants were transplanted on
four-foot-wide, drip-irrigated beds covered with
plastic mulch on May 10 at EVSRC and on May
8 at NAHS. Plastic mulch color was black at
EVSRC and white at NAHS. Within-row spacing
was 24 inches, which provided a stand of approxi-
mately 4,500 plants per acre.
At EVSRC, calcium nitrate [Ca(NO
3
)
2
] at a
rate of 50 pounds of nitrogen (N) per acre and
muriate of potash (KC1) at a rate of 50 pounds of
potassium (K) per acre were applied preplant on
March 14. Beds were fumigated with methyl bro-
mide at a rate of 400 pounds per acre on March
16. Starting immediately after transplanting, 12
TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995
EGGPLANT VARIETY TRIALS'
Location EVSRC NAHS
W eather.................................... 5 5
Fertility .............................. 5 5
Irrigation .................. ........ 5 5
Pests ......................................... 5 5
Overall ............. ................ 5 5
'See the introduction on page 3 for a description of the rating
scales.
pounds of nitrogen per acre were injected weekly
through the trickle-irrigation system, alternatively
from 20-20-20 and potassium nitrate 
(KNO
3
).
At EVSRC, Weed control consisted of appli-
cations of Dacthal (at a rate of eight pounds per
acre) on March 27 and Roundup (at a rate of three
quarts per acre) on April 5 and May 4. Insect con-
trol was provided by applications of Lannate LV
(at a rate of two pints per acre) on May 19, June
17, and July 25; Asana (at a rate of eight ounces
per acre) on May 27; Ambush 2EC (at a rate of
eight ounces per acre) on June 3 and 23, and July
TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, FRUIT CHARACTERTISTICS,
AND RELATIVE EARLINESS OF SELECTED EGGPLANT 
VARIETIES
Variety Seed source Plant' 
Fruit color Fruit shape Days to harvest'
Casper ......................................... Stokes Classic 
White Elongated 70
Classic ..... ........................... Harris Seeds 
Classic Purple Typical 
76
Ghostbuster .................................. Harris Seeds 
Classic White Round 
80
Little Fingers .............................. Harris Seeds 
Classic Purple Miniature 
68
Rosita ............................................ Stokes 
Classic Pink Typical 
68
Tasca ............................................. Vilmorin 
Classic Purple Round 
68
Vernal........................................... Vilmorin 
Classic Purple Classic 
60
Black Bell .................................... Petoseed Oriental 
Purple Oblong 65
Epic .............................................. Petoseed Oriental 
Purple Oblong 64
Megal ........................................... Vilmorin Oriental 
Purple Elongated 60
NVH 2228 .................................... Rogers 
Oriental Purple Classic 
--
'The leaves of "Classic" type plants are fully green, while in 
the "Oriental" type, the vein of the leaves are purple to brown.
From respective seed catalogues.
14 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
V 
15
TABLE 3. EARLY PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED EGGPLANT VARIETIES'
Variety Early Early Early Early Early Early 
Early
marketable wt. fancy wt. US#1 wt. US#2 wt. fancy no. US#1 no. US#2 no.
lb./a. lb./a. lb./a. lb./a. no./a. no./a. no./a.
E.V. Smith Research Center
Black Belle .............. 15,112 7,314 7,798 6,650 
5,075 6,939 5,800
Classic ...................... 13,644 8,316 5,328 4,199 
7,187 5,107 4,161
Vernal .......................... 10,615 5,076 5,539 5,181 
5,856 6,609 6,107
Epic ............................. 10,350 5,506 4,844 6,013 
4,792 5,235 5,972
XPH 14007 .............. 10,020 2,513 7,507 3,362 
5,438 8,234 3,418
Little Fingers ............. 5,873 2,933 2,940 1,713 
13,268 15,878 12,289
Ghost Buster .............. 5,501 1,940 3,561 4,400 
2,132 4,904 4,947
Rosita ......................... 5,377 2,074 3,303 3,954 
2,231 4,015 4,462
NVH 2228 .................. 5,361 3,506 1,855 1,796 
2,526 1,684 1,684
Megal ......................... 5,158 1,709 3,449 
1,963 2,447 5,981 3,353
Tasca .......................... 4,962 1,898 3,064 
2,728 1,243 2,563 2,175
Casper ........................... 1,704 394 1,310 
1,399 580 2,610 3,190
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
Classic ......................... 20,139 15,903 4,236 
2,745 19,224 8,279 4,911
Black Belle ................. 19,699 15,950 3,749 
3,371 19,040 5,348 3,209
Epic ............................ 18,901 13,775 5,127 
2,669 24,450 10,125 4,800
Vernal.......................... 18,334 15,730 2,604 
2,000 21,153 9,894 3,838
Megal .......................... 16,812 14,019 2,793 
1,958 16,087 6,402 4,022
NVH 2228................... 15,565 12,934 2,631 
1,821 14,703 4,437 2,349
Rosita .......................... 14,190 11,525 2,665 
1,510 17,400 6,351 3,132
Ghost Buster............... 11,841 9,702 2,139 
747 16,856 4,690 1,495
Little Fingers............. 10,820 8,391 2,429 
3,403 8,139 3,227 4,069
Casper ........................... 9,070 5,754 3,315 
2,945 13,413 8,193 8,410
Tasca ............................. 2,946 2,607 339 
212 7,447 1,180 442
'Combined yields of June 26 and 30, and July 6 and 12 at NAHS; 
and June 28, and July 7 and 11 at EVSRC.
7; Cygon 4E (at a rate of two pints per acre) on
June 7 and 10, and July 25; Thiodan 3EC (at a
rate of 1.5 pints per acre) on June 30 and Aug. 5;
Kelthane MF (at a rate of 1.5 pints per acre) on
June 30, and July 7 and 15; and Sevin 4F (at a
rate of one pint per acre) on June 15.
Fungicide applications at EVSRC consisted
of Benlate 50 WP (at a rate of two pounds per
acre) on June 10; Manzate 200 (at a rate of two
pints per acre) on May 19, June 30, and July 15;
Dithane DF (at a rate of two pounds per acre) on
May 27, July 7, and Aug. 5; and Ridomil/Bravo
81W (at a rate of two pounds per acre) on June 3,
17, and 23, and July 25.
At NAHS, beds were fumigated with 98%
methyl bromide plus 2% chloropicrin at a rate of
400 pounds per acre on April 27. A preplant ap-
plication of 1,000 pounds per acre of a 5-10-15
fertilizer provided 50 pounds of N, 100 pounds
of phosphorous (P
2
0
5
), and 150 pounds of potas-
sium (K
2
0). Between May 15 and final harvest,
injections of combinations of ammonium nitrate
(NH
4
NO
3
), calciumnitrate, and potassium nitrate
were made weekly through the drip tubes. Appli-
cation rates ranged between 10 and 20 pounds per
acre for ammonium nitrate, 10 and 50 pounds per
acre for calcium nitrate, and 10 to 90 pounds per
acre for potassium nitrate.
Preplant herbicide at NAHS was Treflan 4EC
applied on May 3 at a rate of one quart per acre.
Weeds between the beds were controlled 
by ap-
plications of Sencor DF (at a rate of one 
pound
per acre) and Command (at a rate of one quart
per acre) on May 31; and Poast (at a rate of 
one
pint per acre) and Crop Oil (at a rate of one 
quart
per acre) on June 5, 16, and 27. Insect control
consisted of applications of Dimethoate (at 
a rate
of 0.5 pint per acre) on May 18 and 26, June 
2
and 9, and July 7; Asana (at a rate of 9.6 ounces
per acre) on June 16, 23 and 30, and July 7, 17,
and 25; and Sevin XLR on May 18 (two quarts
per acre) and on May 26 (one quart per acre).
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
16 ALABAMA 
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
Plants were also sprayed with the fungicide
Ridomil/Bravo 81W (at a rate of two pounds 
per
acre) on May 18 and 26, June 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30,
and July 7, 17, and 25. Spider mites were con-
trolled by an application of Kelthane MF (at a
rate of one pint per acre) on July 25.
Eggplants were harvested seven times be-
tween June 26 and Aug. 1 at NAHS, and seven
times between June 28 and Aug. 7 at EVSRC.
Fruits were graded according to the Eggplant
Grader's Guide (Circular ANR-780 from the Ala-
bama Cooperative Extension Service). Early pro-
duction was determined by combining the yields
of the first four harvests (Table 3). Total market-
able yield was determined by combining the
Fancy and US#1 grades (Table 4).
TABLE 4. TOTAL PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED EGGPLANT VARIETIES'
Variety Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Individual
market. wt.
2  
fancy wt. US#1 wt. US#2 wt. cull fancy no. US#1 no. US#2 no. wt.
2
IbJa. b Ja. ib a. IbJa. b./a. nola. no.a. no./a. lb.
E.V. Smith Research Center
Black Belle ............. 30,510 7,458 10,114 12,937 9,857 5,282 10,979 13,464 1.42
Classic ................. 29,578 9,145 11,700 8,733 8,531 8,322 12,577 9,929 1.13
Epic ..................... 27,361 6,178 8,664 12,519 12,553 5,825 10,396 16,220 1.07
Vernal ..................... 26,104 5,253 8,512 12,338 14,096 6,107 11,210 17,902 0.85
XPH 14007............. 22,371 3,221 10,763 8,387 5,162 6,214 12,118 9,943 0.81
Ghost Buster........... 22,012 2,402 9,222 10,388 15,086 2,900 14,116 16,376 0.82
Rosita .................. 17,698 2,347 6,601 8,749 8,388 2,788 9,369 13,385 0.96
Tasca ...................... 17,031 2,126 6,505 8,401 9,138 1,476 5,826 8,079 1.42
NVH 2228 .............. 15,727 4,786 5,680 5,261 6,740 3,789 6,034 6,034 1.27
Little Fingers .......... 12,662 3,228 5,073 4,361 8,679 14,899 28,493 27,514 0.23
Casper .................... 12,388 882 4,482 7,025 9,728 1,353 7,927 15,853 0.57
Megal ..................... 12,373 2,127 5,721 4,525 6,262 3,444 12,053 10,059 0.61
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
Black Belle ............. 33,310 25,676 7,635 7,170 1,230 36,583 14,334 10,136 0.72
Epic ........................ 31,514 21,449 10,065 6,452 606 34,950 18,075 9,044 0.64
Megal ..................... 29,859 22,823 7,036 3,643 565 36,524 17,236 8,680 0.67
NVH 2228 .............. 29,521 22,822 6,699 4,407 1,014 30,276 11,310 6,856 0.78
Vernal ..................... 25,168 20,906 4,261 3,768 1,083 29,768 13,391 6,482 0.72
Casper .................... 24,121 12,519 11,603 9,205 626 26,753 51,838 40,614 0.45
Classic .................... 20,139 15,903 4,236 2,745 1,295 19,224 8,279 4,911 0.82
Rosita ..................... 17,101 11,942 5,158 3,786 245 19,227 23,229 16,704 0.61
Ghost Buster ........... 11,841 9,702 2,139 747 243 16,856 4,690 1,495 0.58
Little Fingers .......... 10,820 8,391 2,429 3,403 351 8,139 3,227 4,069 1.04
Tasca ........................ 2,946 2,607 339 212 30 7,447 1,180 442 0.38
'Harvest dates were June 26 and 30, July 6, 20, and 27, and Aug. 1 at NAHS; and June 28, July 5, 11, 18, 26, and 31, and Aug. 7 at
EVSRC.
Marketable yield and individual fruit weight were determined as fancy plus US#1 grades.
16
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 
SYSTEM
17
Small Melons: Cantaloupe,
Canary Melon, Honey Dew,
Spanish Melon, and Galia
Eric Simonne, Jim Bannon, Robert Boozer, Vanessa 
Drouot, Joseph
Kemble, John Owen, Jim Pitts, Kenneth Short, and James Witt
TRADITIONALLY, NETTED, ORANGE-
fleshed cantaloupes have been grown in Alabama.
Acreage planted to cantaloupe was estimated to
be 2,100 acres in 1993. Due to consumer demand
and diversity in fruit characteristics, information
on yield potential in Alabama of other small mel-
ons such as canary melons, honey dews, Spanish
melons or galia melons is needed. Small-melon
variety trials were conducted at the Horticulture
Unit at the E.V. Smith Research Center (EVSRC)
near Shorter, the Piedmont Substation (PS) in
Camp Hill, the Chilton Area Horticulture Sub-
station (CAHS) in Clanton (Tables 1 and 2).
Selected varieties of small melons were di-
rect seeded in single rows on five-foot-wide beds
at a four-foot within-row spacing. At all locations,
TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995
SMALL MELONS VARIETY TRIALS'
Location EVSRC PS CAHS
W eather .................... 5 5 5
Fertility ....... ..... 5 5 5
Irrigation.................. 5 5 5
Pests .............. ..... 5 5 5
Overall ..................... 5 5 5
'See the introduction on page 3 for a description of the rating
scales.
plastic mulch and drip irrigation were used. At
PS, small melons were grown on white plastic as
a second crop following broccoli. At EVSRC and
CAHS, the plastic was new and black in color.
Planting dates were April 12 at EVSRC, May 31
TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, FRUIT CHARACTERTISTICS,
AND RELATIVE EARLINESS OF SELECTED VARIETIES 
OF SMALL MELONS
Variety Seed source 
Type Rind Flesh Days 
to harvest'
AC-82-37-RNL ........................... Auburn U. 
Cantaloupe Netted Orange 
--
Ambrosia ....................................... A&C Cantaloupe 
Netted Orange 88
Athena ........................................... Rogers Cantaloupe 
Netted Orange 80
AUrora .......................................... Auburn U. Cantaloupe 
Netted Orange 75
Castella ......................................... Nunhems 
Cantaloupe Sutured Orange 
83
Clipper .......................................... Nunhems 
Cantaloupe Sutured Orange 
87
Cordele ........................................ Asgrow 
Cantaloupe Netted Orange 
85
FMX 165 .......................................
