Progress Report Series No. 96
Agricultural Experiment Station
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
S.umith, Director
__ Aub rn, Alabama
Vegetable 
Variety 
Tria i97
JACK L. TURNER
1
VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIALS 
were conducted at
the Gulf Coast Substation, Fairhope; the Chilton
Area Horticulture Substation, Clanton; the North
Alabama Horticulture Substation, Cullman; the Sand
Mountain Substation, Crossville; and the Main Sta-
tion at Auburn. All variety trials were conducted in
randomized replicated plots. Fertilizer rates and
applications were applied to give the best results at
each location. Disease and insect control measures
were applied on a regular schedule throughout the
growing season. Irrigation was applied as needed.
Summaries of results from these trials are reported
in this publication.
RESULTS
Snapbeans
Seed were planted April 7 and harvested once-
over to simulate machine picking. Niagara 773 pro-
duced the highest yield of all varieties, Table 1.
Sieve size distribution for this variety indicated that
harvest was 1 or 2 days late. Blue Lake 274, Tender
White, and Corneli 14 each produced good yields.
Catskill had the best sieve size distribution of all
varieties while Lika Lake, Richgreen, and Provider
had the poorer sieve sizes at the time their harvest
was made. An earlier harvest of these three varieties
would, however, have given a better sieve size dis-
tribution.
Watermelons
Seed were planted April 23 and melons harvested
July 23 and 30 at the Chilton Area Substation. At
Cullman seed were planted May 5 and melons har-
vested August 6 and 18. The melons were grown
on a 6- by 6-foot row design.
Gummy stem blight disease was very serious in
1970 at Chilton and reduced the yields considerably
1 Research Assoc., Department of Horticulture.
TABLE 1. SNAPBEAN VARIETY TRIAL, FAIRHOPE, 19701
Variety 
ield Growing 
Sieve size
2
per acre days 
1 2 3 
4 5
Bu. No. Pct. Pct. Pct. Pct. Pct.
Niagara 773 458 53 3 12 20 33 32
Blue Lake 274_ 338 53 1 7 25 42 25
Tender White. 321 53 0 1 24 43 32
Corneli 14........ 300 53 4 13 18 41 24
Picker 246 53 6 28 26 32 8
Catskill------- 217 53 8 22 23 44 3
Gallatin 50 ....... 212 59 18 11 17 37 17
Cascade 206 59 11 17 23 41 9
Provider------- 206 53 5 7 13 29 47
Astro 201 59 4 17 38 36 5
Lika Lake --------- 200 53 0 11 5 34 50
Richgreen 200 59 4 12 11 24 49
SSoil test P - 56 (medium); soil test K 32 (low); pH - 6.0.
2 Sieve size was determined from a 100-bean sample taken at
random from the four replications. Sieve denotes canning size
grade with size 1 having the smaller diameter and 5 having the
larger.
on all varieties. There appeared to be no resistance
in any variety to gummy stem blight disease. Data
are presented in Table 2 for the two locations.
Charleston Sweet has a gray skin that resembles
Charleston Gray but is smaller in size and weight.
It did not exhibit a high fruit set potential. In eat-
ing quality it is about equal to Charleston Gray.
Big Delicious Sugar was the largest melon in the
trial. Petite is a new small green striped icebox
type melon. Its performance was good. Verona has
a high set potential for Alabama conditions. It is a
round dark green melon of excellent eating quality.
Super Sweet did poorly at both locations. Fairfax
did only fair and has only a poor potential for Ala-
bama. Calhoun Gray is of the Charleston Gray type
but does not have the eating qualities of either
Charleston Gray or Charleston Sweet.
Summer Squash
Squash trials were conducted at Cullman and
Auburn. Soil was fumigated for root knot nematode
June 1971
TABLE 2. WATERMELON VARIETY TRIAL, CHILTON AND CULLMAN, 1970
Yield, number per acre, and weight per melon
Variety
Big Delicious Sugar-
Calhoun Gray ------
Charleston Gray-----
Charleston Sweet ---
C ongo -------------
Fairfax ------------
P etite -- --- ---------
Sumnmerfield--------
Super Sweet -------
Sweet Princess------
V erona ------------
Yield
Cwt.
117
197
177
38
134
57
188
218
160
117
2 35
Chilton
Weight/
melon-
Lb.
29J
21
22
16
19
18
18
21
18
17
21
Mlelons/
acre
No.
435
914
827
174
783
304
1,044
1,044
870
696
1,131
control with 20 gallons of Shell DD per acre broad-
cast 1 month before planting. Seed were planted
April 28 at Auburn and May 5 at Cullman. A total
of 16 harvests was made at Cullman and 13 at
Auburn.
