2010 Vegetable Variety Trial Report

Fresh Market Slicing TomatoesIn 2010 we evaluated 52 slicing tomato varieties with potential for the direct retail market to determine their suitability for southern New England.Many of the varieties were also evaluated in 2009 when the weather was dramatically different.The trial was planted as three replications, and we collected data on yield as well as disease resistance and overall performance.Production Methods: The tomato field had been planted to cucumbers and cabbage in 2009.It was cover cropped with rye and hairy vetch over the winter; the cover crop was incorporated the second week of May.Transplants were produced in the URI greenhouses and planted in the field the last week of May.We used a spacing of 5 ft. between rows and 2 ft within the row.Each variety was represented by 15 plants divided into 3 plots except for BHN 961 with 30 plants in 6 plots and Manitoba with 10 plants in 2 plots.North Country Organics Pro-Gro 5-3-4 fertilizer was banded in the row at a rate of 38 lbs nitrogen/acre.A living mulch of turf-type perennial ryegrass and dwarf white clover was seeded between the rows.Drip irrigation supplied water and fish emulsion fertilizer; plants were trellised using a stake-and-weave system on 7 ft rebar stakes.Weeds were controlled by hand pulling within the rows and by mowing the living mulch.The trial was sprayed with Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki at a rate of 1lb per acre on July 15 to control tomato hornworm.Several applications of Deer-Off were made to the edges of the trial to repel voles and woodchucks.Yield: The trial was harvested thrice-weekly from July 7 until August 28, when disease pressure became so great that there was no marketable fruit.Fruit was harvested when fully ripe; total weight and number of fruit were recorded for each plot.Harvest data are presented in table 1. 'Glacier' was the first variety to ripen, followed by 'Matina', 'Taxi', and 'Moskovich'.All varieties continued to yield fruit until the last week of August.'Marglobe', 'Scotia', and 'Orange Blossom' had the highest yield, while 'Hillbilly Potato Leaf' and 'Striped German' yielded the least.Fruit size ranged from 1.5 ounces for P20-3-1 to 15 ounces for 'Brandywine Pink' and 'Striped German'.In addition to the lowest yield, 'Striped German' and 'Hillbilly Potato Leaf' had the fewest fruit, with 37 and 38 respectively.'Bonito Ojo' produced the most fruit, 879, followed by 'P20-3-1' with 600.The trial included 14 small-fruited varieties (average fruit weight < 4 ounces).Of these 'Bonito Ojo' produced the most fruit by count while 'Scotia' produced the most fruit by weight.Twenty-five varieties had medium-sized fruit averaging 4-8 ounces.'Marglobe' was the highest-producing medium-fruited variety by both count and weight.Twelve varieties produced large to very large fruit averaging 8-16 ounces.'Biltmore' was the top producer in this category.A variety was classified as early-season if the first harvest occurred on or before July 21 and the peak harvest occurred on or before August 16.Of the 16 early-season varieties in the trial 9 had small fruit, 5 had medium fruit, and 2 -Cherokee Purple and Rose -had large fruit.'Scotia' was the most productive by weight while 'Bonito Ojo' produced the most fruit.Mid-season varieties had a first harvest date of July 19-21 with a peak harvest of August 25 or a first harvest of July 22-30 and a peak harvest after August 15.Of the 17 mid-season varieties 4 had small fruit, 10 had medium fruit, and 3 had large fruit.'Marglobe' was the most productive by weight and P20-3-1 produced the most fruit.Late-season varieties had a first harvest after August 1; of the 18 varieties 10 had medium fruit, 7 had large to very Table 1 Variety First Harvest Peak Harvest Yield (lbs.)Fruit No. Fruit Wt. (oz.)

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.