Evaluation of Pumpkin Cultivars and Planting Methods Within a No-till System in West Virginia

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1 Evaluation of Pumpkin Cultivars and Planting Methods Within a No-till System in West Virginia Lewis W Jett, Commercial Vegetable Crops Specialist West Virginia University, 2102 Agriculture Sciences Building, Morgantown, WV Introduction Pumpkins are an important cash crop for many vegetable growers in the Mid-Atlantic region. While the majority of commercial pumpkin production uses conventional tillage, there are distinct advantages to growing pumpkins using no-till or conservation tillage. No-till reduces the overall usage of herbicides and soil erosion while improving soil quality and quality of the harvested pumpkins. Growers are interested in determining if the pumpkin crop should be transplanted or direct-seeded in a no-till system for optimum production efficiency and yield. The objective of this project was to evaluate several pumpkin cultivars established as directseeded or transplanted into a no-till production system in West Virginia. Materials and Methods The experiment was conducted on a commercial pumpkin farm in the Potomac Valley of West Virginia in A cereal rye cover crop was seeded the fall prior to the planting year. In late May, the cover crop was rolled/crimped with a 13-ft-wide roller/crimper (Figure 1). Gramoxone herbicide was applied as a broadcast spray to desiccate any living vegetation that may have survived the mechanical roller/crimper. No additional herbicide was applied to the planting block. On June 16, seed from 14 pumpkin cultivars provided by Seedway Vegetable Seed were hand-seeded into the rye mulch. Each planting hole was made with a bulb planter (1 inch depth), and two seeds per hill were seeded. Each hill of the direct-seeded pumpkins was thinned to the most vigorous seedling two weeks after seeding. Each plot was 18 feet in length with the plants spaced 3 feet within the row and approximately 6 feet between rows. All cultivars were replicated a minimum of three times using a randomized complete block design. For transplants, pumpkin seeds were seeded into 50-cell pro-trays filled with ProMix BX media approximately three weeks prior to planting. On June 17, the transplants ( one true leaf) were hand-planted into the rye mulch with a bulb planter using the same planting arrangement as the direct-seeded treatments. Each hill contained one transplant. One week later, the field was top-dressed with a standard granular fertilizer (e.g., ) to supply 60 lbs of N/acre and 100 lbs of P 2 O 5 and K 2 O/acre. An additional side-dressing of nitrogen ( 40 lbs/acre) was made approximately five weeks later. Standard cultural practices for pest management were followed throughout the season. Pumpkins were harvested on October 5-6. Each pumpkin was counted and weighed. A color and stem rating were assigned to each cultivar.

2 A B C D Figure 1. (A) Rolling/crimping the cover crop. (B) Growth of pumpkins approximately four weeks after planting. (C) No-till field in mid-august. (D) No-till field in late September. Results and Discussion The no-till planting system was very effective in reducing weed emergence throughout the growing season (Figure 1). The rolled mulch remained on the surface through harvest in late September. The amount of labor used for planting was 2:1 for transplanting versus direct seeding. I would assume this ratio would be similar for mechanical transplanting versus a no-till drill seeder. The farmer cooperator used a no-till corn planter to successfully plant the remainder of the field with pumpkins. Transplanting has several advantages. Less seed is used when growing transplants and transplanting eliminates the labor needed for thinning. In addition, transplants are more uniform in growth since the seedlings are relatively equal in size when transplanted. If stress is present at planting such as adverse weather, transplanting will typically produce a more uniform or complete stand. With this experiment, the direct-seeded planting had a 79% total stand versus a 98% stand for the transplanted plots across all cultivars evaluated.

3 Orange Bar Hijinks Porcelain Doll Chuckie Figure 2. Appearance of some promising pumpkin cultivars evaluated. The no-till field had an average marketable yield exceeding 19 tons/acre, which is an excellent yield for pumpkins in West Virginia. Overall quality was excellent with very little weed emergence through the rolled mulch. There was no significant difference in yield with either planting method within the no-till system (Table 2). Although there was a higher stand percentage with some cultivars with transplanting, this did not result in a higher marketable yield for the majority of pumpkin cultivars. Orange Bar yielded a very high quality pumpkin in both planting methods (Figure 2, Table 1). The average weight was more than 17 lbs/pumpkin and produced the largest tonnage per acre (Table 2). Captain Jack also produced a relatively high yield of large pumpkins with sturdy, thick diameter ( 2 ) handles. Challenger produced relatively high yields when grown as transplants, but had a poor stand and low yield with the direct-seeded planting method. This variety needs to be evaluated another year for commercial production. Mustang produced a uniform crop of large pumpkins with good color and excellent handles in both systems. However, this variety had several green, immature pumpkins when harvested indicating it may

4 need a longer growing season in a no-till system. Earlipack produced relatively high yields in both systems but did not have good quality attributes such as stem quality (Table 1). Chuckie is a small (<4 lbs) pumpkin with good color and uniformity. Chuckie produced the highest overall fruit count per acre. Hijinks averaged 8 lbs/fruit and had very high uniform quality and yield (Figure 2). Moonshine is an excellent small, white pumpkin. The stem, which is dark green, had some trichomes (hairs) that slightly bristled when touched. Nevertheless, yield and quality of this white pumpkin cultivar were very good. Porcelain Doll was evaluated as a demonstration variety only. This ornamental pumpkin had a pink color, deep ribbing, and dark orange flesh. Table 1. Stem and color ratings of pumpkin cultivars evaluated Cultivar Color z Stem (Handle) Rating y Aladdin Captain Jack Challenger Chuckie Diablo Earlipack Freddie Hijinks Moonshine Mustang Orange Bar Pam Spartan z Color rating: 1=light orange; 3=medium orange; 5=dark orange. y Stem rating: 1=weak, brown; 5= strong, dark-green.

5 Table 2 Marketable yields of pumpkin cultivars in a no-till system with two planting methods. Cultivar Planting Avg. Wt. Marketable Yield/Acre y Method z (lbs) Fruit Count (no.) Fruit Wt. (tons) Aladdin* DS , Captain Jack DS , Challenger DS , Chuckie DS 2.4 7, Diablo DS , Earlipack DS , Freddie DS , Hijinks DS 7.7 4, Moonshine DS 7.4 4, Mustang DS , Orange Bar DS , Pam DS 5.2 4, Spartan DS , * DS , Captain Jack TRP , Challenger TRP , Chuckie TRP 3.1 7, Diablo TRP , Earlipack TRP , Freddie TRP Hijinks TRP 8.1 4, Moonshine TRP 6.2 2, Mustang TRP , Orange Bar TRP , Pam TRP 5.0 4, Spartan TRP , Porcelain Doll** TRP , Factor: Planting method NS NS NS Cultivars * * * Standard error CV z DS=direct seeded; TRP=transplanted. y Yield based on plant population of 18 ft 2 /plant of 2,420 plants/acre. *Direct seeded only. **One replication only.

6 Acknowledgements The donation of seed by Seedway Vegetable Seed is appreciated. Thanks also to Ron Higson of Higson Farms, Ridgely, West Virginia, for providing land and labor for this evaluation.