Ferry Morse Cantaloupe 
Netted Orange 
--
Hi-Mark ....................................... Petoseed Cantaloupe 
Netted Orange 85
Starship... ............................ Harris Seeds 
Cantaloupe Sutured Orange 
86
Supporter ..................................... Nunhems 
Cantaloupe Sutured Orange 
87
Mission........................................ Asgrow 
Cantaloupe Netted Orange 
80
Lutina............................................ Nunhems 
Canary melon Smooth Yellow 
88
Acor .............................................. Vilmorin French 
charentais Sutured Orange 
80
Alienor ......................................... Vilmorin French 
charentais Sutured Orange 
85
Savor ............................................ Vilmorin 
French charentais Sutured Orange 
78
Solarbel ........................................ Nunhems 
Galia Netted Green 
91
Earli-Dew ..................................... Petoseed Honeydew 
Smooth Green 80
Morning Dew .............................. Harris Seeds 
Honeydew Smooth Green 
96
Morning Ice .................................. Harris Seeds Honeydew 
Smooth Green 84
Iberix ............................................. Vilmorin Spanish 
melon Smooth Green 
82
'From respective seed catalogues.
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
TABLE 3. YIELD AND SOLUBLE SOLIDS OF SELECTED VARIETIES OF SMALL MELONS
Variety Type Marketable Marketable Individual Soluble Cull
yield fruits fruit wt. solids ' wt.
AUrora ................................ Cantaloupe
Hy-Mark ..................... Cantaloupe
Athena ........................ Cantaloupe
Starship ............................... Cantaloupe
Mission .................... .. Cantaloupe
Cordele .................... .. Cantaloupe
AC-92-37 RNL ................ Cantaloupe
Ambrosia ................... Cantaloupe
Clipper ....................... Cantaloupe
Castella ........ ......... ... Cantaloupe
Supporter ............................ Cantaloupe
Alienor ....................... French charentais
Savor .......................... Frenchcharentais
Acor ............................ French charentais
Athena ........................ Cantaloupe
FMX 165 ................... Cantaloupe
Cordele ....................... Cantaloupe
Ambrosia .................... Cantaloupe
Mission ....................... Cantaloupe
Starship ...................... Cantaloupe
AUrora ................................ Cantaloupe
Castella ............................... Cantaloupe
AC-92-37 RNL ................ Cantaloupe
Hy-Mark .............................. Cantaloupe
Clipper ................................ Cantaloupe
Supporter ........................... Cantaloupe
Acor ............................... French charentais
Savor ............................. French charentais
Alienor .......................... French charentais
Castella ............................... Cantaloupe
Cordele ............................... Cantaloupe
Hy-Mark ............................. Cantaloupe
AUrora ............................... Cantaloupe
AC-82-37-RNL ................. Cantaloupe
Mission............................... Cantaloupe
Lutina ............................... Canary melon
Acor ............................... French charentais
Alienor .......................... French charentais
Savor .......................... French charentais
Solarbel ................................... Galia
Morning Ice ........................ Honeydew
Earli-Dew ........................... Honeydew
Morning Dew ..................... Honeydew
Iberix ................................ Spanish melon
Ib./a. no./a.
E.V. Smith Research Center
30,348 10,134
28,636 10,715
27,864 6,717
25,392 7,843
25,238 10,933
22,788 6,431
20,976 9,189
18,552 7,298
17,645 7,445
15,628 5,014
12,754 4,970
12,528 4,292
11,586 4,851
9,348 4,197
Chilton Area Horticulture Substation
44,855 9,647
33,324 9,701
29,273 6,976
28,549 8,393
26,783 9,374
25,750 6,322
24,901 8,012
18,391 5,341
16,840 6,104
16,255 5,559
14,742 4,469
3,462 1,199
8,069 2,889
3,182 1,472
3,155 1,308
Piedmont Substation
54,975 14,802
32,777 16,517
28,988 14,802
28,571 15,217
19,447 10,652
14,645 8,992
24,103 7,525
52,857 11,758
36,934 10,513
20,579 9,545
68,049 16,738
69,297 11,343
63,393 15,078
56,058 10,928
32,929 8,715
'Soluble solids is a practical measure of fruit seetness. Melons less than 100 Brix do not taste very sweet.
at PS, and May 16 at CAHS.
At EVSRC, preplant fertilization provided 50
pounds of nitrogen (N) and 100 pounds of potas-
sium (K) per acre as 15.5-0-0 and 0-0-60. On
March 16, beds were fumigated with methyl bro-
mide at a rate of 400 pounds per acre. Between
April 19 and July 26, six pounds of N were in-
jected weekly, alternatively from potassium ni-
trate (KNO
3
) and 20-20-20.
Preplant herbicide at EVSRC was Curbit 3EC
applied on March 27 at a rate of four pints per
acre. Insect control was provided by applications
of Lannate LV (at a rate of 1.5 pints per acre) on
April 26 and May 19; Diazinon AG 500 (at a rate
of two quarts per acre) on May 5; Asana XL (at a
rate of eight ounces per acre) on May 27 and June
lb./a.
lb.
3.0
2.8
4.3
3.0
2.5
3.3
2.1
2.6
2.3
3.0
2.6
2.9
2.5
2.4
4.7
3.4
4.1
3.4
2.8
4.0
3.1
3.5
2.8
2.9
3.2
3.0
2.8
2.1
2.7
3.7
2.3
1.9
.2.0
2.0
1.8
2.8
4.5
3.6
2.3
4.0
6.2
4.2
5.4
3.7
oBrix
10.5
12.5
10.3
9.9
9.4
8.2
9.4
11.2
13.9
11.6
8.1
12.3
8.0
12.3
11.9
9.4
9.6
9.7
11.0
9.5
8.7
10.4
8.7
11.0
11.7
13.4
9.6
10.7
8.6
7.8
9.7
9.4
8.6
10.2
8.6
10.5
9.9
8.3
11.6
7.5
12.6
9.6
11.8
9.3
5,178
4,522
7,472
4,212
5,398
8,214
8,400
11,473
5,017
9,480
8,304
8,412
9,558
9,576
728
6,457
4,110
11,396
6,126
10,238
13,336
12,950
14,017
6,810
12,629
10,210
18,374
12,538
16,535
18
~........ ~CIIILUIVU V~
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 19
19; Ambush (at a rate of 
eight ounces per acre)
on June 3 and 14, and 
July 7; Sevin 80WP (at a
rate of one pint per acre) 
on June 24 and July 15;
Thiodan 3EC (at a rate of 
1.5 pints per acre) on
June 30; and Kelthane (at 
a rate of 1.5 pints per
acre) on June 30 and July 
15. Fungicide applica-
tions consisted of Manex 
(at a rate of 1.5 quart
per acre) on April 26; Dithane 
DF (at a rate of
two pounds per acre) on 
May 5 and 27, and July
7; Manzate 200 DF (at a rate 
of two pounds per
acre) on May 19, June 30, 
and July 15; and
Ridomil/Bravo 81W (at a 
rate of two pounds per
acre) on June 3 and 14. Kocide 
101 was also ap-
plied on April 26 at a rate of two 
pounds per acre.
At CAHS, banded preplant 
fertilizer provided
50 pounds of N per acre, 
all the recommended
phosphorus (P), and 75% of 
the recommended K,
based on soil test results. Between 
emergence and
last harvest, soluble fertilizer 
was injected weekly
through the drip-irrigation 
system at a rate of six
pounds of N per acre, alternately 
from 20-20-20
and potassium nitrate. Thiodan 
insecticide and
Kocide fungicide (each at 
a rate of two pounds
per acre) were applied on 
June 2. No other chemi-
cals were used.
At PS, a soil sample was taken 
following the
fall broccoli crop. Soil 
test results recommended
(per acre) no liming, 80 pounds 
of N, 90 pounds
of phosphorous (P
2
0
5
) and no potassium (K
2
0).
Before planting, beds 
were irrigated and 100
pounds per acre of a 20-10-20 
fertilizer were in-
jected. Starting June 5, six 
pounds of N per acre
were injected weekly, alternatively 
from calcium
nitrate [Ca(NO
3
)
2
] and 20-10-20.
Weed control at PS was provided 
by two pre-
plant applications of Gramoxone, each at a rate
of one pint per acre. Bravo fungicide (at 
a rate of
three pints per acre) and Ambush 
insecticide (at
a rate of three pints per acre) were 
applied on July
21.
Harvesting small melons at an 
over-ripe stage
will reduce shelf life and increase 
the risk of split-
ting during transportation. 
Flavor may also be
adversely affected. Most cantaloupe 
varieties may
be harvested when they slip 
from the vine. How-
ever, 'Castella' and 'Clipper' 
are extended-shelf
life cantaloupes that are ready 
for harvest when
concentric stripes appear around 
the stem end.
Melons of these varieties will continue 
to ripen
for approximately two weeks after 
harvest. The
blossom end will split-open before these 
variet-
ies actually slip from the vine. 
Similarly, French
charentais, honeydew, canary, 
and Spanish mel-
ons are often over-ripe if harvested 
when they slip.
In order to maximize marketable 
yields,
French charentais melons may 
be harvested when
the distal end becomes soft 
to the touch, while
the melon still shows a green 
appearance. Simi-
larly, honeydew melons 
may be harvested when
fruit pubescence has disappeared 
and the rind
shows a yellow taint.
Small melons were harvested 
and graded on
June 26, 28, and 30, and July 
5, 7, 10, 13, 17, 19,
and 24 at EVSRC; on Aug. 
10, 17, and 25 at PS;
and on July 20, 24 and 28, and 
Aug. 1 at CAHS
(Table 3). On eight representative 
melons of each
variety at each location, soluble-solid 
content was
determined with a hand-held 
refractometer to pro-
vide a practical measurement 
of sweetness.
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL 
REPORT
19
20 
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 
SYSTEM
Heat Wave Affects Bell
Pepper Size in Variety Trials
Eric Simonne, Jim Bannon, Robert Boozer, Arnold Caylor, John Eason,
Marlin Hollingsworth, Joseph Kemble, Jim Pitts, Marvin Ruf, Kenneth
Short, and James Witt
IN 1993, GREEN BELL PEPPERS WERE
grown in Alabama on 300 acres, down from over
800 acres in 1992 (Alabama Vegetable Produc-
tion Statistics, Alabama Cooperative Extension
Service). Since then, bell pepper production has
been constantly increasing. For commercial pro-
duction, peppers are planted in double rows on
plastic-mulched beds, and fertigated. However,
peppers are more traditionally produced in single-
rows on bare-ground with overhead or drip irri-
gation.
Bell pepper variety trials were conducted at
the Horticulture Unit of the E.V. Smith Research
TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, FRUIT CHARACTERTISTI
RELATIVE EARLINESS OF SELECTED PEPPER VAI
Variety Seed source Type' Days tc
Sugar Banana .......... Stokes Banana
Admiral.................... Rogers Bell
Bellguard.................Harris Seeds Bell
Bell King........Harris Seeds Bell
Figaro....................... Vilmorin Bell
Foulki ................ Vilmorin Bell
Guardian .................. Rogers Bell
King Arthur ............. Petoseed Bell
NUN 1393................ Nunhems Bell
NVH 3085 ................ Rogers Bell
NVH 3093................ Rogers Bell
Redwing................... Stokes 
Bell
Red Dawn ................ Stokes Bell
Robin ........................ Stokes Bell
Tenno ....................... Nunhems Bell
XR3 Camelot ........... Petoseed Bell
XPH 121013 ............. Asgrow Bell
XPH 12113 .............. Asgrow 
Bell
Zerto............Nunhems Bell
Aruba........................ Rogers Cubanelle
Biscayne .................. Petoseed Cubanelle
Key Largo............... Harris Seeds Cubanelle
'Type: Banana = Elongated with pointed end; Cubanelle = Elongated
merging at the tip.
2
From respective seed catalogues.
3
Named 'Enterprise.'
TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995
BELL PEPPER VARIETY TRIALS'
Location EVSRC NAHS SMS
Weather ............ 3 3 3
Fertility .................... 5 5 5
Irrigation .................. 5 5 5
Pests .... ........ 5 5 5
Overall ..................... 4 4 4
'See the introduction on page 3 for a description of the rating
scales.
Center (EVSRC) in Shorter, the North Alabama
Horticulture Substation (NAHS) in Cullman, 
and
the Sand Mountain Substation (SMS) 
in
Crossville (Tables 1 and 2).
Five-week-old peppers were
ICS AND transplanted on 
May 11 at EVSRC,
RIETIES May 8 at NAHS, and May 8 at SMS on
harvest
2  
four-foot wide, drip-irrigated, 
and plas-
60 tic-mulched 
beds. Plastic mulch 
color
76 was black at EVSRC, white at NAHS,
74 and silver 
at SMS. At EVSRC, 
peppers
71 were planted in double staggered rows
76 one foot apart, 
at awithin-row spacing
67 of one foot, which created a stand of
- approximately 15,000 plants per 
acre.
-- At NAHS and SMS, peppers 
were
7269 planted in single row at a within-row
72 spacing of one foot, creating a stand of
74 approximately 
7,300 plants per acre.
-- At EVSRC, calcium nitrate
- [Ca(NO
3
)
2
] (at a rate of 50 pounds of
-- nitrogen [N] per acre) and muriate 
of
66 potash (KC1) (at a rate of 50 pounds of
with lobes potassium 
[K] per acre) were 
applied
preplant on March 14. Beds were fu-
migated with methyl bromide at a rate
20 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 
STATION SYSTEM
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 
21
of 400 pounds per acre on March 16. Starting im-
mediately after transplanting, 12 pounds of N per
acre were injected weekly through the trickle-ir-
rigation system, alternatively from 20-20-20 and
potassium nitrate (KNO 
3
) .
Weed control at EVSRC consisted of appli-
cations of Dacthal (at a rate of eight pounds per
acre) on March 27 and Roundup (at a rate of three
quarts per acre) on April 5 and May 4. Insect con-
trol was provided by applications of Lannate LV
(at a rate of two pints per acre) on May 19, June
17, and July 25; Asana (at a rate of eight ounces
per acre) on May 27; Ambush 2EC (at a rate of
eight ounces per acre) on June 3 and 23, and July
TABLE 3. EARLY PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION 
OF SELECTED PEPPER VARIETIES
Variety Type Early Early Early 
Early Early Early Early
marketable wt. fancy wt. US#1 wt. US#2 wt. fancy no. 
