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Performance of Watermelon Cultivars, Plateau Experiment Station, 2001 Charles A. Mullins and A. Brent Smith Interpretative Summary ‘Millennium’, ‘Tri-X 313', and ‘Samurai’ were the most acceptable seedless cultivars. ‘Athens’, ‘RWT 8096', and ‘Carvinal’ were among the most promising seedy type cultivars. Introduction Watermelons are not grown extensively in Tennessee. Production for shipping and local markets appears to have potential for expansion especially for seedless cultivars. Producing melons of a consistent size may be a problem. Weed control can be a problem, but new herbicides may be labeled in the near future. An experiment was conducted at the Plateau Tennessee Experiment Sation at Crossville, TN in 2001 to evaluate performance of 26 watermelon cultivars. Seven of the cultivars were seedy, and 19 were seedless. Two cultivars were yellow fleshed, and the others were red fleshed. Materials and Methods The site was prepared for planting using conventional tillage in late April. Fertilizer was broadcast at a400 lb/A of 15-15-15 before final disking on May 23. Four ft wide black plastic mulch was laid on 12 ft centers on May 23. Clomazone (Command) at 0.375 lb ai/A was direct sprayed between the rows on May 23. Transplants of the selected cultivars were greenhouse grown in 4 inch peat pots. Four seeds were planted per pot and the stand was thinned to 2 hills per pot before transplanting on May 25. Plots consisted of one row with 5 hills spaced 4 ft apart in rows spaced 12 ft. apart. The cultivars were not replicated. Row middles were cultivated on June 22 and July 13. Fungicides included azoxystrobin (Quadris) at 0.2 lb ai/A or chlorothalonil (Bravo) at 1.6 lb ai/A and were applied on 7 to 14 day schedule. Esfenvalerate (Asana) at 0.05 lb ai/A was applied with each fungicide application. Harvest of all cultivars was on August 28. Melon counts and individual melon weight per plot were recorded. Melons were classed according to size class of melons. Size classes were less than 20 lb, 20 to 25 lb, and over 25 lb. The total melon number and average melon weight were calculated for each plot according to size classification. Results and Discussion The majority of the melons produced by seedless cultivars were under 20 pounds (Table 1). A very small number of melons in the 20 to 25 pound class were produced by any of the varieties. ‘Mara" was the only seedless variety that produced any melons that weighed more than 25 pounds. ‘Revolution’, ‘Freedom’, and ‘Mara’ produced the longest melons of the seedless cultivars (Table 2). Most seedless melons were almost round. The most elongate melons were produced by ‘Mara’, ‘Revolution’, and ‘Freedom’. Melons of ‘Revolution’, ‘Samurai’, and ‘Wrigley’ had the darkest flesh color. ‘Solid Gold’ and ‘Triton’ were rated low in flesh color as it has yellow flesh. ‘Millennium’, ‘Samurai’, and ‘Tri-X 313' were rated highest for flavor. ‘Mara’ had the lowest fruit soluble solids. ‘Carnival’, ‘Sentinel’ and ‘Matador’ were the only seedy cultivars to produce melons that weighted over 25 pounds (Table 3). ‘Carnival’ and ‘Athens’ produced the most melons that weighed 20 to 25 pounds. Fruit of all the seedy cultivars except ‘RWT 8096' were elongated (Table 4). Fruit of ‘Matador’ ‘Sentinel’, and ‘Carnival’ were the most elongated. ‘Montreal’, ‘Carnival’, and ‘RWT 8096' had the darkest red flesh color. ‘Montreal’ and ‘RWT 8096' were rated highest for flavor. Fruit of ‘Sentinel’ had the lowest soluble solids level. Common Purseland was the only weed present in significant numbers during the trial. A period of extremely wet weather prevented additional cultivation that would have taken care of the purseland. Table 1. Yield in number and average weight by size classes of seedless watermelon cultivars evaluated at The University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2001.
Table 2. Average fruit length, diameter, flesh color rating, taste rating, and soluble solids of seedless watermelon fruit evaluated at The University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2001.
Table 3. Yield in number and average weight by size classes of seedy watermelon cultivars evaluated at The University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2001.
Table 4. Average fruit length, diameter, flesh color, taste, and soluble solids of seedy watermelon fruit evaluated at The University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2001.
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