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2017 North Carolina Orange Flesh Melon Cultivar Evaluations

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Horticulture Series # 220

Principle Investigators: Jonathan R. Schultheis, Professor and Vegetable Extension Specialist, Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7609 and Keith D. Starke, Research Associate, Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7609. Disclaimer This publication presents data from the cultivar evaluation trials conducted during 2017. Information in this report is believed to be reliable but should not be relied upon as a sole source of information. Limited accompanying detail is included but excludes some pertinent information, which may aid interpretation. View a pdf copy of the 2017 melon booklet here.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Kathy Herring (Superintendent) and Brandon Poole (Horticulture Crops Supervisor), Central Crops Research Station, Clayton, NC, as well as, the personnel at the research station for their help to  establish, maintain, and harvest the cultivar evaluation trials. We want to also acknowledge the following summer research assistants for their help with the trials: Steven Bajorek, Elizabeth Indemaur, Shannon Dexter, Katherine Phillips, and graduate students, Fernando Montero and Marlee Trandel. The cooperation and support of the following seed companies is also greatly appreciated: DP Seeds, LLC; HM Clause; Hollar Seeds; Nunhems USA, Inc.; Origene Seeds; Rijk Zwaan USA Inc.; Sakata Seed USA; Syngenta Seeds, Inc.; and VoloAgri.

Financial Support

In addition to the seed companies, this program has been supported by the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, the North Carolina Agriculture Research Service, and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. We also want to acknowledge, support for this study was provided by the US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, for the CucCAP Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant under award number 2015-51181-24285.

General Cultural Practices

All melon trials were grown using recommended practices for commercial melon production in North Carolina. All plots in the study used black plastic mulch and were fertigated with drip irrigation. Furthermore, pesticides used on all plots were chemicals labeled for use on that crop, (2017 North Carolina Agricultural Chemicals Manual.

Introduction

The acreage for orange flesh melon production in North Carolina has not been published in recent years, however, it is estimated that 3,000 – 4,000 acres are under production in the state. Furthermore, the most recent report of US orange flesh melon production was in 2013 when US growers reported an increase of 8,300 acres for orange flesh melon production bringing the total orange flesh melon acreage to 74,730. Although, the total value of the 2013 orange flesh melon crop was reported at $319 million, total crop value actually decreased by $6 million from the previous year when the crop was valued at $325 million. Further reporting showed domestic orange flesh melon prices have steadily declined from their peak of .25/lb in 1980 to a season-average of .18/lb in 2013. The majority of melons grown in North Carolina are eastern type with ‘Athena’ being the principle cultivar produced for more than two decades. In addition to the eastern type orange flesh melon, other orange flesh melons being grown on much smaller acreage include Extended Shelf Life (ESL), Long Shelf Life (LSL) melons, often termed Harper melons; and a third type termed Italian (Tuscan) melons. The Extended or Long Shelf Life melons, as the name suggests, will hold for a longer period than the eastern type melons. Flesh firmness and sweetness tend to be higher in the ESL or LSL type melons. Greater flesh firmness allows the fruit to hold up better over time. This trait increases the ship ability, a term often referred to as giving the fruit ‘better legs’. It can be more difficult to determine readiness on LSL melons and this has delayed willingness from growers to move into larger scale production of these melons. More recently, the release of new cultivars with ESL traits have performed well for growers and have received favorable support from consumers. Two such examples would be ‘Accolade’ and ‘Astound’ that were released by Syngenta in 2016. It is reported that these new varieties have taken as much as 30% of the market from ‘Athena’, an Eastern type melon that has dominated the market in the Southeastern production region for more than twenty years. The Italian (Tuscan) type melons tend to split easier than the ESL/LSL or Eastern types and more intense management of the crop harvest may be necessary in order to minimize fruit loss due to splitting. In spite of these weaknesses with ESL/LSL and Italian (Tuscan) type melons, North Carolina growers have had some success in producing and marketing these newer melon types. In 2017 several new cultigens were evaluated in our melon field trial and we had a total of 24 advanced lines or cultivar entries (cultigens) from 9 seed companies. Although Pixie and Tasty Bites are specialty mini-melons they were included in this trial due to their interior orange flesh characteristics. All entries were evaluated for yield, earliness, and various other qualities.