US#1 no. US#2 no.
lb/a.
Zerto ...................... Bell
Tenno ................... Bell
NVH 3085 ..... ..... Bell
King Arthur......... Bell
Bell King ........... Bell
Redwing ................ Bell
Admiral ................. Bell
King Arhtur......... Bell
X3R Camelot........Bell
Guardian............Bell
Bellguard ........... Bell
XPH 12101..........Bell
NVH 3093 .......... Bell
Figaro .................... Bell
Robin ..................... Bell
Aruba ................... Cubanelle
Foulki ................... Bell
Admiral ................. Bell
King Arthur......... Bell
Zerto .............. Bell
Figaro .................... Bell
Robin ..................... Bell
X3R Camelot ........... Bell
Bellguard ................ Bell
Guardian................. Bell
NVH 3093 ............. Bell
NVH 3085 ............. Bell
Biscayne.............. Cubanelle
Key Largo ........... Cubanelle
Sugar Banana ...... Banana
Admiral .................. Bell
Redwing.................. Bell
Robin ..................... Bell
NUN 1393 ............. Bell
Guardian................. Bell
XPH 12101 ............. Bell
X3R Camelot ........... Bell
XPH 12113 ............ Bell
Red Dawn .............. Bell
Bell King ............... Bell
BelIguard ................ Bell
Biscayne.............. Cubanelle
Aruba ................. Cubanelle
Key Largo ........... Cubanelle
12,625
9,379
9,223
8,868
7,910
7,207
6,893
6,446
5,910
5,495
4,923
4,881
4,800
3,782
2,046
13,482
41,238
38,497
37,932
30,845
29,627
28,728
27,645
27,013
26,902
24,442
17,257
36,140
29,358
15,589
12,566
11,404
11,245
10,213
8,702
8,310
5,724
3,661
2,324
1,075
0
14,790
10,547
7,831
lb/a. lb/1a. lb/1a.
E.V. Smith Research Center
7,040 5,585 7
4,882 4,498 5
4,439 4,784 5
3,416 5,452 8
1,771 6,139 3
4,241 4,026 6
2,080 4,812 9
2,609 3,837 4
1,796 4,114 4
1,007 4,488 7
3,547 2,558 6
1,317 3,893 5
1,846 3,416 5
1,257 3,153 6
0 2,046 4
4,994 8,488
North Alabama Horticulture Subsi
29,737 11,501 9
30,682 7,816
28,352 9,580
22,607 8,238 5
21,775 7,852 4
19,795 8,934
21,279 6,365 3
19,915 7,098
20,667 6,235
18,134 6,308 1
11,687 5,570 3
24,611 11,528 I
19,325 10,033
Sand Mountain Substation
15,589 0
3,646 8,920
11,404 0
2,542 8,702
6,247 3,966
3,632 5,070
2,020 6,291
2,775 2,949
959 2,702
174 2,150
204 872
0 0
14,035 756
10,547 0
7,831 0
,567
,686
5,197
3,924
,914
5,011
,740
1,016
,205
,352
,168
5,832
5,733
5,541
4,708
6,139
tation
9,192
4,630
,178
5,199
4,866
4,208
3,036
4,189
3,321
1,924
3,917
),483
8,382
0
174
0
1,162
116
29
0
436
189
465
218
0
0
0
0
'Cumulative productions of the first four harvests 
--July 7, 14, and 24, and Aug. 1 at NAHS; July 
13 and 27, and Aug. 4 at EVSRC; and
June 26 and 30, and July 8 and 11I at SMS.
no/a.
15,493
7,989
9,046
5,904
4,731
10,104
3,150
2,324
4,115
2,490
5,262
3,409
3,645
2,940
0
18,222
164,952
75,400
79,638
59,793
65,746
60,442
51,667
62,324
52,086
34,544
37,700
144,444
108,750
85,407
7,844
35,005
6,391
14,089
7,263
4,358
5,810
2,179
2,034
436
0
64,201
47,061
24,983
no/a.
18,640
17,188
15,886
11,526
21,165
15,157
10,290
5,810
12,830
12,761
5,700
12,782
10,595
11,340
7,747
35,124
79,170
25,617
37,477
29,264
31,606
32,968
24,147
22,248
20,720
14,273
19,631
60,777
55,353
0
27,598
0
30,067
12,201
13,508
14,670
9,441
8,279
8,279
2,760
0
2,034
0
0
no/a.
30,115
29,292
23,608
31,486
21,912
30,818
32,130
9,296
18,156
28,635
22,363
24,634
24,607
29,820
19,643
43,311
66,294
10,633
23,590
25,151
20,484
21,521
10.852
24,835
10,989
7,421
18,738
88,311
65,468
0
872
0
3,777
726
145
0
1,307
726
2,179
1,162
0
0
0
0
I i r\lI
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
21
7; Cygon 4E (at a rate of two pints per acre) on Fungicide applications at EVSRC consisted
June 7 and 10, and July 25; Thiodan 3EC (at a of Benlate 50 WP (at a rate of twopounds per acre)
rate of 1.5 pints per acre) on June 30 and Aug. 5; on June 10; Manzate 200 (at a rate of two pints
Kelthane MF (at a rate of 1.5 pints per acre) on per acre) on May 19, June 30, and July 15; Dithane
June 30, and July 7 and 15; and Sevin 4F (at a DF (at a rate of two pounds per acre) on May 27,
rate of one pint per acre) on June 15. July 7, and Aug. 5; and Ridomil/Bravo 81W (at a
TABLE 4. TOTAL PRODUCTION AND GRADE
DISTRIBUTION OF SELECTED VARIETIES OF PEPPER'
Variety Type Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Ind. fancy
marketable wt. fancy wt. US#1 wt. US#2 wt. 
cull fancy no. US#1 no. US#2 no. fruit wt.
2
lb./a.
Zerto ................ Bell 14,634
Tenno ................... Bell 10,776
NVH 3085 ............ Bell 9,277
Bell King ............. Bell 8,962
King Arthur .......... Bell 8,955
Redwing ............... Bell 8,241
Admiral ................ Bell 6,893
King Arhtur .......... Bell 6,446
X3R Camelot........ Bell 5,910
Guardian ............... Bell 5,495
Bellguard .............. Bell 4,923
XPH 12101........... Bell 4,881
NVH 3093 ............ Bell 4,800
Figaro ................... Bell 3,892
Robin .................. Bell 2,046
Aruba .............. Cubanelle 13,895
Foulki ................... Bell 41,238
Admiral .................. Bell 38,497
King Arthur .......... Bell 37,932
Zerto ..................... Bell 30,845
Figaro ................... Bell 29,627
Robin .................... Bell 28,728
X3R Camelot........ Bell 27,645
Bellguard .............. Bell 27,013
Guardian............... Bell 26,902
NVH 3093 ............ Bell 24,442
NVH 3085 ............ Bell 17,257
Biscayne .......... Cubanelle 36,140
Key Largo ....... Cubanelle 29,358
Sugar Banana .... Banana 34,246
Admiral ................ Bell 27,989
Redwing ............... Bell 26,977
Robin.................... Bell 25,830
Guardian .............. Bell 25,132
Red Dawn ............ Bell 24,578
XPH 12101 ........... Bell 23,972
NUN 1393 ............ Bell 22,743
X3R Camelot........ Bell 20,723
XPH 12113........... Bell 18,128
Bellguard .............. Bell 16,628
Bell King .............. Bell 16,164
Biscayne .......... Cubanelle 41,082
Aruba .............. Cubanelle 33,484
Key Largo ....... Cubanelle 31,096
lb./a. lb./a. lb./a. lb./a.
E.V. Smith Research Center
7,040 7,594 11,586 5,521 15,493
4,882 5,894 9,134 7,072 7,989
4,439 4,838 6,465 6,601 9,046
1,771 7,192 6,649 7,652 4,731
3,416 5,539 11,796 11,437 5,904
4,241 5,060 9,036 5,172 10,104
2,080 4,812 10,143 7,170 3,150
2,609 3,837 5,679 12,406 2,324
1,796 4,114 5,217 4,306 4,115
1,007 4,488 8,626 10,106 2,490
3,547 2,558 6,385 8,774 5,262
1,317 3,893 6,666 9,352 3,409
1,846 3,416 6,688 8,930 3,645
1,257 3,264 8,178 9,731 2,940
0 2,046 5,902 11,042 0
4,994 8,901 7,982 5,203 18,222
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
29,737 11,501 9,192 593 164,952
30,682 7,816 4,630 411 75,400
28,352 9,580 5,178 1,218 79,638
22,607 8,238 5,199 1,571 59,793
21,775 7,852 4,866 696 65,746
19,795 8,934 4,208 1,529 60,442
21,279 6,365 3,036 1,456 51,667
19,915 7,098 4,189 1,335 62,324
20,667 6,235 3,321 1,208 52,086
18,134 6,308 1,924 555 34,544
11,687 5,570 3,917 1,747 37,700
24,611 11,528 10,483 1,739 144,444
19,325 10,033 8,382 1,304 108,750
Sand Mountain Substation
34,246 0 0 1,613 220,199
5,825 22,165 3,617 6,122 12,782
26,977 0 0 2,996 104,144
3,762 22,068 4,250 5,507 9,877
5,303 19,829 3,773 7,566 11,184
14,555 10,024 1,579 3,082 68,994
3,485 20,487 5,159 2,471 8,134
7,883 14,860 2,132 3,204 18,447
4,804 15,918 2,955 10,792 10,603
2,654 15,474 3,511 3,097 6,972
949 15,679 5,169 4,669 2,324
4,783 11,381 4,824 5,027 14,961
40,327 756 0 3,521 218,311
33,484 0 0 4,559 182,144
31,096 0 0 3,456 183,887
no./a. no./a. no./a. lb.
27,113 117,988 0.43
23,966 108,715 0.51
16,106 66,055 0.56
25,647 86,058 0.42
11,807 99,638 0.59
19,956 110,105 0.65
10,290 74,429 0.62
5,810 38,370 1.12
12,830 51,160 0.42
12,761 76,055 0.41
5,700 51,401 0.62
12,782 61,392 0.40
10,595 63,950 0.51
11,760 84,137 0.43
7,747 57,860 
--
38,029 139,527 0.28
79,170 66,294 0.18
25,617 10,633 0.41
37,477 23,590 0.35
29,264 25,151 0.39
31,606 20,484 0.33
32,968 21,521 0.33
24,147 10,852 0.38
22,248 24,835 0.33
20,720 10,989 0.40
14,273 7,421 0.52
19,63; 18,738 0.30
60,777 88,311 0.17
55,353 65,468 0.18
0 0 0.15
77,418 19,899 0.46
0 0 0.26
80,904 20,626 0.38
65,217 17,721 0.47
44,156 10,168 0.20
67,251 24,983 0.43
53,016 11,330 0.43
57,519 13,654 0.46
58,536 17,575 0.38
61,005 28,614 0.40
45,463 27,888 0.35
2,034 0 0.18
0 0 0.18
0 0 0.17
'Harvest dates were July 7, 14, and 24, Aug. 1, and Sept. 8 at NAHS; July 13 and 27, and Aug. 4, 11, and 18 at EVSRC; and June 26 and
30, July 8, 11, 17, 20 and 25, and Aug. 1, 9, and 17 at SMS.
-Marketable yield and individual fruit weight were determined as fancy plus US#1 grades.
22 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 23
rate of two pounds per acre) on June 3, 17, 
and
23, and July 25.
At NAHS, beds were fumigated 
with 98%
methyl bromide plus 2% 
chloropicrin at a rate of
400 pounds per acre on April 27. 
A preplant ap-
plication of 1,000 pounds per 
acre of a 5-10-15
fertilizer provided 50 pounds 
of N, 100 pounds
of phosphorous (P
2
0
5
), and 150 pounds of 
potas-
sium (K
2
0). Between May 15 and 
final harvest,
injections of combinations 
of ammonium nitrate
(NH
4
NO
3
), calcium nitrate, and 
potassium nitrate
were made weekly through the drip 
tubes. Appli-
cation rates ranged between 10 
and 20 pounds per
acre for ammonium nitration, 
10 and 50 pounds
per acre for calcium nitrate, and 
10 to 90 pounds
per acre for potassium nitrate.
Preplant herbicide at NAHS 
was Treflan 4EC
applied on May 3 at a rate of one 
quart per acre.
Weeds between the beds were controlled 
by ap-
plications of Sencor DF (at 
a rate of one pound
per acre) on May 31; Command 
(at a rate of one
quart per acre) on May 31; and 
Poast (at a rate of
one pint per acre) with Crop Oil 
(at a rate of one
quart per acre) on June 5, 16, 
and 27. Insect con-
trol consisted of applications of 
Dimethoate (at a
rate of 0.5 pint per acre) on May 
18 and 26, June
2 and 9, and Julyand 7; Asana 
(at a rate of 9.6
ounces per acre) on June 16, 23, 
and 30, and July
7, 17, and 25; and Sevin XLR 
on May 18 (at a
rate of two quarts per acre) and 
on May 26 (one
quart per acre). Plants were 
also sprayed with
Ridomil/Bravo 81W fungicide 
(at a rate of two
pounds per acre) on May 18 and 26, June 2, 9,
16, 23 and 30, and July 7, 17, and 25.
At SMS, lime was incorporated at a rate of
one ton per acre on April 27. Beds were fumi-
gated with methyl bromide at a rate of 300 pounds
per acre one week before transplanting. Ammo-
nium nitrate (at a rate of 225 pounds per 
acre),
concentrated superphosphate (at a 
rate of 100
pounds per acre) and muriate of potash 
(at a rate
of 50 pounds per acre) were preplant 
applied on
April 28. Between May 24 and 
Aug. 9, fertiliza-
tion consisted of weekly injections 
of 10 pounds
of N per acre, alternatively 
from 20-20-20 and
potassium nitrate (13-0-44). Injections 
provided
a total of 90 pounds of N per acre.
