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Performance of Acorn Squash Cultivars, Plateau Research and Education Center, 2007 A. Brent Smith
Interpretative Summary Dry weather significantly reduced the yield of acorn squash. > Celebration= produced more fruit per acre. > Early Acorn= , > Tay Belle= , > Tay Belle PM= and > Autumn Delight= , all traditional green acorn squash varieties, had the largest average fruit weight. Introduction Acorn squash are grown throughout Tennessee for both decoration and consumption. Cultivars have been found to perform differently at different locations. Rainfall and temperature differences affect fruit set and development and disease problems. Acorn squash have been a profitable crop for producers in recent years, and acreage production seems to increase each year. Several tobacco and row crop producers have considered or actually produced acorn squash as an alternative crop. Acorn squash production is over-all quite easy, but a few problems exist that need to be considered by growers. Weed control can be a problem in acorn squash as labeled herbicides fail to control all species of weeds adequately. Insecticides and fungicides need to be applied on a 7 to 10 day frequency. Bees are needed for pollination. An experiment was conducted at the Plateau Research and Education Center in Crossville, TN in 2007 to evaluate performance of 11 acorn squash cultivars. Materials and Methods The site was prepared for planting by conventional tillage methods. Fertilizer was broadcast at 350 lb/A of 15-15-15 and incorporated with a disk on June 4. Plots were direct seeded with the selected cultivars on June11. Plot size was one row, 6 ft by 20 ft. Each row contained 5 hills with 3 seeds/hill. Plants were later thinned to 2 plants/hill. Experimental plot design was a randomized complete block with four replications. A preemergence application of clomazone (Command) at 0.375 lb ai/A and ethalfluralin (Curbit) at 0.60 lb ai/A was made on June 12. Following the practices of most local growers, no irrigation was used on the trial. Insect control was by esfenvalerate (Asana) at 0.05 lb ai/A or endosulfan (Thiodan) at 0.5 lb ai/A on a 7 to 14 day frequency. Fungicides were azoxystrobin (Quadris) at 0.25 lb ai/A or chlorothalonil (Bravo) at 2.0 lb ai/A applied with each insecticide treatment. Squash were harvested on Sept 5 to give all varieties time to complete fruiting cycle. Harvested acorn squash were counted and weights taken. Colors of the varieties were noted, as well as any anomalies in the given crop. Stem quality was also evaluated. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance methods, and means were separated by Duncan= s multiple range tests at the 0.05 level of probability. Results and Discussion Squash yields were effected by the very dry weather that occurred during the 2007 growing season, with dramatically fewer fruit/acre than what is expected for these varieties. > Celebration= , a yellow striped variety, had the highest number of fruit/acre, while > Table Queen= , > Early Acorn= , > Table Treat= , and > Autumn Delight= had the lowest number of fruit/acre produced(Table 1). > Early Acorn= , > Tay Belle= , > Tay Belle PM= and > Autumn Delight= , all traditional green acorn squash varieties, had the largest average fruit weight while > Bat Corn= , > Celebration= , and > Harlequin= were among several varieties with smaller average fruit weights. > Tay Belle PM= was one of the varieties with significantly larger total weight of fruit/acre, while > Table Queen= had a significantly smaller total weight of fruit produced. > Early Acorn= , > Celebration= , and > Harlequin= were among several varieties that had better overall appearance and stem quality(Table 2). > Table Queen= and > Table Star= had significantly lower stem quality of the varieties tested. > Table Queen= , > Table Star= , and > Mesa Queen= had lower average appearance than other varieties tested. Table 1. Total yield, total fruit, average weight and fruit color of Acorn Squash varieties evaluated at the University of Tennessee, Plateau Research and Education Center, 2007.
z Means within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level of probability, Duncan= s multiple range tests.
Table 2: Stem quality, appearance, days to harvest, and seed source of Acorn Squash varieties evaluated at the University of Tennessee, Plateau Research and Education Center, 2007.
z - Means within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level of probability, Duncan= s multiple range tests.y - On scale 1 to 10. 10 = most desirable. This file also available in pdf format.
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