Hybrid Zucchini was the highest yielding of all
varieties, Table 3. When harvested before the, fruits
get too large it is an excellent squash with good
eating quality. Dixie was the highest yieldingand
the most prolific of the crookneck types. Goldbar
Hybrid, Seneca Butterbar, and Seneca Prolific are
very high yielding straightneck types. These, 3
straightneck squash are well adapted to Alabama.
Fresh Market Cucumbers
Soil was fumigated with 20 gallons of Shell DD
per acre broadcast 1 month before. planting. Varie-
ties were seeded with a Planet Jr. seeder May- 5
and thinned to a stand after emergence. A total
of 13 harvests was made beginning on June 26 and
ending on July 24. Fruit size when harvested was
larger than that generally acceptable for slicing
cucumbers. Saticoy produced the highest total mar-
ketable yield of all varieties, Table 4. Early
Marketer, Triumph, and Crackerlee also produced
TABLE 3. SUMMER SQUASH TRIALS,
good yields. All varieties produced attractive fruit
with good green skin color.
Fresh Market Tomatoes
Soil was fumigated 1 month before, planting, with
20 gallons of Shell DD broadcast per acre. For weed
control, Treflan herbicide, was broadcast and incor-
porated preplant at 34 pound per acre. Varieties
were: seeded in flats on March 19 in the greenhouse
at Auburn and transplanted May 14. Wet soil pre-
vented proper land preparation for earlier planting.
Varieties were grown as ground tomatoes. A total
of 11 harvests was made, beginning on July 6 and
ending, on August 11.
Chico Grande, is not considered a fresh market
tomato variety, but was included in this trial for a
yield comparison. Chico Grande produced the
highest total yield, Table 5, although the fruits were
small when compared to the other varieties. Tropi-
Red produced the highest yield of the fresh market
varieties with 71 paer cent of its marketable fruit in
size 5 x 6. Sunburst produced the second highest
yield but with a high proportion of the smaller
fruit. Bonnie Nematode Resistant produced Ca good
yield with 58 per cent of the fruit in size 5 x 6.
CULLMAN AND AUBURN, 1970'
Variety
D ix ie -- ------------------
Early Prolific Staiglitiseck-
Early Summer Crookneck
Goldbar Hybrid
Golden Summer Crookneck
Hybrid Zucchini
Hyrific ----------- --
Seneca Butterbar----------
Seneca Prolific------------
Yellow Summer Crookneck
Cuilman: Soil test P
Auburn: Soil test P 1
Cullman
Marketable yield
No 1No.2 Tota].
Cwt. Cwt. Cwt.
239 107 346
207 75 282
91 92 183
309 80 389
108 93 201
379 84 463
Fruit size
No. 1No. 
2
Lb. Lb.
.17 .46
.19 .49
.12 .31
.23 .60
.13 -.28
.75 1.76
Auburn
Marketable yield
No. 1 No. 2 Total
Cwt. Cwt. Cwt.
70 82 152
44 62 106
50 52 102
65 84 149
61 66 127
64 185 250
------- 193 86 279 .22 .49 54
----230 111 341 .27 .65 55
----269 91 360 .23 .56 72
136 106 242 .14 .37
145 (high); soil test K- 246 (high); pH 6.3.
120 (high); soil test K 90 (low); pH 5.8.
48
58
96
.02
113
168
Yield
Cwt.
478
487
407
299
430
263
274
323
42
408
457
Cullman
Weight/
melon
Lb.
22
20
20
16
21
16
15
23
17
18
20
Melons!
acre
No.
2,178
2,450
2,057
1,664
1,845
1,422
242
2,239
2,299
Fruit size
No.1I No. 2
Lb. Lb.
.13 .31
.16 .40
.11 .27
.15 137
.12 .29
.50 .85
Color
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow
Green!/
gray spots
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow.1
Type
Crookneck
Straightneck
Crookneck
Straightueck
Crookneck
Straightueck
Crookneck
Straightueck
Straightneck
Crookneck
.14
.17
.15
.27
.29
.34
I
Y V \l IY~ IL~~YI .~
VII~C-~-Lkl VII ~~-~C)
Walter, Homestead 
24, TAMU Monte 
Grande,
Tropi-Gro, Tropic, and Creole produced high per-
centages of 5 x 6 fruits but total yields were some-
what low. Terrific VFN, Floradel, and Supermarket
produced only fair yields with good fruit 
sizedis-
tribution.