Insect control at SMS was provided 
by appli-
cations of Sevin (at a rate of one 
quart per acre)
on June 20 and 29, and July 12 
and 24; Phaser (at
a rate of 1.3 pints per acre) 
on June 24; and Asana
(at a rate of seven ounces per 
acre) on July 1.
Maneb 80 fungicide was applied 
on June 20 at a
rate of one pound per acre. Kocide 
fungicide was
applied on June 20 and July 
12 at a rate of two
pounds per acre.
Plots were harvested five times 
between July
24 and Sept. 8 at NAHS, fivetimes 
between July
13 and Aug. 18 at EVSRC, 
and 10 times between
June 26 and Aug. 17 at SMS. 
At all locations,
fruits were harvested at the 
mature-green color
stage, weighed and graded 
(Tables 3 and 4) using
the standards of the Sweet Pepper 
Grader's Guide
(Circular ANR-783 of the Alabama 
Cooperative
Extension Service).
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL 
REPORT
23
24
MOST BELL PEPPERS ARE COMMER-
cially harvested at the mature-green 
stage. How-
ever, several blocky-type bell pepper varieties
with unusual colors are commercially available.
Colored pepper variety trials were conducted 
at
the Lower Coastal Plain Substation (LCPS) 
in
Camden, the Piedmont Substation (PS) in 
Camp
Hill, the Chilton Area Horticulture 
Substation
(CAHS) in Clanton, and the Sand Mountain 
Sub-
station (SMS) in Crossville (Tables 1 
and 2).
Five-week-old peppers were transplanted on
May 10 at LCPS, on May 8 at PS, May 10 
at SMS,
and May 12 at CAHS. Pepper were 
planted in
double rows at LCPS, PS and CAHS, and 
in single
rows at SMS. At all locations, within-row 
spac-
ing was one foot, creating a stand of 
approxi-
TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995
COLORED BELL PEPPER VARIETY 
TRIALS'
Location LCPS CAHS 
PS SMS
W eather .................. 3 3 
3 3
Fertility .................. 3 5 5 
5
Irrigation ................ 4 5 
4 4
Pests ........... 4 5 5 4
Overall...................4 4 
4 4
'At all locations, excessively hot weather reduced blooming 
rate
and resulted in small fruits. At LCPS and SMS, approximately
20% of the stand was lost to viral infection. 
See the introduc-
tion on page 3 for a description of the rating scales.
mately 14,600 plants per acre at 
LCPS, PS and
CAHS, and 7,300 plants per acre 
at SMS.
Peppers were grown on bare ground 
at LCPS
and SMS, while plastic mulch and 
drip irrigation
were used at PS and CAHS.
A S DC n 
vprp trnwn
TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, TYPICAL FRUIT 
COLOR, AND RELATIVE
EARLINESS OF SELECTED COLORED PEPPER 
VARIETIES
Variety Seed source 
Color Days to harvest'
Black Bird ............................... Stokes 
black 73
Chocolate Beauty ................... Ball brown 
85
Chocolate Bell ........................ Stokes 
brown 75
Orange Grande ........................ Stokes 
orange 76
Oriole ................................ ........ Stokes 
orange 74
Valencia................................... Rogers orange 
70
Blue Jay ................................... Stokes 
purple 73
Lilac ......................................... Rogers 
purple 68
Cardinal ................................ Stokes 
red 70
King Arthur .............. Petoseed 
red 72
X3R Camelot .......................... Petoseed 
red 74
Zerto ........................................ Nunhems 
red --
Dove ................................... Stokes 
whit 71
Ivory ....................................... Rogers 
white 68
Canary ...................................... Stokes 
yellow 72
Golden Bell ........................ Harris Seeds 
yellow 68
Klondike Bell.............Stokes 
yellow 72
Orobelle ................................... Rogers yellow 
72
Tazza ........................................ Nunhems 
yellow --
XPH 12113 .............................. Asgrow yellow 
--
'From respective seed catalogues.
as a second crop following
cabbage.
At LCPS, lime (at a rate
of one ton per acre) and 70
pounds of nitrogen (N) were
preplant incorporated follow-
ing soil-test recommenda-
tions. Plots were sidedressed
with calcium nitrate
[Ca(NO
3
)
2
] at a rate of six
pounds of N per acre on May
30 and with ammonium ni-
trate (NH
4
NO
3
) at a rate of 43
pounds of N per acre on June
14. Between July 5 and Aug.
9, peppers were sidedressed
every other week with cal-
cium nitrate at a rate of 30
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 
SYSTEM
Colored Pepper Varieties
Evaluated on Bare Ground
and Plastic Mulch
Eric Simonne, Robert Boozer, John Eason, 
Joe Little, John Owen,
Jim Pitts, Marvin Ruf, and Kenneth Short
pounds of N per acre. Total sidedress application gation.
was 150 pounds of N per acre. The soil was culti- At SMS, lime was incorporated at a rate of
vated as needed to control the weeds between the one ton per acre on April 27. Ammonium nitrate
plots. No insecticides or fungicides were needed. (at a rate of 210 pounds per acre) was applied
Water was provided as needed through drip irri- preplant on May 3. Peppers were weekly
TABLE 3. EARLY PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED COLORED PEPPERS VARIETIES
1
Variety Early Early Early Early Early Early Early
marketable wt. fancy wt. US#1 wt. US#2 wt. fancy no. US#1 no. US#2 no.
lb./a.
Dove ........... ..... 7,376
Black Bird ....................... 3,139
Lilac ................ ..... 3,136
Blue Jay ............................. 3,097
King Arthur ................... 2,270
Cardinal ....................... 2,087
Tazza ............................ 2,028
Zerto .................... ......... 1,702
Valencia ....................... 1,143
Orobelle ......... 888
XPH 12113 ..................... 672
Golden Bell ...................... 620
Orange Grande ............... 605
Canary ............... .......518
Klondike Bell ................. 515
Oriole ............... ...... 238
King Arthur (Green).......31,336
Tazza (Green) ............... 16,335
Dove ................ ..... 15,210
Ivory Banana................11,589
Ivory .............. ............ 0,309
Blue Jay .............................. 6,970
King Arthur ....................... 6,498
Black Bird ......................... 4,835
Lilac .................................. 4,202
Golden Bell ....................... 2,641
Valencia ............................ 1,271
Orobelle ............................... 799
Tazza .................................... 787
Cardinal ............................... 254
Black Bird ....................... 10,763
Blue Jay ........................... 10,563
Ivory .................................. 9,737
Valencia ............................ 6,779
Dove .................................. 5,776
X3R Camelot.....................5,477
Canary .......................... 3,638
Orobelle ............................ 3,000
Lilac .................................. 2,543
Ivory .... ....................... 8,416
King Arthur (Green)......... 7,700
D ove .................................. 5,126
Lilac .................................. 3,296
Golden Bell ....................... 1,291
lb./a. lb./a. lb./a.
Lower Coastal Plain Substation
925 6,451 4,820
425 2,926 7,498
519 2,877 5,028
416 2,889 10,395
289 2,197 6,031
450 1,974 4,648
1,001 1,528 2,167
524 1,352 3,474
573 999 2,233
254 761 2,322
318 513 691
0 620 4,697
0 605 2,578
0 518 2,505
0 515 1,674
0 238 1,437
Piedmont Substation
4,120 27,216 1,316
8,403 7,932 2,632
7,079 9,901 4,646
5,418 6,171 3,893
3,149 7,160 5,926
3,530 3,439 2,783
4,165 2,332 971
3,521 2,488 771
1,924 3,240 6,107
1,851 1,252 617
254 2,033 1,960
0 799 0
563 617 472
0 254 0
Chilton Area Horticulture Substation
5,879 4,884 4,838
1,972 8,590 9,562
3,597 6,141 9,041
75 6,704 3,131
4,031 1,745 423
1,826 3,651 3,363
395 3,243 2,910
712 2,288 2,945
341 2,201 11,055
Sand Mountain Substation
1,676 6,739 2,089
585 7,115 1,593
280 4,847 2,973
375 2,921 2,115
367 924 0
'Cumulative productions of the first four harvests (July 10, 28, Aug. 1 and 7 at LCPS; July 11, 17, 31 and Aug. 8 at CAHS; July 10,
14, 17 and 20 at PS; and, June 30, July 8, 14 and 18 at SMS)
no./a.
4,648
1,162
1,700
2,141
820
1,585
2,520
1,137
1,721
801
850
0
0
0
0
0
17,941
25,955
23,474
32,670
9,983
10,890
9,075
9,075
5,808
5,324
726
0
1,089
0
15,323
5,871
9,662
187
16,059
4,207
968
1,585
872
4,235
1,433
678
1,061
1,171
no./a.
30,018
9,877
11,478
11,696
7,177
6,932
4,830
4,547
2,797
2,805
1,700
2,742
2,089
1,585
1,585
917
21,154
31,400
38,297
44,286
28,677
13,431
6,897
7,986
12,524
4,901
6,534
2,178
1,815
726
23,751
32,658
21,030
21,928
9,009
5,610
5,616
2,179
7,495
22,672
22,935
17,246
10,488
3,124
no./a.
77,273
45,318
41,662
73,389
25,154
23,570
9,660
12,125
11,190
11,019
3,118
28,397
13,121
12,676
7,923
8,256
5,445
11,435
22,869
53,543
21,599
14,520
4,356
3,812
31,581
2,904
7,986
0
1,452
0
23,559
51,006
44,712
14,056
3,133
13,223
11,039
11,092
43,582
9,343
7,406
14,243
10,723
0
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 25
26 ALABAMA AGRICULUA XEIETSAINSSE
sidedressed with 30 pounds of N per acre from was 
Treflan 4EC applied on May 4 at a rate of
calcium nitrate on June 7 and 22, and July 6 and 1.5 pints per 
acre. Insect control was provided by
20; potassium nitrate (KNO
3
) on Aug. 3; and applications of Diazinon (at a rate of 0.5 pint per
ammonium nitrate on Aug. 16 and 31. Plots were acre) on May 26; Sevin (at 
a rate of one quart per
overhead irrigated as needed. Preplant herbicide acre) on May 25, June 20 and 29, and July 7, 12,
TABLE 4. TOTAL PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED COLORED PEPPER VARIETIES'
Variety Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Individual
market. wt.
2
fancy wt. US#1 wt. US#2 wt. cull fancy no. US#lI no. US#2 no. fancy Wt.-
Ibla.
Zerto...............14,217
Tazza ....... ....... 9,723
Dove......... ....... 9,665
King Arthur .... ...... 7,230
Cardinal ................... 7,012
Black Bird ........... 6,971
Valencia........ ..... 4,666
Blue Jay...... ....... 3,648
Lilac ............... 3,601
XPH 12113.... ...... 3,480
Klondike Bell... ...... 3,234
canary .............. 2,897
Golden Bell .... ...... 2,326
Oriole .............. 2,290
Orobelle.............1,740
Orange Grande ........ 1,202
K. Arthur (Green). 50,353
Tazza (Green)... ..... 44,313
Tazza .............28,850
Cardinal.............28,260
V'alencia.................. 28,105
King Arthur ............. 27,788
Dove ..................... 26,163
Ivory Banana .......... 25,592
Black Bird ............. 23,900
Ivory ..................... 21,090
Blue Jay ................ 20,836
Orobelle................. 20,052
Lilac ..................... 17,415
Golden Bell ........... 16,553
Klondike Bell .......... 16,517
Chocolate Beauty .... 12,294
Oriole.................... 12,135
Dove ..................... 24,04
Black Bird ............. 22,337
Blue Jay ................ 21,657
Ivory ..................... 19,853
Valencia.................. 15,580
Lilac ..................... 14,691
Klondike Bell..........14,372
Canary ................... 14,033
X3R Camelot ........... 13,436
Orobelle ................. 11,470
Ibla. ibla. ibla. ibla.
Lower Coastal Plain Substation
4,797 9,420 6,909 4,409
1,381 8,342 5,372 5,952
925 8,740 13,081 2,786
289 7,158 6,870 5,234
389 6,818 8,918 5,387
1,014 6,464 14,292 3.17
529 4,401 8,104 8,791
416 3,440 16,082 2,504
519 3,341 9,117 3,477
825 2,655 1,323 9,290
0 3,234 3,805 10,648
0 2,897 5,286 10,536
0 2,326 8,996 5,604
0 2,290 3,579 8,855
254 1,676 6,495 9,681
0 1,202 4,334 13,383
Piedmont Substation
8,712 41,641 16,580 11,262
16,562 27,751 12,458 13,041
13,041 15,809 8,385 14,553
10,218 18,041 12,551 14,611
10,999 17,106 11,126 25,830
13,504 14,284 12,297 21,426
5,681 20,482 35,084 14,747
6,098 19,493 30,492 8,177
8,978 17,166 24,049 17,841
3,412 17,678 32,670 11,108
3,957 16,880 31,354 25,310
7,873 12,179 12,278 23,168
2,154 15,800 37,389 14,239
3,312 13,240 19,911 15,429
5,808 10,709 5,572 14,556
2,311 9,983 7,720 6,607
2,597 9,538 9,192 26,826
nola. nola.
12,125 32,018
3,570 29,820
4,648 42,413
820 27,478
1,188 28,522
2,324 23,821
1,291 17,000
2,141 14,678
1,700 13,391
2,126 9,353
0 12,280
0 111,116
0 10,771
0 10,091
801 6,611
0 5,092
41,173 81,884
60,803 109,445
49.187 63.888
42,471 66,248
48,996 62,981
58,262 54,632
20,691 92,021
38,660 204,914
54,450 72,056
13,068 90,750
14,702 75,549
31,944 50,094
13,310 69,696
12,705 59,714
24,684 39,930
13,794 89,879
12,805 35,774
Chilton Area Horticulture Substation
12,320 7,843 3,882 4,172 54,836 46,415
6,928 6,866 8,543 4,134 18,005 30,455
1,972 8,656 11,028 5,983 5,871 32,842
3,597 6,141 10,116 4,725 9,662 21,030
75 7,333 8,172 11,647 187 24,177
341 2,201 12,149 6,179 872 7,495
0 0 14,372 9,092 0 0
913 5,046 8,073 15,968 2,324 10.845
1,826 3,811 7,799 9,929 4,207 6,010
918 2,494 8,058 6,103 2,179 2,773
no./a. lb.