Materials and Methods

In February and March commercial seed companies were contacted to obtain seed for the orange flesh melon cultigen evaluation trial. Seed were sown into 72 cell Poly trays to grow transplants (Hummert Int.; Earth City, MO) on 13 April 2017. The planting medium used was a Fine Germinating Mix, a commercial soilless mix (SunGro, Agawam, MA). In November 2017 the field trial area (0.28 acre) was fumigated with Telone 17 and a cover crop was established. On 23 March the field trial area was plowed using a disc harrow and then cultivated on 27 March. A complete fertilizer (12-6-24 @ 400 lbs/ac) was broadcast applied and black polyethylene plastic mulch (0.70 mil thick high density plastic film, 48 inches wide; B.B. Hobbs, Clinton, NC) was laid in the field on 28 March. Herbicide products, Prefar (6 qt/ac), Curbit (4.5 pt/ac) and Honcho Plus (1.5 pt/ac) were applied to row middles for pre-emergent weed control on 21 April. Orange flesh melon transplants were approximately 3 weeks old when placed in a “hardening” greenhouse for 7 days prior to being established in the field on 2 May. A starter fertilizer was applied at transplant (0.5 lb of 20-20-20, water soluble fertilizer/50 gal H2O). Plot size was one row with 10 plants per plot (20 ft) with in-row spacing of 2 feet and between-row spacing of 5 feet. Field arrangement for the orange flesh melon cultigen trial was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. Plots with missing plants were replanted approximately 7 days after transplanting to achieve 100% stand, in most cases. Drip irrigation was utilized (NETAFIM, 12 inch spacing, 0.24 gal/hr; NETAFIM, Tel Aviv, Israel) throughout the growing season. Fertigation, using 7-0-7 liquid fertilizer, was initiated 15 days after planting applied weekly, thereafter. The first application of liquid fertilizer (2.5 gal) was applied through the drip tube on 17 May and the last application (3.5 gal) was applied 9 August. Fertilizer was applied either preplant or through fertigation in this trial. Total amount of fertilizer applied through fertigation for the season was 41 lbs/ac of N and 41 lbs/ac of K2O. The total amount of fertilizer applied for the entire growing season was 89 lbs/ac of N, 24 lbs/ac of P2O5 and 137 lbs/ac of K2O. Insecticides were applied as needed throughout the growing season beginning 31 May and followed by subsequent applications on 7, 21 and 28 June; 5 and 12 July 2017. The following insecticide products were alternated throughout the season to avoid potential resistance development in insect species; FanFare and PermUp. Similarly, the following fungicide products were applied; Bravo, Endosulfan, Pencozeb, Previcure Flex, Quadris, Quintec and Ranman; and applied on the following dates; 9, 26 and 31 May; 7, 21 and 28 June; 5, 12 and 25 July 2017. There were a total of 13 harvests for the orange flesh melon evaluation trial. The first harvest was 30 June 2017 and the thirteenth harvest was 7 August 2017. Harvests were made three times per week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each fruit was harvested when ripe and weighed. Evaluations of each melon entry included; yield, fruit size, production earliness, soluble solids (using a digital refractometer), fruit shape and size, exterior and interior descriptions (rind, length/ width ratio, and flesh color), and interior flesh firmness. Flesh firmness was measured (recorded in pounds) by using a Penetrometer FT 011 with a 5/16” plunger tip, (QA Supplies LLC, Norfolk, VA). Melon samples were obtained by cutting the center of the fruit, lengthwise, from the fruit’s stem end to blossom end. Pressure measurements were then taken between the interior fruit cavity and the rind (near fruit bottom or ground spot and one from the top of the fruit) on each half of the cut fruit. The reported measures on flesh firmness are an average of the two sample areas from five fruit per plot (for flesh firmness 10 total fruit halves were measured per plot). Most of the quality measurements were taken when the melons became ripe between the first and fourth harvests for a given cultigen. The field and growing conditions throughout the harvest period were normal for this trial. There was average to above average rainfall throughout the month of June and July, as well as, optimal ambient temperatures that allowed for good plant growth and fruit set within all the cultigen plots.