TABLE 4. FRESH MARKET CUCUMBER TRIAL, CULLMAN, 1970'
Variety Yield per acre
Cwt.
Saticoy ------------------- 640
Early Marketer 562
Trium ph ------------------ 552
Crackerlee ---------------- 550
Polamar--- ------ - 485
Marketer-- 480
Early Sure Crop ----------- 442
Poinsett ------------------ 426
'Soil test P 145 (high); soil test K
5.4; 1 ton of limestone applied per acre.
Fruit size
Lb.
.49
.55
.45
.40
.42
.44
.50
.38
246 (high); pH
TABLE 5. FRESH MARKET TOMATO TRIAL,, CULLMAN, 1970'-
Marketahle yield per acre
Variety Sizes Total
5x6 6x6 6x7 7x7
Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt.
Chico Grande ------------------ 9 8 7 325 349
Tropi-Red--------------------- 192 44 17 16 
270
Sunburst 105 54 21 56 
236
Bonnie Nematode Resistant 127 40 13 28 
218
Terrific VFN------------------- 112 35 16 40 203
Floradel---------------------- 96 35 13 44 188
Supermarket- 88 37 16 40 181
W alter------------------------- 84 53 9 34 181
Homestead 24 ------------------ 108 33 6 18 165
TAMU Monte Crande----------- 104 33 6 15 158
Tropi-Cro---------------------- 101 22 8 5 136
Tropic ------------------------ 99 19 1 5 124
Creole --------- -------------- 79 24 4 6 113
Atkinson -------------------- --- 28 4 20 1 53
' Soil test P- 140 (high); soil test K- 236 (high); pH 5.4;
1.5 tons of limestone applied per acre.
Potatoes
Seed pieces were cut to 112 ounces each and
treated with a 712 per cent Captan dust before
planting. Seed pieces were planted 12 inches apart
in rows 42 inches wid March 16 and harvested
July 10.
Nine varieties had white skin 
and 3 had red skin,
Table 6. Kennehec produced the highest total 
mar-
ketable yield of the white varieties. Penobscot,
Norchip, and Shurchip also produced good yields.
Penobscot had the highest total solids and also rated
highest in chip color. Kennebec, Norchip, Sebago,
and Superior also had good chip color ratings. Red
La Soda produced the highest total yield of 
all
varieties.
Lima Beans
The soil was fumigated with 20 gallons of Shell
DD per acre broadcast I month before 
planting.
Treflan herbicide was broadcast preplant 
incor-
porated at the rate of 34 pound per acre. Seed were
planted May 5. Each variety was harvested 
once
over to simulate machine harvest. Yields wereonly
fair. Jackson Wonder and Henderson Bush pro-
duced the highest yields per acre, both 
in the pod
and shelled, Table 7. Thaxter produced in pod 
yields
comparable to Jackson Wonder but had 
a very
poor per cent shellout. Allgreen and Fordhook 
-
861 had the highest per cent of green seedcoat 
color.
All 3 of the Fordhook varieties produced low yields.
Pickling Cucumbers
Soil was fumigated with 20, gallons 
of Shell DD
per acre broadcast 1 month before planting. 
Seed
were planted April 17. Alanap at 4 pounds 
per acre
was applied broadcast as a post-plant treatment 
for
weed control. A total of 14 harvests was made 
be-
ginning June 1 and ending July 6.
TABLE 6. POTATO VARIETY TRIAL., CROSSVILLE 1970'
Variety
No. 1
Cwt.
Yield per acre
No. 2
Cwt.
Total
Cwt.
Specific
gravity'
Total
solids'
Chip color
rating'
White skin varieties
Kennebec-------------- 223 29 
252 1.0918 22.8 8.2
La Chipper ----------------------- 174 36 
210 1.0773 19.7 7.7
Norchip------------------------ - 196 27 
223 1.0891 22.0 8.5
Norgold ----------------------------- 122 36 
158 1.0785 19.9 3.5
Penobscot -------------------------- 210 17 
227 1.0999 24.4 9.0
Platte ---------------------------------- 165 42 
207 1.0746 19.1 7.9
Sebago---------------- 129 32 
161 1.0840 21.1 8.1
Shurchip ---------------------------- 194 27 
221 1.0802 20.3 6.9
Superior ----------------------------- 192 16 
208 1.0818 20.6 8.3
Red skin varieties
Norchief--------------- 167 58 
225 1.0838 21.0 7.0
Red La Soda -------------------- 241 31 
272 1.0769 19.6 6.0
Sioux --------------------------------- 130 22 
152 1.0902 22.5 4.0
1 Soil test P 160 (high); soil test K 90 (medium); pH 5.2.
2 Specific gravity, total solids, and chip color ratings were determined 
hy Huhert Harris in the Food Processing Lahoratory at Auhurn.
ri ill
Yields of total marketable fruits for the 6 varieties
tested are presented in Table 8. Ranger and Pixie
had very similar yields in grades No. 2 and No. 3;
both produced higher yields than the other varieties.