32,587 0.39
29,190 0.39
161,712 0.21
35,680 0.35
51,696 0.35
99,932 0.44
46,910 0.45
141,733 0.30
95,015 0.32
7,015 0.38
21,391 -
28,126 -
65,216 -
23,852 -
37,464 0.32
25,460 -
91,113 0.23
63,162 0.27
43.016 0.26
68,789 0.24
65,522 0. 2 2
72,237 0.23
298,912 0.25
570,455 0.16
191,120 0.16
276,606 0.23
281,144 0.27
74,052 0.24
319,440 0.19
108,356 0.27
27,951 0.24
44,528 0.21
38,986 0.22
34,664 0.26
36,584 0.43
58,345 0.37
50,017 0.40
37,484 0.44
48,985 0.43
86,967 -
34,085 0.43
30,653 0.46
32,483 0.47
'Harvest dates were July 10 and 28, Aug. 1,7, 11, 16,21,25 and 31, and Sept. 7 and 13 at LCPS; July 11, 17, 24, and 31, and Aug. 8
at CAHS; July 10, 14, 17, 20, '25, 2476, 28 and 31, Aug. 3, 7, 11, 16, 22, 25 and 31, and Sept. 7, 12, and 20 at PS; and June 30, July 8,
14, 18, 24 and, 27, and Aug. 1, 7, 15, 21, and 28, and Sept. 6 at SMS.
2
Marketable yield and individual fruit weight were determined as Fancy plus US#1 grades.
26
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
TABLE 4 (CONTINUED). TOTAL PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED COLORED PEPPER VARIETIES'
Variety Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Total Individual
market. wt.' fancy wt. US#1 wt. US#2 wt. cull fancy no. US#1 no. 
US#2 no. fancy wt.
2
lb./a. Ib./a. ib./a. lb./a. Ib./a. no./a. no./a. no./a. lb.
Sand Mountain Substation
King Arthur ................ 16,555 6,251 10,304 1,166 3,540 10,723 25,335 
5,538 0.58
K. Arthur (Green).......... 15,132 1,815 13,317 5,339 1,490 4,061 
45,870 26,041 0.44
Cardinal ..................... 15,003 6,122 8,881 1,791 2,485 13,140 
27,713 7,048 0.46
XPH 12113 ................... 14,091 7,947 6,144 1,104 5,241 16,522 
18,664 3,825 0.48
Ivory ........................... 13,467 1,737 11,730 7,445 2,099 
4,360 44,846 43,725 0.41
Orobelle ..................... 12,818 4,697 8,121 827 
1,419 9,638 22,029 3,366 0.49
Oriole ............................ 11,414 1,900 9,514 1,207 3,514 
3,685 27,388 5,772 0.51
Valencia ........................ 10,941 3,397 7,544 984 
2,405 6,976 20,928 4,069 0.49
Orange Grande .............. 10,560 4,216 6,344 776 
4,751 7,860 17,686 3,685 0.53
Lilac ................................ 8,956 650 8,306 9,582 2,188 
1,768 32,405 97,923 0.38
Golden Bell ..................... 8,508 537 7,971 3,176 3,780 
1,562 29,023 18,091 0.35
Dove ................................ 8,236 349 7,888 6,151 1,794 
872 30,229 35,752 0.41
Tazza ............................... 7,950 3,696 4,254 451 2,772 
8,199 12,624 1,562 0.44
Chocolate Beauty ............ 7,037 2,270 4,767 1,205 1,746 5,571 
17,561 5,934 0.42
'Harvest dates were July 10 and 28, Aug. 1, 7, 11, 16, 21, 25 and 31, and Sept. 7 and 13 at LCPS; 
July 11, 17, 24, and 31, and Aug. 8
at CAHS; July 10, 14, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28 and 31, Aug. 3, 7, 11, 16, 22, 25 and 31, and Sept. 
7, 12, and 20 at PS; and June 30, July 8,
14, 18, 24 and, 27, and Aug. 1, 7, 15, 21, and 28, and Sept. 6 at SMS.
2
Marketable yield and individual fruit weight were determined as Fancy plus US#1 
grades.
and 19; Asana (at a rate of nine ounces per acre)
on June 2, nd 9, and July 1; and Phaser (at a rate
of 1.3 pints per acre) on June 24. Kocide 101 (fun-
gicide) was applied on June 24 at a rate of two
pounds per acre.
At PS, a soil sample was taken following the
fall cabbage crop. Soil test results recommended
(per acre) no liming, 100 pounds of N, 140 pounds
of phosphorous (P
2
0
5
), and 120 pounds of potas-
sium (K
2
0). Before transplanting, the beds were
irrigated, and 100 pounds per acre of a 20-10-20
fertilizer were injected. Starting May 15, six
pounds of N per acre were injected weekly, alter-
natively from calcium nitrate and 20-10-20. Weed
control was provided by two preplant applications
of Gramoxone. Bravo fungicide (at a rate of three
pints per acre) and Ambush insecticide (at a rate
of three pints per acre) were applied on July 21.
At CAHS, peppers were grown on new beds
covered with black plastic mulch. Preplant fertil-
izer provided 30 pounds of N per acre, all the rec-
ommended phosphorous (P), and 75% of the rec-
ommended potassium (K), as based on soil test
results. Between emergence and last harvest,
soluble fertilizer was injected weekly at a rate of
six pounds of N per acre alternately from 20-20-
20 and potassium nitrate. Insect control was pro-
vided by applications of Thiodan (at a rate of two
pounds per acre) on May 19 and 29, and June 16
and 23; Lannate (at a rate of two pounds per acre)
on May 29; and Ambush (at a rate of four pints
per acre) on June 30. Fungicide applications con-
sisted of sprays of Ultra Bravo (at a rate of two
pints per acre) on June 16 and 30; and Dithane
(at a rate of two poundsper acre) on May 
19.
Kocide fungicide was applied on May 19 and 29,
and June 16 and 30 at a rate of two pounds per
acre.
At all locations, fruits were harvested at the
3/4 colored stage, weighed and graded using the
standards of the Sweet Pepper Grader's Guide
(Circular ANR-783 of the Alabama Cooperative
Extension Service). Plots were harvested 11 times
between July 10 and Sept. 13 at LCPS; six times
between July 11 and Aug. 8 at CAHS; 18 times
between July 10 and Sept. 20 at PS; and, 12 times
between June 30 and Sept. 6 at SMS. Early 
pro-
duction included the first four harvests (Tables 3
and 4).
27SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
28 
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT STATION 
SYSTEM
Some Summer Squash Varieties
May Mask Virus Effects
Eric Simonne, Robert Boozer, Arnold Caylor, Brian Gamble, 
Marlin
Hollingsworth, Henry Ivey, Joseph Kemble, Jim Pitts, 
Randall Rawls,
Kenneth Short, and Larry Wells
YELLOW SUMMER SQUASH
(straightneck or crookneck) have traditionally
been grown in Alabama. In 1993, squash acreage
in Alabama was 1,500 acres for yellow squash
(straightnecks and crooknecks combined) and 100
acres for zucchini (Alabama Vegetable Produc-
tion Statistics, Alabama Cooperative Extension
Service).
Yellow and zucchini squash variety trials
were conducted at the Wiregrass Substation (WS)
in Headland, the Chilton Area Horticulture Sub-
station (CAHS) in Clanton, the North Alabama
Horticulture Substation (NAHS) in Cullman, and
the Upper Coastal Plain Substation (UCPS) in
Winfield (Table 1 and 2).
At all locations, squash were direct seeded 
at
a one-inch depth in single-row plots five feet wide
TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995
SUMMER SQUASH VARIETY TRIALS'
Location WS CAHS UCPS NAHS
W eather .................... 5 5 5 5
Fertility .............. 4 5 4 
5
Irrigation .................. 5 5 5 5
Pests ......................... 5 5 5 5
Overall ..................... 5 5 5 5
'At WS and UCPS, the early incidence of blossom-end rot was
corrected by injecting calcium nitrate in place of potassium ni-
trate. See the introduction on page 1 for a description of the
rating scales.
and 20 feet long. In-row spacing was 18 inches,
which provided a stand of 6,000 plants per acre,
approximately. Yields were corrected for 
stand.
At WS, CAHS, and UCPS, the trials were 
drip
irrigated, and the beds were covered with black-
TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, FRUIT TYPE, AND RELATIVE 
EARLINESS
OF SELECTED SQUASH VARIETIES
Variety Seed source Days to 
harvest' Variety Seed source 
Days to harvest'
Yellow Crookneck 
Green Zucchini
CS-4 .................................. Rogers 
-- Botna ................................ 
Nunhems 50
Dixie ................................. Asgrow 
41 Condor ............................. 
Vilmorin 48
Freedom II ...................... Asgrow 
.. Elira .................................. 
Nunhems 56
Goldie ............................... 
Petoseed 43 
Embassy ........................... Petoseed 
49
Pavo .................................. 
Asgrow 
40 Essor ................................. 
Vilmorin 
--
Prelude II ......................... Asgrow 
-- Giada ................................ 
Nunhems 53
Sundance......................... Petoseed 
45 President ......................... 
Petoseed 49
Yellow Semi-Crookneck 
Senator ............................. 
Asgrow 
41
PSX 41587 ...................... Petoseed 
-- Spineless Beauty............. 
Roger 43
RXPG 843 ...................... 
Seneca 44Taylor........................... 
Vilmorin --
Sunbrite ........................... 
Rogers NK 
43 Taylor ess.............................. 
ari Seeds 
47--
Yellow Straightneck XPH 1712 ....................... Asgrow 
--
Lemondrop L ................ Asgrow 41 Zucchini .......................... 
Seneca 42
Prolific ............................ Seneca 45 Zucchini Elite ................ 
Harris Seeds 48
PSX 391 .......................... Petoseed -- Zucchini Select .............. 
Stokes 47
RXP 845 .......................... Seneca 45
'From respective seed catalogues.
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM28
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 
29
plastic mulch. At NAHS, the trial was conducted
on bare ground.
At WS, lime was incorporated on March 17
at a rate of 500 pounds per acre. On April 17, 500
pounds per acre of a 13-13-13 fertilizer were ap-
plied preplant. Beds were fumigated with methyl
bromide at a rate of 300 pounds per acre on April
3. Squash were direct seeded on April 17. Between
May 12 and June 23, six pounds per acre of nitro-
gen (N) were injected weekly through the drip
system. Potassium nitrate (KNO
3
) was used dur-
ing the first three weeks, but was then replaced
by calcium nitrate [Ca(NO
3
)
2
] to reduce the inci-
dence of blossom-end rot. Sonalan, a pre-emer-
gence herbicide was applied at a one quart per
acre rate.
Insect control at WS was provided by appli-
cations of Asana at a rate of 10 ounces per acre
on May 19 and June 2, and at a rate of five ounces
per acre on May 26. Bravo fungicide was applied
at a rate of one quart per acre on May 19 and 26,
and June 2.
At CAHS, planting date was May 15. Preplant
fertilizer was banded and provided 30 pounds of
N per acre, all the recommended phosphorus (P),
and 75% of the recommended potassium (K). Be-
tween emergence and last harvest, soluble fertil-
izer was injected weekly at a rate of six pounds
of N per acre alternately from 20-20-20 and po-
tassium nitrate.
Insect control at CAHS was provided by ap-
plications of Thiodan (at a rate of two pounds per
acre) on June 2, 16 and 23; and Ambush (at a rate
of four pints per acre) on June 30. Fungicide ap-
plications consisted of sprays of Ultra Bravo (at
a rate of two pints per acre) on June 16 and 30;
and Kocide (at a rate of two pounds per acre) on
June 2, 16, 23, and 30.
At NAHS, fertilization consisted of a preplant
application four days before planting of 13-13-
13 at a rate of 900 pounds per acre. Rainfall pro-
vided sufficient moisture. Curbit herbicide was
applied on May 11 at a rate of 2.5 pints per acre.
Insect control consisted of applications of Sevin
(at a rate of one quart per acre) on May 26;
Dimetho a rate of 0.5 pint per acre) on June
2 and 9, and July 7; and Asana (at a rate of 9.6
ounces per acre) on June 16, 23, and 30, and July
7. Plants were sprayed with Ridomil/Bravo 81W
fungicide (at a rate of two pounds per acre) 
on
June 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, and July 7.
At UCPS, beds were fumigated with 98%
methyl bromide plus 2% chloropicrin at a rate of
400 pounds per acre approximately two weeks
before planting. Preplant fertilizer provided 40
pounds of N per acre and 50 pounds of P per acre,
as recommended by soil-test results. Planting date
was May 15. Beginning May 25 and for nine
weeks, weekly injections through the drip tubes
provided six pounds of N per acre, alternatively
from potassium nitrate, 20-20-20, and calcium
nitrate. No chemical sprays were necessary.
Frequent harvests are needed for summer
squash to remain "fairly young and fairly tender,"
which are necessary characteristics for squash to
be graded as US#1. Hence, fruits were harvested
17 times between May 19 and July 5 at WS; 12
times at CAHS between June 19 and July 17; 10
times at NAHS between June 23 and July 14; and
20 times between June 15 and Aug. 2 at UCPS.
At harvest, fruits were graded as US#1, US#2,
or cull according to the United States Standards
for Grades of Summer 
Squash (U.S. Dept. Agr.
G.P.O. 1987-180-916:40730 AMS). Marketable
yield was calculated by adding the US#1 and
US#2 yields. Earliness (Table 3) was evaluated
by combining the yields of the first four harvests.
Total production (Table 4) was also determined.
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 29
30 ALABAMA AGRICULUA XEIETSAINSSE
TABLE 3. EARLY PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION OF SELECTED SQUASH 
VARIETIES'1
Variety Type Early market. wt? Early US#1 wt. Early 
US#2 wt. Early US#lno. Early US#2 no.]
CS-4............
Pavo............
Goldie...........
Dixie............
Sundance........
Botna...........
S-2003 ..........
Elite.............
Condor.........
Essor............
Embassy ........
Spineless Beauty
Select.............