Results

In the early harvests (1-4) entries that yielded over 100 cwt were Accolade, Astound, Athena, Cayucos Beach, HMX4606, ME4858 and Tasty Sherbert. The highest yielding entries based on fruit numbers that exceeded 3,000 fruit per acre for early harvests (1-4) were Astound, Athena, Cayucos Beach, HMX4606 and Tasty Sherbert. The 3 to 7 lb. size category had the highest percentage of fruit produced from the early yielding entries. This is the most desirable and marketable size category for orange flesh melons, however, the entries Pixie and Tasty Bites are orange flesh specialty melons that will consistently produce smaller or more “personal” sized fruit. Despite their smaller size, these two cultivars have orange flesh and were therefore evaluated in the orange flesh culigen trial evaluation conducted in 2017. The highest yielding entries for fruit weight in the mid-season harvests (5-8) were 300 cwt were 8H288, 8H405, 8H423, Durawest and NUN4346 (Table 5). 5 The entries that yielded the highest (>5,000 fruit number) in the mid-season (harvests 5-8) were 8H288, 8H403, 8H405, 8H423, 8H424, Durawest, Infinite Gold, MS4344, NUN7609, NUN26191, Pixie, Tasty Bites and USAMR 50785. Most fruit produced from these entries were between 3 to 7 lbs.; with the exception of Pixie and Tasty Bites which, had 61 and 58% of their fruit in the < 3 lb. size category, respectively. Fruit in the < 3 lb. category would ordinarily be culled, however, Pixie and Tasty Bites are smaller melons that are being marketed as ‘personal’ size and ‘single’ serving melons. Some of the latest yield in (harvests 9-13) melon entries > 150 cwt were 8H300, 8H312, Cayucos Beach, HMX4606, Infinite Gold, NUN26191, Tasty Bites, USAMR 50785and USAMR 50786. Average fruit size for these entries were 5.1, 5.7, 4.9, 3.8, 5.3, 4.0, 3.4, 4.6 and 4.0. The highest yielding entries across all harvests, in terms of tonnage (> 450 cwt) were 8H288, 8H300,8H312, 8H405, 8H423, Accolade, Astound, Cayucos Beach, Infinite Gold, NUN4346, Tasty Sherbert and USAMR 50785. The melon entries that produced the greatest number of fruit (> 9,000) across all harvests were 8H300, 8H403, 8H405, 8H423, 8H424, Accolade, Astound, Athena, Cayucos Beach, HMX4606, NUN26191, Pixie, Tasty Bites, Tasty Sherbert and USAMR 50785.


Figure 1. Orange Flesh melon photographs pages 4 – 14. Replicated cultivars. Clayton, NC 2017. View images of each melon variety in the PDF booklet.

Trial entries and Seed Companies

Cultivar

Company

8H288 Origene
8H300 Origene
8H312 Origene
8H403 Origene
8H405 Origene
8H423 Origene
8H424 Origene
Accolade Syngenta
Astound Syngenta
Athena Syngenta
Cayucos Beach Rijk Zwaan
Durawest Bayer CropScience
HMX4606 HM Clause
Infinite Gold Sakata
ME4858 Syngenta
MS4344 (Sweet Sunrise) Syngenta
NUN4246 Bayer CropScience
NUN7609 Bayer CropScience
NUN26191 Bayer CropScience
Pixie Hollar Seeds
Tasty Bites DP Seeds
Tasty Sherbert DP Seeds
USAMR 50785 US Agriseeds
USAMR 50786 US Agriseeds

Table 1. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields, Fruit weight, (x 100), per acre for early¹ season harvests 1 – 4. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Totals2