Ranger did have a high carpel separation in size
No. 4. Chipper and Explorer produced the lowest
yields in this test but both varieties are excellent
pickle type cucumbers.
Okra
Soil was fumigated with 20 gallons of Shell DD
per acre broadcast 1 month before planting. Seed
were planted with a Planet Jr. seeder April 80. A
total of 42 harvests was made beginning in June
and ending in October. Clemson Spineless and
Emerald Green Velvet produced the highest yields
of all varieties, Table 9. Perfected Perkins Long
Pod and Perkins produced good yields. A problem
that has shown up in some Alabama okra fields is
the lack of seed development in the pod. Approxi-
mately 100 pods of each variety were selected at
random throughout the growing season and evalu-
ated for seed development. There appeared to be
no differences in seed filling among the varieties
tested; all varieties had filled pods. There were no
indications in this variety trial to indicate the cause
of this problem.
TABLE 7. LIMA BEAN VARIETY TRIAL, AUBURN, 19701
Yield per acre Shellout Green Dry pods Growing
In pod Shelled seedcoat at harvest days
Bu. Lb. Pct. Pct. Pct. No.
Jackson Wonder --------------- 153 2,249 49 - 10 71
Henderson Bush ------------- 151 2,220 49 61 18 71
Thaxter-........ 146 1,664 38 90 12 71
Allgreen 100 1,410 47 97 21 71
Fordhook ...... 80 1,128 47 72 20 76
Fordhook-242 78 1,170 50 66 18 76
Green Fordhook-861 64 960 50 100 6 76
1 Soil test P = 130 (high); soil test K = 100 (low); pH = 6.3.
2 This variety is a colored bean and 
no rating was made.
TABLE 8. PICKLING CUCUMBER TRIAL, AUBURN, 19701
Marketable yield per acre Carpel
Variety Grades
2  
Harvest Skin Fruit Vine separation
4
Grades season color
' 
shape vigor
No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 Total No. 3's No. 4's
Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Pct. Pct.
Ranger 26.24 107.44 155.29 46.39 335.36 Early G Good Good 0 17
Pixie ------------------ 16.19 104.04 153.48 56.99 330.70 Late DG Good Excellent 8 4
Southern Cross 20.91 116.89 139.90 37.97 315.67 Early G Good Good 4 0
Pioneer 19.82 110.64 124.00 57.14 311.60 Late G Good Excellent 5 16
Chipper 17.93 97.86 120.95 46.46 283.20 Late DG Good Excellent 3 0
Explorer 19.38 100.99 136.92 24.61 281.90 Early LG Good Good 5 10
1 Soil test P - 116 (high); soil test K = 90 (low); pH 6.5.
' No. 1 grade ranged up to 1 1/16 inch in diameter; No. 2 grade ranged from 1 1/16 to 11/2 inches in diameter; No. 3 
grade ranged
from 11/2 to 2 inches in diameter; No. 4 grade ranged from 2 to 21/4 inches in diameter.
G-green, LG-light green, DG-dark green.
SCarpel separation was based on the per cent of fruits cut that had open or 
air spaces in the middle.
TABLE 9. OKRA VARIETY TRIAL, AUBURN, 1970'1
Variety
Clemson Spineless
Emerald Green Velvet
Perfected Perkins Long Pod
P e rk in s .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .
D w arf G reen L ong Pod ----------------------------------------
E m e ra ld -- -------------------------------
Louisiana Green Velvet
1 Soil test P - 365 (very high); soil test K
pH = 6.5.
Yield per acre
Tons
9.89
9.42
8.64
7.40
5.13
4.21
4.06
100 (medium);
AC KNOWLEDGMENT
Cooperation of the following personnel is acknowl-
edged: Harold Yates and J. E. Barrett, Jr., Gulf
Coast Substation; Frank Garrett, State Department
of Agriculture and Industries; C. C. Carlton, Chilton
Area Horticulture Substation; Marlin Hollingsworth,
North Alabama Horticulture Substation; S. E. Gis-
sendanner, Sand Mountain Substation; and Harrison
Bryce, Main Station at Auburn.