President........
Tigress... ......
Elira............
Dixie...........
Pavo...........
CS-4.....e............
Goldie ..............
Freedom 11I........
Sundance...........
Prelude 1I...........
Elite .................
S-2003 ..............
Spineless Beauty.
Senatur .............
Tigress ..............
President ...........
Select................
Elira.................
Condor ..............
XPH 1712 .........
Embassy ...........
Essor ................
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Yellow crookneck
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Green zucchini
Dixie ...................... Yellow crookneck
Sunbrite .......... Yellow semi-crookneck
PSX41587 ............... Yellow semi-crookneck
RXPG 843 .............. Yellow semi-crookneck
RXP 845 ........... Yellow straightneck
Lemondrop L ..... Yellow straightneck
Prolific ..................... Yellow straightneck
PSX 391..........Yellow straightneck
Zucchini..............Green zucchini
Taylor ..................... Green zucchini
Giada ........................ Green zucchini
Embassy........... Green zucchini
Senator ..................... Green zucchini
XPH 1712 ................ Green zucchini
Dixie ........................ Yellow crookneck
Sundance.................. Yellow crookneck
Sunbrite ............ Yellow semi-crookneck
PSX 41587 ......... Yellow semi-crookneck
Lemondrop L. ....Yellow straightneck
PSX 391 ........... Yellow straightneck
Supreme.............. Yellow straightneck
Taylor ................. Green zucchini
Zucchini .............. Green zucchini
RXPG 843............ Green zucchini
Embassy .............. Green zucchini
Senator................ Green zucchini
Giada . ................ Green zucchini
lb/1a. lb./a.
Wiregrass Substation
18,399 18,399
17,424 17,399
17,243 17,123
15,881 15,627
14,712 14,662
24,622 24,622
23,975 23,975
23,948 23,666
23,713 23,221
23,397 23,397
22,916 22,916
22,381 22,381
21,192 20,910
18,928 18,659
15,832 15,692
14,319 14,319
Chilton Area Horticulture Substation
17,163 8,771
16,136 7,744
15,458 8,686
14,278 6,280
14,079 7,787
12,850 7,462
11,915 5,129
18,544 8,425
16,064 7,560
15,515 5,722
15,327 6,629
14,613 6,357
14,206 5,619
13,596 5,632
13,342 6,417
12,803 4,622
12,669 5,456
11,841 4,645
11,156 5,958
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
9,261 7,401
7,979 6,019
5,022 4,044
3,807 3,184
14,294 6,454
7,235 6,549
5,609 5,065
2,625 2,331
11,595 10,198
8,716 7,601
7,538 7,076
6,832 5,506
4,968 4,691
2,517 2,255
Upper Coastal Plain Substation
22,243 13,434
20,565 14,927
16,422 9,658
10,989 7,868
19,285 10,042
17,780 9,642
16,591 9,682
34,552 15,9461
3I 13312,8741
'Combined yields of May 19, 22, 25, and 29 at WS; June 19, 
21, 23, and 26 at CAHS; June 23, 26, 28, and 30 at NAHS; and 
June 15, 19, 22, and 23 at UCPS.
'Marketable Yields were determined as US#1 plus US#2 grades.
lb./a.
0
25
120
254
51
0
0
281
493
0
0
0
281
270
141
0
8,392
8,392
6,772
7,998
6,292
5,388
6,786
0,120
8,504
9,794
8,699
8,256
8,586
7,964
6,926
8,181
7,213
7,196
5,198
1,860
1,959
978
623
7,839
686
545
294
1,396
1,115
462
1,326
277
262
8,809
5,638
6,764
3,121
9,243
8,138
6,909
8,605nl
no/1a.no./a.
42,040
30,368
35,753
32,652
36,972
20,963
20,567
22,283
18,178
22,517
18,882
16,710
19,937
15,832
13,839
12,563
29,120
27,127
32,931
20,631
29,296
27,809
17,152
17,424
12,819
10,762
11,823
11,587
11,024
9,757
13,038
8,177
10,164
9,148
11,838
34,106
25,523
14,979
11,971
27,276
18,634
19,557
8,870
15,573
13,084
10,752
8,168
7,594
3,870
0
124
598
1,779
254
0
0
117
352
0
0
0
1,055
586
117
0
14,026
14,931
14,514
15,181
13,632
10,611
12,070
11,201
8,712
8,729
8,712
8,172
9,148
8,294
6,519
8,732
7,653
7,562
5,620
4,969
4,856
2,461
2,146
1,774
2,823
1,367
887
1,960
2,218
481
2,178
460
352
___, ___1____1_ ~ nL~~ L ntcr
--
30 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
TABLE 4. TOTAL PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION OF SELECTED SQUASH VARIETIES'
Variety Type Total Total Total Total Total 
Total Ind. US#1
market wt.' US#1 wt. US#2 wt. cull US#1 no. US#2 no. fruit wt.
CS-4 .............................. Yellow crookneck
Goldie ........................ Yellow crookneck
Pavo .............................. Yellow crookneck
Sundance ................... Yellow crookneck
Dixie ............................. Yellow crookneck
Botna ......................... Green zucchini
S-2003 ........................ Green zucchini
Condor ....................... Green zucchini
Elite ............................ Green zucchini
Spineless Beauty ......... Green zucchini
Essor ........................... Green zucchini
Embassy ..................... Green zucchini
Select ......................... Green zucchini
President .................... Green zucchini
Tigress ......................... Green zucchini
Elira ............................ Green zucchini
Pavo .............................. Yellow crookneck
Dixie ............................. Yellow crookneck
CS-4 .............................. Yellow crookneck
Prelude II .................. Yellow crookneck
Freedom II ................ Yellow crookneck
Goldie ........................ Yellow crookneck
Sundance ................... Yellow crookneck
Tigress .................... Green zucchini
Elite ............................ Green zucchini
S-2003 ........................ Green zucchini
Essor ............................. Green zucchini
Embassy .................... Green zucchini
Senator ....................... Green zucchini
Spineless Beauty ......... Green zucchini
XPH 1712 .................. Green zucchini
President .................... Green zucchini
Elira ............................ Green zucchini
Select .......................... Green zucchini
Condor ........................ Green zucchini
Dixie ............................. Yellow crookneck
Sunbrite........................ Yellow semi-crookneck
RXPG 843.................... Yellow semi-crookneck
PSX 41587 ................... Yellow semi-crookneck
Lemondrop L.............. Yellow straightneck
RXP 845 ....................... Yellow straightneck
PSX 391 ...................... Yellow straightneck
Prolific ......................... Yellow straightneck
Giada ........................... Green zucchini
Taylor .......................... Green zucchini
Embassy ...................... Green zucchini
Zucchini ...................... Green zucchini
Senator ........................ Green zucchini
XPH 1712 ................... Green zucchini
Dixie ............................. Yellow crookneck
Sundance...................... Yellow crookneck
Sunbrite........................ Yellow semi-crookneck
PSX 41587................... Yellow semi-crookneck
PSX 391 ....................... Yellow straightneck
Supreme ....................... Yellow straightneck
Lemondrop L.............. Yellow straightneck
Giada ........................... Green zucchini
Embassy ...................... Green zucchini
Taylor .......................... Green zucchini
Zucchini ...................... Green zucchini
Senator ........................ Green zucchini
RXPG 843 ................... Green zucchini
lb./a. Ib./a. lb./a. lb./a.
Wiregrass Substation
60,154 60,154 0 17,536
49,660 49,541 120 29,631
44,450 44,425 25 30,940
40,929 40,878 51 22,793
40,370 40,116 254 26,096
55,673 55,673 0 32,823
49,289 49,289 0 23,694
47,427 46,934 493 24,024
45,867 45,586 281 43,516
45,787 45,787 0 36,462
44,765 44,765 0 28,070
43,140 43,140 0 32,884
42,489 42,208 281 31,958
40,554 40,285 270 29,102
40,361 40,220 141 20,975
31,559 31,559 0 18,429
Chilton Area Horticulture Substation
26,879 12,695 14,184 46,267
26,058 13,198 12,859 40,054
26,057 12,732 13,325 34,678
25,561 12,044 13,517 27,162
24,160 12,401 11,759 30,221
23,715 10,448 13,268 29,653
20,548 10,781 9,767 30,146
42,941 16,466 26,476 40,275
42,064 17,942 24,122 36,769
32,322 13,731 18,591 50,984
31,707 13,082 18,625 37,565
31,262 12,378 18,885 52,270
30,526 13,175 17,351 46,338
30,489 12,593 17,896 54,009
30,331 12,485 17,846 44,776
28,644 13,096 15,547 37,503
27,054 13,726 13,328 49,561
26,073 11,465 14,608 45,218
25,415 10,373 15,041 58,263
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
22,726 13,227 9,499 233
17,798 11,535 6,263 1,123
14,819 9,372 5,447 471
12,059 7,580 4,479 514
19,854 13,803 6,051 11
15,560 11,048 4,512 170
14,839 9,204 5,635 98
12,713 8,970 3,743 407
28,332 20,186 8,146 594
25,625 17,711 7,915 625
24,970 14,951 10,019 897
22,535 17,737 4,798 81
20,613 13,724 6,889 291
8,931 6,241 2,689 36
Upper Coastal Plain Substation
86,312 58,863 27,449 56,570
78,638 55,442 23,196 57,819
83,142 59,433 23,710 69,527
71,713 52,161 19,552 71,945
88,034 50,742 37,293 72,911
84,881 64,537 20,344 59,984
80,547 52,888 27,660 68,154
116,381 89,205 27,176 106,086
115,718 78,717 37,001 126,850
110,817 69,271 41,546 84,826
107,389 66,640 40,750 42,943
94,157 62,443 31,714 61,072
79,034 52,408 26,625 39,454
no./a. no./a.
122,357
101,640
77,661
94,525
76,103
49,550
48,548
40,930
42,220
38,542
41,751
37,880
42,220
38,467
35,183
29,516
46,895
50,769
52,690
44,849
50,342
39,575
44,762
32,565
38,955
27,007
27,024
26,223
27,505
25,470
26,785
27,795
29,230
23,784
20,651
52,966
45,399
24,055
31,348
31,395
49,009
32,488
33,436
25,838
27,055
17,206
30,710
19,791
10,320
0
598
124
254
1,779
0
0
352
117
0
0
0
1,055
586
117
0
29,651
26,376
30,736
26,299
26,307
25,821
22,930
27,077
24,394
20,535
18,893
18,417
18,046
18,415
18,415
17,709
14,510
16,100
15,523
14,230
10,277
6,889
7,168
7,002
7,983
6,653
5,257
4,815
5,877
5,990
5,336
4,948
2,111
lb.
0.49
0.49
0.58
0.44
0.53
1.11
1.03
1.16
1.08
1.20
1.07
1.13
1.00
1.05
1.14
1.09
0.27
0.26
0.25
0.27
0.25
0.26
0.24
0.51
0.46
0.51
0.48
0.47
0.48
0.49
0.47
0.47
0.48
0.48
0.51
0.25
0.26
0.38
0.24
0.46
0.23
0.28
0.27
0.82
0.66
1.09
0.57
0.70
0.68
'At WS, plots were harvested on May 19, 22, 25, 29 and 31, June 2, 6, 
9, 12, 14,16, 19, 21, 23, 26 and 28, and July 5; at CAHS, June 19, 21, 23,
26, 28 and 30, July 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, and 17; at NAHS, June 23, 26, 28, and 
30, and July 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, and 14; at UCPS, June 15, 19, 22, 23, 26,
28, and 30, July 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, and 31, and Aug. 2.
2
Marketable Yields were determined as US#1 plus US#2 grades.
- ----- ----
31SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
Fresh-Market and Roma-Type
Tomatoes Included in Trials
Eric Simonne, Arnold Caylor, John Eason, Brian Gamble, Marlin
Hollingsworth, Henry Ivey, Joseph Kemble, Marvin Ruf, and Larry Wells
TOMATO VARIETY TRIALS WERE TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995
conducted at the Wiregrass Substation 
(WS) in TOMATO VARIETY 
TRIALS'
Headland, the North Alabama Horticulture Sub-
station (NAHS) in Cullman, and the Sand 
Moun- Location WS 
NAHS SMS
tain Substation (SMS) in Crossville 
(Tables 1 and Weather ....................
4 5 5
Fertility .................... 5 5 5
2). Irrigation .................. 5 5 5
Five-week-old tomatoes were 
transplanted on Pests ................ 
4 4 
4
Overall ..................... 5 5 5
May 2 at WS, on May 8 at NAHS, and on 
May 8
'At WS, late planting suffered from high temperature in the lat-
at SMS onto three-foot-wide, trickle-irrigated ter part of the production period. See 
the introduction on page
beds covered with plastic. 
The plastic color was 
3 for a description of the rating scales.
black at WS, white at NAHS, and silver at
SMS. At all locations, plots were 12 feet long
and four feet wide. Within-row spacing was TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS,
18 inches, which created an approximate AND RELATIVE EARLINESS OF TOMATOES
stand of 5,800 plants per acre. Variety
At WS, lime was applied on 
March 28
Acclaim ...................... Sakata FM --
at a rate of 500 pounds per acre. Preplant Celebrity ......................... Petoseed FM 72
fertilizer was 13-13-13 applied 
at a rate of Daybreak .............. 
Petoseed FM 
--
Granola .... ........ Nunhems FM 85
500 pounds per acre on March 27. Beds were Joker .............................. Vilmorin FM 82
fumigated on April 3 with 
250 pounds per Liberty 
(#670) ................... Twilley 
FM 80
Medina ............................... Vilmorin FM 62
acre of methyl bromide. Fertilizer was in- Merced ............................... Rogers FM 69
jected weekly through the drip 
lines at a rate Mt. Delight 
........................ Petoseed 
FM 70
Mt. Spring ......................... Rogers FM 69
of six pounds of nitrogen (N) per acre, from Muril ......................... Nunhems FM 80
potassium nitrate (KNO
3
) between May 12 Olympic 
............................. Petoseed 
FM 76
3Redstone' ........................... Stokes FM 66
and May 25, and from calcium nitrate be- Scarlet Express VPF.......... Stokes FM 64
tween [Ca(NO
3
)
2
] June 12 and July 19. 