Avg Wt.3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 13 13 6.0
8H300 7 7 6.7
8H312 7 7 6.0
8H403 11 45 56 4.1
8H405 7 7 6.6
8H423 14 14 4.2
8H424
Accolade 5 92 17 114 4.6
Astound 6 171 177 5.0
Athena 24 122 16 162 5.4
Cayucos Beach 5 177 24 206 5.2
Durawest 6 6 5.4
HMX4606 14 169 8 192 4.4
Infinite Gold 5 5 4.8
ME4858 18 74 25 118 5.0
MS4344
NUN4346 15 18 34 4.6
NUN7609
NUN26191 7 4 11 3.7
Pixie 29 16 45 3.4
Tasty Bites 2 2
Tasty Sherbert 8 156 8 171 5.0
USAMR 50785
USAMR 50786
Average 12 61 17 71 5.0
LSD (0.05) 25 58 38 53 1.8

¹ Early harvests (1-4) : 30 June – 7 July (60 – 67 days after planting).
² Totals include all fruit size categories and is rounded to the nearest whole number.
³ Average fruit weights were determined using total weights and numbers from respective harvests.

Table 2. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields, Fruit number per acre for early¹ season harvests 1-4. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Totals ²

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 218 218
8H300 109 109
8H312 109 109
8H403 436 1089 1525
8H405 109 109
8H423 327 327
8H424
Accolade 218 2069 218 2505
Astound 218 3485 3703
Athena 980 2178 218 3376
Cayucos Beach 218 3485 327 4030
Durawest 109 109
HMX4606 653 3812 109 4574
Infinite Gold 109 109
ME4858 871 1525 327 2723
MS4344
NUN4346 327 218 545
NUN7609
NUN26191 327 109 436
Pixie 1307 436 1743
Tasty Bites 109 109
Tasty Sherbert 109 3049 109 3267
USAMR 50785
USAMR 50786
Average 495 1259 218 1559
LSD (0.05) 1067 1155 489 1258

¹ Early harvests (1-4) : 30 June – 7 July (60 – 67 days after planting).
² Totals include all fruit size categories.
** Each number for fruit size category and total is rounded to the nearest whole number**.

Table 3. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields; Percent¹ fruit weight per indicated size category – Early Season harvests 1-4. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 100
8H300 100
8H312 100
8H403 19 81
8H405 100
8H423 100
8H424
Accolade 5 80 15
Astound 3 97
Athena 15 75 10
Cayucos Beach 2 86 12
Durawest 100
HMX4606 7 88 4
Infinite Gold 100
ME4858 15 63 22
MS4344
NUN4346 45 55
NUN7609
NUN26191 63 37
Pixie 65 35
Tasty Bites 100
Tasty Sherbert 95 5
USAMR 50785
USAMR 50786
Average 29 82 18

¹ Percentages for each fruit size category for each cultivar were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Table 4. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields; Percent¹ fruit number per indicated size category – Early Season harvests 1-4. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 100
8H300 100
8H312 100
8H403 29 71
8H405 100
8H423 100
8H424
Accolade 9 83 9
Astound 6 94
Athena 29 65 6
Cayucos Beach 5 86 8
Durawest 100
HMX4606 14 83 2
Infinite Gold 100
ME4858 32 56 12
MS4344
NUN4346 60 40
NUN7609
NUN26191 75 25
Pixie 75 25
Tasty Bites 100
Tasty Sherbert 3 93 3
USAMR 50785
USAMR 50786
Average 34 80 11

¹ Percentages for each fruit size category for each cultivar were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Table 5. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields, Fruit weight, (x 100), per acre for mid¹ season harvests 5 – 8. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Totals2

