Variety Results
Watermelon Varieties
Muskmelon Varieties
Sweet Corn Varieties
Tomato Varieties
Pepper Varieties
Seed Vendors for Variety Trials

Several crops were included in variety trials again this year. Watermelons and muskmelons were grown at the Graves plots and sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers and watermelons were grown at the St. Joseph plots.

At Graves 19 seeded varieties were direct seeded and 19 seedless varieties were transplanted on May 17. The field was tilled and treated with Diazinon to control cucumber and squash bugs. Treflan was used for weed control and the field was hoed and tilled three times.

Of the seeded varieties, ‘Carnival’ produced the most melons and the most total weight. ‘SF 800’ had the highest Brix reading (an indication of sugar content) while ‘SF 810’ had the heaviest melon. In the seedless varieties, ‘Chiffon’ had the most melons while ‘Freedom’ produced the most total weight and heaviest melon. Five varieties had the highest Brix readings. Seedless melons had higher average Brix readings than seeded ones, indicating higher sugar content.

Muskmelons were also direct seeded on May 17. They were hoed and tilled to control weeds and sprayed twice with Diazinon to control cucumber beetles.

‘Athena’ produced the most melons and had the highest total weight. The heaviest melons were “RML 8726’. A honey dew melon, ‘Sweet Dream’, had the highest Brix reading but did not rate well in an unofficial taste test. High sugar content does not always produce good taste.

Forty-four sweet corn varieties were direct seeded on May 10. All were of the sugar enhanced (s.e.) type. Two rows of each variety were planted. The field was treated with Bicep II for weed control. The field was treated with 100 pounds of urea fertilizer when plants were about a foot tall. Diazinon was applied to the corn silks to decrease corn earworm damage. The number of ears, weight of ears, and ear length were determined for each variety. Very little smut was observed this year and earworm damage was minimal. Heavy rain and wind damaged the crop on July 12 but most of the plants recovered.

‘BC 4806’ produced the most ears while ‘Luscious’ and ‘Sweet Select’ had the heaviest ears. In general, later varieties had taller stalks and longer ears.

Data has been tabulated and is available from the Buchanan County Extension Office, 4125 Mitchell Avenue, St Joseph, MO 64507, 816/279-1691. More information on variety trial results is available on the Agriculture Electronic Bulletin Board (AgEBB) website at http://agebb.missouri.edu/.

The spring was wet and cool and the plants developed a stem or root rot. Many of them did not survive. As the fruit developed, frequent rains caused fruit cracking and enhanced the invasion of early blight. Treatment with fungicides did not seem to help and the yield was greatly reduced. Few number one tomatoes were harvested.

‘Mt Spring’ and ‘Sunpride’ were the top yielding varieties for total weight. Fruit size for all varieties was medium to small due to adverse weather conditions. ‘Mt Belle’, a cherry tomato, and ‘Sweet Olive’, a grape tomato, were very prolific in terms of fruit numbers. The cherry tomato was much larger than the grape tomato and was higher in total yield. They both had some fruit cracking. They also ripened unevenly and picking the fruit required much labor.