A Supersonic ......................... 
Harris Seeds FM 
79
3Sunbeam ............................ Asgrow FM 75
total of 62 pounds of N per acre was injected Sunpride............................. Asgrow FM --
throughout the growing 
season. Ultra 
Sweet VFT............... Stokes 
FM 62
Ultramagnum VFT ........ Stokes FM 68
Insect control at WS was provided by ap- Capri VF (p) .................. Stokes Roma 70
plications of Asana at 
a rate of 10 ounces 
Macero II (p) ................. Harris 
Seeds Roma 76
Olinda (p) ...................... Nunhems Roma 80
per acre on May 19 and June 2, and at a rate STM 3806 (p)........... Sakata Roma --
of five ounces per acre on 
May 26 and July Marinda 
(p)' .................. Nunhems 
Marmande .83
7. Bravo fungicide was applied 
at a rate of 'Type: FM = Fresh 
Market; Roma = Elongated Fruits; 
Marmande =
Round, Sutured Fruits; (p) = processing.
one pound per acre on May 19 and 26, and 
2
From respective seed catalogues.
June 2, and at a rate of 
1.5 pound per acre 'Formerly 
MTH 9115.
'Formerly MTH 923.
on June 19 and 30, and July 7, 14, and 21. 'Marinda is an underterminate variety; others are determinate.
32 ALABAMA 
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 
33
At NAHS, beds were fumigated with 98%
methyl bromide plus 2% chloropicrin at a rate of
400 pounds per acre on April 27. A preplant ap-
plication of 1,000 pounds per acre of a 5-10-15
fertilizer provided 50 pounds of N, 100 pounds
of phosphorous (P
2
0
5
), and 150 pounds of potas-
sium (K
2
0). Between May 15 and final harvest,
injections of combinations of ammonium nitrate
(NH
4
NO
3
), calcium nitrate, and potassium nitrate
were made weekly through the drip tubes. Appli-
cation rates ranged between 10 and 20 pounds per
acre for ammonium nitrate, 10 and 50 pounds per
acre for calcium nitrate, and 10 to 90 pounds per
acre for potassium nitrate.
Preplant herbicide at NAHS was Treflan 4EC
applied on May 3 at a rate of one quart per acre.
Weeds between the beds were controlled by ap-
plications of Sencor DF (at a rate of one pound
per acre) and Command (at a rate of one quart
per acre) on May 31; and Poast (at a rate of one
pint per acre) and Crop Oil (at arate of one quart
per acre) on June 16. Insect control consisted of
applications of Dimethoate (at a rate of 0.5 pint
per acre) on May 18 and 26, June 2 and 9, and
July 7; Asana (at a rate of 9.6 ounces per acre) on
June 16, 23, and 30, and July 7, 17, and 25; and
TABLE 3. EARLY PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED FRESH-MARKET TOMATO VARIETIES'
Variety Early Early Early Early Early Early Early Early Early
market. wt.
2 
jumbo wt. jumbo no. x-large wt. x-large no. large wt. large no. med. wt. med. no.
lb./a. lb./a. no./a. b./a. no./a. lb./a. no./a. Ib.a. no./a.
Wiregrass Substation
Sunbeam .................... 1.089 726 1,089 726 1,452 0 0 0 0
Muril ............................... 1,072 536 894 536 894 0 0 0 0
Medina ............................... 920 0 0 290 726 1,089 2,904 3,436 363
Merced ............................... 871 0 0 0 0 871 1,452 1,016 0
Ultra Sweet VFT ................ 726 0 0 726 1,452 0 0 0 0
Marinda .............................. 649 1,199 1,499 375 749 0 0 0 0
Liberty ............................ 536 0 0 0 0 536 894 1,251 0
Daybreak ........................ 436 436 726 0 0 0 0 0 0
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
3
Scarlet Express .............. 31,102 2,192 3,675 14,503 35,393 14,407 30,492 0 0
Redstone .................... 24,158 2,051 3,812 15,908 37,389 6,198 19,602 0 0
Granola ...................... 19,347 8.383 13,749 11,496 25,592 3,124 9,983 0 0
Daybreak ....................... 19,131 10,360 17,288 10,097 22,506 1,597 5,627 0 0
Re Hunter .................... 13,662 0 0 12,518 278 1,143 3,812 0 0
Mt. Spring ..................... 13,069 8,630 12,524 3,930 8,848 509 1,906 0 0
Mt. Delight.................... 11,874 5,740 8,984 5,264 11,571 870 2,995 0 0
Olympia ........................ 10,727 0 0 9,186 19,058 1,541 5,445 0 0
Supersonic ....................... 9,819 5,875 9,257 3,144 6,806 799 2,723 0 0
Joker ................................ 7,551 5,250 8,576 1,937 4,764 363 1,361 0 0
Sand Moutain Substation
Medina .......................... 11,341 510 908 2,382 5,627 8,577 25,955 3,349 8,712
Ultra Sweet VFT ............. 7,420 562 1,210 3,135 6,353 3,863 10,890 531 2,420
Scarlet Express ................ 6,757 388 726 2,181 4,719 4,479 13,613 1,734 5,324
Redstone ......................... 5,481 775 1,089 2,414 4,211 2,680 7,805 1,163 3,630
Liberty ............................ 5,315 0 0 2,459 5,324 3,472 10,346 1,064 3,267
Merced ............................ 5,114 1,172 1,694 2,763 5,082 1,472 3,812 187 726
Celebrity ......................... 4,021 863 1,210 2,605 5,082 1,024 2,662 163 726
Acclaim ........................... 3,359 675 968 1,987 3,920 968 2,759 219 968
Sunpride .......................... 3,023 525 726 2,216 4,175 900 2,420 0 0
Granola ........................... 2,464 0 0 1,688 3,630 775 2,178 123 726
Mt. Spring ....................... 1,448 546 726 1,127 2,178 246 726 143 726
Mt. Delight...................... 1,424 652 726 916 1,815 461 1,452 0 0
Joker ................................. 421 0 0 504 1,089 256 726 0 0
'Combined productions of June 28, and July 5 and 7 at WS; July 19 at NAHS; and July 7, 13, and 14 at SMS. Grades and correspond-
ing fruit diameters (D) for fresh-market tomato were Jumbo (D>3.5 inches), Extra-large (D>2.9 inches), Large (D>2.5 inches), Me-
dium (D>2.3 inches), and Small (others).
2
Marketable production calculated by combining the Jumbo, Extra-Large and 
Large grades
'Yield of first harvest only.
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 33
TABLE 4. TOTAL PRODUCTION AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION OF SELECTED TOMATO VARIETIES
Variety Total Total wt. Total no. Total wt. Total no. Total wt. Total no. Total wt. Total no. Total Ind. fruit
market.
2  
jumbo jumbo x-large x-large large large medium medium cull wt.
lb./a. lb./a. no./a. lb./a. no./a. lb./a. no./a. lb./a. no./a. lb./a. lb.
Wiregrass Substation
Ultramagnum VFT.... 40,669 14,441 21,384 14,230 22,176 11,999 23,443 25,687 1,505 19,272 0.62
Ultra Sweet VFT ....... 36,745 6,670 10,346 14,048 23,414 16,026 33,033 40,843 5,899 11,389 0.62
Daybreak ................ 28,078 8,149 12,161 11,879 20,147 8,050 15,246 27,860 4,138 20,156 0.55
Celebrity ................ 26,744 8,422 13,613 10,309 17,424 8,013 18,150 16,371 1,770 21,063 0.56
Sunbeam ................ 23,395 7,587 15,972 9,111 14,883 6,697 12,342 15,455 2,759 21,335 0.52
Supersonic .............. 22,107 6,843 12,342 8,077 14,339 7,187 14,883 10,581 3,276 27,969 0.54
Merced ................... 21,844 5,917 12,887 10,454 17,061 5,472 11,072 10,727 2,450 21,798 0.49
Acclaim .................. 20,063 5,949 8,906 7,628 12,003 6,486 13,358 18,344 3,233 22,351 0.60
Marinda .................. 19,522 3,597 6,183 7,241 15,925 8,684 20,796 25,162 824 36,319 0.53
Muril ......................... 16,095 5,034 8,489 7,361 13,850 4,959 10,722 13,973 4,233 36,278 0.48
Liberty ................... 15,481 1,508 3,127 5,428 10,499 8,544 18,541 28,504 3,909 33,385 0.67
Medina ........................ 6,579 0 0 626 1,271 5,953 16,698 68,925 13,393 19,450 -
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
Granola .................. 73,755 20,743 36,209 36,295 104,408 16,718 48,188 0 0 11,562 0.37
Redstone ................... 64,728 7,761 15,428 40,068 101,459 16,899 59,895 0 0 26,526 0.35
Daybreak ................... 63,309 33,025 52,817 25,650 61,256 4,634 16,471 0 0 11,807 0.37
Mt. Spring .............. 62,910 35,693 52,817 22,783 51,591 4,434 15,518 0 0 17,120 
0.40
Supersonic ................. 59,278 24,149 39,204 28,480 66,429 6,650 22,597 0 0 16,423 0.38
Mt. Delight ............. 58,677 27,782 46,827 25,107 63,434 5,788 22,325 0 0 8,604 0.36
Scarlet Express .......... 56,697 10,663 16,607 26,229 65,340 19,806 50,094 0 0 24,959 0.43
Joker....................... 52,781 31,296 51,591 18,642 45,73 2,842 10,209 0 0 6,608 0.35
Olympia .............. 19,713 10,462 19,965 8,273 17,96) 1,467 4,901 0 0 8,191 0.35
Sand Moutain Substation
Merced ................... 58,997 3,162 3,993 33,417 47,553 22,418 64,251 8,317 31,763 6,630 0.60
Liberty ................... 57,021 751 1,210 18,407 40,656 38,051 119,427 14,681 45,557 4,014 
0.46
Mt. Delight ................ 56,862 3,041 11,616 28,666 60,803 25,156 72,419 6,562 23,414 3,041 
0.44
Mt. Spring ................. 55,230 7,324 9,438 23,621 43,742 24,285 68,426 8,376 
29,766 3,809 0.55
Redstone ................... 55,132 3,328 4,646 20,616 42,689 31,187 96,994 16,168 55,321 4,605 
0.50
Granola ..................... 54,857 10,557 13,068 22,439 45,012 21,860 67,155 4,364 
15,972 7,476 0.55
Celebrity ................ 54,121 4,725 7,623 26,583 53,180 22,814 70,241 
6,796 27,225 4,344 0.49
Acclaim .............. 53,531 3,893 5,518 27,003 2,417 22,636 68,244 8,985 31,508 
5,816 0.51
Sunpride .................... 53,227 4,471 6,171 26,512 . 3,361 22,244 64,796 7,131 
24,503 3,436 0.52
Ultra Sweet VFT ....... 48,413 2,064 3,449 16,723 33,215 29,625 85,668 17,021 55,902 4,419 
0.48
Joker ....................... 45,868 3,161 4,719 19,865 40,656 22,843 50,820 4,466 15,065 
9,781 0.54
Medina ................... 33,146 666 1,089 3,371 7,805 29,276 95,832 34,072 107,630 5,551 0.48
Scarlet Express.......... 25,643 129 242 5,362 11,435 20,184 68,607 22,725 71,511 2,496 
0.43
'Harvests dates were June 28, July 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 18, 21, 24, 26, 28, and 31 at WS; July 25 and 31, and Aug. 3, 7, and 14 at
NAHS; and July 7, 13, 14, 18, 21, 25, and 31, and Aug. 3, 7, and 14 at SMS. Grades and corresponding fruit diameters (D) were Jumbo
(D>3.5 inches), Extra-large (D>2.9 inches), Large (D>2.5 inches), Medium (D>2.3 inches) and Small (others).
-Marketable production and individual fruit weight calculated by combining the Jumbo, Extra-Large and Large grades.
Sevin XLR on May 18 (two quarts per acre) and pounds per acre) apd 
muriate of potash (at a rate
on May 26 (one quart per acre). Plants were also of 50 pounds 
per acre) were preplant applied on
sprayed with the fungicide Ridomil/Bravo 81W April 28. 
Between May 24 and Aug. 9, fertiliza-
(at a rate of two pounds per acre) on May 18 and tion consisted of weekly injections of five pounds
26, June 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, and July 7, 17, and of N per acre, alternatively as 20-20-20 and po-
25. tassium nitrate (13-0-44). 
The injections provided
At SMS, lime was incorporated at a rate of a total of 45 pounds of N per acre.
one ton per acre on April 27. Beds were fumi- Insect control at SMS was provided by appli-
gated with methyl bromide at a rate of 300 pounds cations of Sevin XLR (at a rate of one quart per
per acre one week before transplanting. Ammo- acre) on June 16, 20, and 29, and July 7 and 12;
nium nitrate (at a rate of 225 pounds per acre), and Asana (at a rate of six ounces per acre) on
concentrated superphosphate (at a rate of 100 June 24 and July 1. Fungicide 
sprays consisted of
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM34
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 
35
applications of Manzate 200 (at a rate of 1.5
pound per acre) on June 14, 24, andJuly 7;
Ridomil (at a rate of 1.5 pounds per acre) on June
14; and Bravo 720 (at a rate of two pints per acre)
on June 27, and July 1, 14, 21, and 31.
Plots were harvested 13 times between June
28 and July 31 at WS and five times between 
July
25 and Aug. 14 at NAHS. At SMS, 10 harvests
were done between July 7 and Aug. 14.
At all locations, fruits were harvested at the
breaker stage, weighed and graded. Grades and
corresponding fruit diameters (D) of fresh-mar-
ket tomato were adapted from the Tomato
Grader's Guide (Circular ANR 643 from the Ala-
bama Cooperative Extension Service). Grades are
Jumbo (D>3.5 inches), Extra-Large (D>2.9
inches), Large (D>2.5 inches), Medium (D>2.3
inches), and Small (others). The grading of Roma-
type tomatoes was based on fruit shape more than
on fruit size. These grades are Marketable (fruits
free of injury and well shaped), Misshaped (fruits
free of injury, with defects including pointed end,
"pear-shaped" or "eight-shaped"), 
and Cull.