Avg Wt.3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 2 252 81 335 5.3
8H300 164 101 265 6.0
8H312 52 218 270 6.0
8H403 4 166 201 4.0
8H405 5 282 68 355 5.4
8H423 3 251 65 320 5.1
8H424 10 249 259 4.1
Accolade 6 190 41 236 4.7
Astound 2 195 59 256 5.5
Athena 4 114 25 144 4.7
Cayucos Beach 5 84 24 112 4.9
Durawest 3 307 59 369 5.4
HMX4606 9 78 87 4.2
Infinite Gold 291 291 5.3
ME4858 149 25 175 5.3
MS4344 22 202 8 231 5.0
NUN4346 3 89 244 336 5.5
NUN7609 11 236 16 263 5.1
NUN26191 23 154 177 3.8
Pixie 151 95 245 3.3
Tasty Bites 156 112 268 3.3
Tasty Sherbert 14 159 173 5.0
USAMR 50785 9 266 275 4.9
USAMR 50786 17 164 181 4.1
Average 23 179 74 243 4.8
LSD (0.05) 38 75 75 86 0.8

¹ Mid harvests (5-8) : 10 July – 17 July (70 – 77 days after planting).
² Totals include all fruit size categories and is rounded to the nearest whole number.
³ Average fruit weights were determined using total cumulative weights and numbers from respective harvests.

Table 6. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields, Fruit number per acre for mid¹ season harvests 5 – 8. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Totals ²

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 109 4683 980 5772
8H300 2831 1307 4138
8H312 871 2723 3594
8H403 1416 4138 5554
8H405 218 5227 871 6316
8H423 109 4901 871 5881
8H424 436 6098 6534
Accolade 327 4029 545 4901
Astound 109 3594 762 4465
Athena 218 2396 327 2940
Cayucos Beach 218 1634 327 2178
Durawest 109 5663 762 6534
HMX4606 327 1851 2178
Infinite Gold 5445 5445
ME4858 2831 327 3158
MS4344 871 4029 109 5009
NUN4346 109 1634 2940 4683
NUN7609 436 4683 218 5336
NUN26191 980 4029 5009
Pixie 6534 2831 9365
Tasty Bites 6643 3376 10019
Tasty Sherbert 545 3267 3812
USAMR 50785 327 5445 5772
USAMR 50786 653 4029 4683
Average 1035 3730 934 5137
LSD (0.05) 1574 1565 964 1915

¹ Mid harvests (5-8) : 10 July – 17 July (70 – 77 days after planting).
² Totals include all fruit size categories.
** Each number for fruit size category and total is rounded to the nearest whole number.**

Table 7. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields; Percent¹ fruit weight per indicated size category – Mid Season harvests 5-8. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 1 75 24
8H300 62 38
8H312 19 81
8H403 17 83
8H405 1 79 19
8H423 1 79 20
8H424 4 96
Accolade 2 80 17
Astound 1 76 23
Athena 3 80 18
Cayucos Beach 4 75 21
Durawest 1 83 16
HMX4606 11 89
Infinite Gold 100
ME4858 85 15
MS4344 9 87 3
NUN4346 1 27 72
NUN7609 4 90 6
NUN26191 13 87
Pixie 61 39
Tasty Bites 58 42
Tasty Sherbert 8 92
USAMR 50785 3 97
USAMR 50786 9 91
Average 11 76 27

¹ Percentages for each fruit size category and for each cultivar were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Table 8. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields; Percent¹ fruit number per indicated size category – Mid Season harvest 5-8. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 2 81 17
8H300 68 32
8H312 24 76
8H403 25 75
8H405 3 83 14
8H423 2 83 15
8H424 7 93
Accolade 7 82 11
Astound 2 80 17
Athena 7 81 11
Cayucos Beach 10 75 15
Durawest 2 87 12
HMX4606 15 85
Infinite Gold 100
ME4858 90 10
MS4344 17 80 2
NUN4346 2 35 63
NUN7609 8 88 4
NUN26191 20 80
Pixie 70 30
Tasty Bites 66 34
Tasty Sherbert 14 86
USAMR 50785 6 94
USAMR 50786 14 86
Average 15 75 21

¹ Percentages for each fruit size category for each cultivar were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Table 9. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields, Fruit weight, (x 100), per acre for late¹ season harvests 9 – 13. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Totals2

Avg Wt.3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

Cultivar
8H288
52 63 114 5.3
8H300 3 208 57 268 5.1
8H312 90 99 189 5.7
8H403 18 119 137 4.4
8H405 2 82 17 101 4.9
8H423 11 93 16 120 4.5
8H424 30 102 133 4.1
Accolade 6 107 16 129 5.2
Astound 8 111 10 129 5.2
Athena 5 111 16 132 5.1
Cayucos Beach 144 16 160 4.9
Durawest 41 8 49 5.5
HMX4606 28 134 162 3.8
Infinite Gold 6 146 8 159 5.3
ME4858 4 81 49 135 5.3
MS4344 3 81 9 93 5.0
NUN4346 2 67 63 132 5.5
NUN7609 3 60 63 4.3
NUN26191 7 208 216 4.0
Pixie 68 73 141 3.5
Tasty Bites 76 91 168 3.4
Tasty Sherbert 6 113 119 5.2
USAMR 50785 5 196 9 209 4.6
USAMR 50786 9 147 156 4.0
Average 15 111 30 142 4.7
LSD (0.05) 18 75 52 86 1.1

¹ Late harvests (9-13) : 21 July – 7 August ( 81 – 96 days after planting).
² Cumulative total includes all fruit size categories.
³ Average fruit weights were determined using total weights and numbers from respective harvests.

Table 10. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields, Fruit number per acre for late¹season harvests 9 – 13. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Totals ²

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 980 762 1742
8H300 109 4138 762 5009
8H312 1634 1198 2831
8H403 762 2723 3485
8H405 109 1742 218 2069
8H423 545 2069 218 2831
8H424 1307 2505 3812
Accolade 218 2069 218 2505
Astound 327 2178 109 2614
Athena 218 2287 218 2723
Cayucos Beach 3049 218 3267
Durawest 762 109 871
HMX4606 1089 3485 4574
Infinite Gold 218 2723 109 3049
ME4858 218 1525 653 2396
MS4344 218 1634 109 1960
NUN4346 109 1198 762 2069
NUN7609 109 1307 1416
NUN26191 436 5118 5554
Pixie 2831 2069 4901
Tasty Bites 3158 2614 5772
Tasty Sherbert 327 2178 2505
USAMR 50785 218 4247 109 4574
USAMR 50786 327 3703 4029
Average 643 2414 385 3190
LSD (0.05) 778 1739 664 1874

¹ Late harvests (9-13) : 21 July – 7 August ( 81 – 96 days after planting).
² Cumulative total includes all fruit size categories.
* Data entered as zeros were not included in statistical analysis.
** Each number for fruit size category and total is rounded to the nearest whole number.**

Table 11. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields; Percent¹ fruit weight per indicated size category – Late Season harvests 9-13. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 45 55
8H300 1 77 21
8H312 48 52
8H403 13 87
8H405 2 81 16
8H423 9 77 14
8H424 23 77
Accolade 5 83 12
Astound 6 86 8
Athena 3 84 12
Cayucos Beach 90 10
Durawest 84 16
HMX4606 17 83
Infinite Gold 4 91 5
ME4858 3 60 37
MS4344 3 87 10
NUN4346 1 51 48
NUN7609 4 96
NUN26191 3 97
Pixie 48 52
Tasty Bites 46 54
Tasty Sherbert 5 95
USAMR 50785 2 94 4
USAMR 50786 6 94
Average 10 78 21

¹ Percentages for each fruit size category for each cultivar were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Table 12. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields; Percent¹ fruit number per indicated size category; Late Season harvests 9-13. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 56 44
8H300 2 83 15
8H312 58 42
8H403 22 78
8H405 5 84 11
8H423 19 73 8
8H424 34 66
Accolade 9 83 9
Astound 13 83 4
Athena 8 84 8
Cayucos Beach 93 7
Durawest 88 13
HMX4606 24 76
Infinite Gold 7 89 4
ME4858 9 64 27
MS4344 11 83 6
NUN4346 5 58 37
NUN7609 8 92
NUN26191 8 92
Pixie 58 42
Tasty Bites 55 45
Tasty Sherbert 13 87
USAMR 50785 5 93 2
USAMR 50786 8 92
Average 16 77 16

¹ Percentages for each fruit size category for each cultivar were rounded to the  nearest whole number.