Early production was determined by adding
the yields of the first three harvests (Table 3).
Marketable yield was calculated by combining the
Jumbo, Extra-Large, and Large grades (Tables 4
and 5).
TABLE 5. EARLY AND TOTAL PRODUCTION, AND 
GRADE DISTRIBUTION
OF SELECTED PROCESSING TOMATO VARIETIES'
Variety Early Early 
Total Total Total Total 
Total
market. wt. market. no. market. wt. market. no. misshaped 
wt. misshaped no. cull
lb./a. no./a. lb./a. no./a. 
lb./a. no./a. lb./a.
Wiregrass Substation
Capri VF ....................... 2,130 726 14,085 
73,145 109,272 22,860 16,725
STM 3806 ........................ 643 194 15,561 
76,714 105,621 8,301 19,856
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
STM 3806 ................... 33,572 102,185 40,135 
127,232 14,254 74,960 24,100
Olinda.......................... 22,027 92,021 31,465 
129,591 15,331 83,672 25,631
Red Hunter ................. 15,035 43,653 32,314 
117,523 19,419 79,134 21,491
Sand Moutain Substation
Capri VF ....................... 7,265 31,400 24,513 
170,610 30,321 196,202 4,495
Olinda................... 3,983 17,424 15,226 
92,565 33,221 192,572 3,374
Macero II ...................... 7,112 34,848 9,258 
49,368 51,938 288,585 4,343
'See Tables 3 and 4 for actual harvest dates. Grades of Roma-type tomatoes 
were Marketable (fruits free of injury and well shaped),
Misshaped (fruits free of injury, with defects including pointed end, 
"pear-shaped" or "eight-shaped"), and Cull.
35
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
Shortage of Seeds Reveals
Alternate Watermelon Varieties
Eric Simonne, Emmett Carden, Arnold Caylor, Vanessa Drouot, John
Eason, Brian Gamble, Marlin Hollingsworth, Henry Ivey, Joseph Kemble,
Ronald McDaniel, Malcomb Pegues, Marvin Ruf, and Larry Wells
WATERMELON ACREAGE IN ALA-
bama has increased regularly in recent years to
an estimated 13,000 acres in 1993 (Alabama Veg-
etable Production Statistics, Alabama Coopera-
tive Extension Service). However, due to the le-
gal issues related to the outbreak of watermelon
fruit blotch in 1994, the availability of seeds for
production and trial was limited. Available wa-
termelon varieties were tested at the Gulf Coast
Substation (GCS) in Fairhope, the Wiregrass Sub-
station (WS) in Headland, the North Alabama
Horticulture Substation (NAHS) in Cullman, and
the Sand Mountain Substation (SMS) in
Crossville (Tables 1 and 2).
Watermelons were direct-seeded on bare
ground in plots 60 feet long and five feet wide
with a hill spacing of approximately 10 feet. Plant-
ing dates were April 6 at GCS and WS, and May
12 at NAHS and SMS.
TABLE 1. RATINGS OF 1995
WATERMELON VARIETY TRIALS'
Location GCS WS NAHS SMS
W eather....................5 5 5 5
Fertility .................... 4 5 5 5
Irrigation .................. 5 5 5 5
Pests ........ ............. 5 5 5 5
Overall ..................... 5 5 5 5
'See the introduction on page 3 for a description of the rating
scales.
At GCS, fertilization consisted of a preplant
broadcast application of a 13-13-13 fertilizer at a
rate of 460 pounds per acre on April 5, followed
by one sidedress application on May 17 of 15-0-
14 at a rate of 200 pounds per acre. Stand was
thinned to two plants per hill on May 17. Plants
were trickle irrigated as needed. Weed control
consisted of applications of Poast (at a rate of 1.5
TABLE 2. SEED SOURCE, FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS,
AND RELATIVE EARLINESS OF SELECTED WATERMELON 
VARIETIES
Variety Seed cource 
Type' Flesh color Days to harvest
2
Dumara ..................................................... 
Nunhems Jubilee 
Red 82
Red Honey.................................................... 
Nunhems Icebox 
Red 74
Samos........................................................... 
Nunhems Jubilee 
Red 82
Crisbi ............................................................ 
Nunhems CS 
Red 76
AU-Golden Producer ...................................
Auburn U. CS 
Yellow 75
AU-Sweet Scarlet ....................................... Auburn 
U. CS Red 
88
AU-Producer ............................................... Auburn 
U. CS Red 
77
AU-Jubilant ................................................. Auburn 
U. Jubilee 
Red 85
W-1003 (triploid) ........................................ Pioneer 
CS
4  
Red 110
W-1025 (triploid) ........................................ Pioneer 
CS Red 
120
Huck Finn .................................................... Ferry 
Morse Jubilee Red 
85
Triten (triploid) ........................................... Clemson 
U. CS Red 
--
'Fruit shape.
2
From respective seed catalogues.
3
Unlike typical Jubilee-type watermelons, the rind 
color of Samos was solid dark green.
"Rind pattern like Jubilee.
36 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 
37
pints per acre) and Penetrator 3 (at a rate of two
quarts per acre) on May 16. Insect control was
provided with applications of Thiodan 3EC (at a
rate of 2.7 pints per acre) on May 15 and Sevin
80WP (at a rate of 1.25 pound per acre) on May
16 and 31. Bravo 720 fungicide was spayed at a
rate of three pints per acre on May 3 1, and June
5,) 13,) 19, and 26.
At WS, 500 pounds per acre of a 13-13-13
fertilizer were applied preplant on April 4. Lime
was incorporated on April 5 at a rate of 500
pounds per acre. On May 20, sidedress fertilizer
consisted of 60 pounds of nitrogen (N), 40 pounds
of potassium (K), and 20 pounds of sulfur (S) per
acre. Sonalan, a pre-emergence herbicide, was
applied at a one-pint-per-acre rate on April 4.
Plants were overhead- irrigated on April 10, and
June 15 and 22. Insect control was provided by
applications of Asana at a rate of five ounces per
acre on May 26. Bravo fungicide was applied at a
TABLE 3. YIELD OF SELECTED WATERMELON VARIETIES
Variety Type Market. yield Market. fruits nd. fruit wt. 
Soluble solids Hollow heart
5, 1. 19 and26, une 5 aI
w-1003..............
Crisbi ............ ........
W-1025..............
AU-Producer..........
AU-Sweet Scarlet.
AU-Golden Producer
Red Honey............
Samos ............ ........
Dumara..............
Huck Finn..... .......
AU-Golden Producer
Crisbi ............ ........
AU-Sweet Scarlet.
AU-Producer..........
W-1025..............
W-1003 ..........
Red Honey.........
Samos................
Dumara......................
W-1025 .....................
AU-Golden Producer.
Crisbi ........................
AU-Sweet Scarlet ......
AU-Producer...............
Triten ........................
W-1003 .....................
Red Honey ................
Dumara......................
Samos........................
Huck Finn ................
AU-Producer...............
Crisbi ........................
W-1025 .....................
AU-Sweet Scarlet ......
AU-Golden Producer.
W-1003 .....................
Triten ........................
Red Honey ................
Huck Finn ................
Dumara......................
Samos........................
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
Icebox
Jubilee
Jubilee
Jubilee
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
Icebox
Jubilee
Jubilee
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
Icebox
Jubilee
Jubilee
Jubilee
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
Icebox
Jubilee
Jubilee
Jubilee
lb./a. no/a. lb.
Gulf Coast Substation
19,213 1,668 12
17,726 1,414 12
13,195 1,305 10
11,818 979 12
10,440 943 11
2,538 326 8
11165 1,341 9
14,536 1,269 11
11,890 979 12
3,190 399 8
Wiregrass Substation
48,343 2,175 25
40,064 2,284 17
37,127 1,994 18
35,163 1,885 18
29,268 2,139 13
12,104 1,160 11
39,360 3,118 13
43,957 2,030 22
35,076 1,740 19
North Alabama Horticulture Substation
45,563 --
44,933 --
43,020 --
36,225 --
30,870 --
25,965 --
16,718 --
28,688 --
42,975 --
40,748 --
33,660---
Sand Mountain Substation
42,920
41,144
39,368
36,939
36,431
31,973
21,279
27,840
50,533
44,878
42,050
in.
0
Brix
10.8
9.7
9.9
9.8
9.0
10.0
9.6
9.4
10.2
8.9
10.3
8.9
10.8
9.2
9.6
10.4
9.4
10.3
10.4
11.0
10.9
10.8
11.0
11.6
9.1
10.9
10.2
11.8
10.3
11.4
9.3
11.0
11.4
10.6
12.3
11.3
10.9
9.3
12.5
12.2
11.8
12
12
4
2
0
7
3
I S~tm~~ ....~~_~~~.~~~~.~~.~....~.......... Jubllee 4S.Y3/ Z.V3V
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 37
38 
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
rate of one quart per acre on May 26. Ultrex Bravo
fungicide was applied at a rate of 1.4 pound per
acre on June 19.
At NAHS, a 13-13-13 fertilizer was preplant
incorporated at a rate of 1,000 pounds per acre
on May 12. Preplant herbicide was Curbit applied
on May 12 at a rate of three pints per acre. Alanap
L herbicide was applied at a rate of one gallon
per acre on June 22. Pest control consisted of ap-
plications of the fungicide Ridomil-Bravo 81W
at a rate of two pounds per acre on June 23 and
28, and July 7 and 17; and the insecticide Asana
at a rate of 10 ounces per acre on June 16, 23, and
28, and July 7, 17, and 25. Other insecticides in-
cluded Dimethoate on July 7 at a rate of one pint
per acre and Sevin XLR on June 9 at a rate of one
quart per acre. The herbicides Post (at a rate of
one pint in 50 gallons per acre) and Crop Oil (at a
rate of one quart in 50 gallons per acre) were ap-
plied on July 1. The fungicides Benlate DF (at a
rate of one pound per acre) and Manzate 200 (at
a rate of two pounds per acre) were applied on
June 9 and 16.
At SMS, a combination of ammonium nitrate,
concentrated superphosphate, muriate of potash,
and potassium nitrate provided (per acre) 90
pounds of nitrogen (N), 60 pounds of phospho-
rous (P
2
0
5
), and 70 pounds of potassium (K
2
0).
Preplant herbicide were Prefar 4E and Alanap
applied at a rate of four quarts per acre each 
on
May 12. Insect control was provided by applica-
tions of Diazinon (at a rate of one-half pint per
acre) on May 27, Asana (at a rate of six ounces
per acre) on June 24, and Sevin XLR (at a rate of
two pints per acre) on July 7 and 14. Fungicide
sprays consisted of applications of Manzate 200
(at a rate of 1.5 pounds per acre) on June 14, 20,
and 24, and July 7, 14, 20, and 31; and Bravo 720
(at a rate of two pints per acre) on June 27.
Watermelons were harvested on July 6 and
13 at GCS, July 14 at WS, Aug. 2 at NAHS, and
Aug. 16 at SMS.
Important characteristics for watermelons are
marketable yield, sweetness, and rind thickness.
Fruits were graded as described in the Watermelon
Grader's Guide (Circular ANR 681 from the Ala-
bama Cooperative Extension Service), and mar-
ketable yield was determined. Two representative
melons were selected from each plot for the mea-
sure of soluble solids, which is often used to
evaluate sweetness (Table 3). Watermelons with
soluble solid levels of less than 100 Brix do not
taste very sweet. Rind thickness is used as an in-
dicator of shipping ability and resistance to bruis-
ing and splitting during handling. AU-Sweet Scar-
let had a rind thickness of less than a quarter of
an inch, and AU-Jubilant had a rind thickness 
of
one inch. For other varieties, rind thickness ranged
between one-half and three-quarters of an inch.
38 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SYSTEM
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT 
39
Sponsors and Suppliers
CORPORATE SPONSORS
Micro Macro International, Inc.
Mike Duemmel
183 Paradise Blvd., Suite 108
Athens, GA 30608
Ph. (706) 548-4557
(Provided analytical services)
Lewis Taylor Farms, Inc.
Bill Brim
P0 Box 822
Tifton., GA 31793
Ph. (912) 382-4454
(Donated transplants)
SUPPORTING SEED COMPANIES
Asgrow Seed Co.
Brent Farrington
P.O. Box 48503
Doraville, GA 30362
Ph. (912) 243-7023
Nunhems Seed Co.
Hank Mendee
P.O. Box 18
Lewisville, ID 83431
Ph. (208) 754-8666
Stokes Seeds Inc.
Joe Butwin
P.O. Box 548
Buffalo, NY 14240-0548
Ph. (716) 695-6980
Ferry-Morse Seed Co.
Glenn McKay
P.O. Box 392
Sun Prairie, WI 53590
Ph. (608) 837-6574
Abbott & Cobb / TWilley Seeds
David Fritz
14460 Fortune Circle
West Palm Beach, FL 33414
Ph. (407) 795-2588
CONTRIBUTING SEED COMPANIES
Sandoz Rogers
Curt Pollard
2101 Melrose Drive
Valdosta, GA 31602
Ph. (912) 560-1863
Sakata Seeds Co.
Howard Adams
P.O. Box 1103
Lehigh, FL 33970-1103
Ph. (813) 369-0032
SEED SUPPLIERS
Harris Seeds
Bob Wilkins
60 Saginow Dr.
Rochester, NY 14692-2960
Ph. 1-800-544 7938
Ball Seed Co.
John McBride
4351 Bell Rd.
Montgomery, AL 36116
Ph. (205) 279-8007
Petoseed Co.
Mario Rivas
3085 Whirlaway Trail
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Ph. (904) 668-9068
American Takii
Mrs. Yuki Benech
301 Natividad Rd.
Salinas, CA 93906
Ph. (408) 443-4901
Pioneer Hi-Bred
Roger Chang
18285 County Rd. 96
Woodland, CA 95695
Ph. (916) 666-6136
Seneca Hybrids
Walter Whitwood
P.O. Box 787
Hall, NY 14463
Ph. (716) 526-5879
SPRING 1995 VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL REPORT
39

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