Table 13. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields¹, Fruit weight, (x 100), per acre across all 13 harvests. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Totals2

Avg Wt.3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 2 316 144 463 5.4
8H300 3 380 158 541 5.4
8H312 149 317 457 5.8
8H403 63 330 394 4.1
8H405 7 372 85 464 5.2
8H423 14 358 82 453 4.9
8H424 40 352 392 4.1
Accolade 17 388 74 479 4.7
Astound 16 477 69 562 5.2
Athena 33 347 57 437 5.1
Cayucos Beach 10 405 64 478 5.0
Durawest 3 354 67 424 5.4
HMX4606 51 381 8 441 4.2
Infinite Gold 6 442 8 455 5.3
ME4858 22 304 100 427 5.2
MS4344 24 283 17 324 4.9
NUN4346 5 172 325 502 5.5
NUN7609 14 296 16 326 5.0
NUN26191 37 367 404 3.9
Pixie 247 183 431 3.4
Tasty Bites 235 203 438 3.3
Tasty Sherbert 21 428 8 457 5.0
USAMR 50785 13 463 9 485 4.8
USAMR 50786 25 312 337 4.0
Average 40 336 89 440 4.8
LSD (0.05) 36 103 75 78 0.5

¹ Melons were harvested 3 times per week.
² Totals include all fruit size categories.
³ Average fruit weights were determined using total cumulative weights and numbers from
respective harvests.
** Each number for fruit size category and total is rounded to the nearest whole number.**

Table 14. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields¹, Fruit number per acre across all 13 harvests. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Totals ²

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 109 5881 1742 7732
8H300 109 7079 2069 9257
8H312 2614 3920 6534
8H403 2614 7950 10563
8H405 327 7079 1089 8494
8H423 653 7296 1089 9039
8H424 1742 8603 10346
Accolade 762 8168 980 9910
Astound 653 9257 871 10781
Athena 1416 6861 762 9039
Cayucos Beach 436 8168 871 9474
Durawest 109 6534 871 7514
HMX4606 2069 9148 109 11326
Infinite Gold 218 8276 109 8603
ME4858 1089 5881 1307 8276
MS4344 1089 5663 218 6970
NUN4346 218 3158 3920 7296
NUN7609 545 5990 218 6752
NUN26191 1742 9257 10999
Pixie 10672 5336 16008
Tasty Bites 9910 5990 15899
Tasty Sherbert 980 8494 109 9583
USAMR 50785 545 9692 109 10346
USAMR 50786 980 7732 8712
Average 1695 7088 1131 9561
LSD (0.05) 1524 2195 971 1590

¹ Melons were routinely harvested 3 times per week.
² Totals include all fruit size categories.
** Each number for fruit size category and cumulative total is rounded to the nearest whole number.***

Table 15. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields; Percent¹ fruit weight per indicated size category – Cumulative harvests 1-13. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 1 68 31
8H300 1 70 29
8H312 32 68
8H403 16 84
8H405 2 80 18
8H423 3 79 18
8H424 10 90
Accolade 4 81 15
Astound 3 85 12
Athena 8 79 13
Cayucos Beach 2 85 13
Durawest 1 84 16
HMX4606 12 87 2
Infinite Gold 1 97 2
ME4858 5 71 23
MS4344 7 87 5
NUN4346 1 34 65
NUN7609 4 91 5
NUN26191 9 91
Pixie 57 43
Tasty Bites 54 46
Tasty Sherbert 5 94 2
USAMR 50785 3 95 2
USAMR 50786 7 93
Average 9 77 19

¹ Percentages for each fruit size category for each cultivar were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Table 16. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial yields; Percent¹ fruit number per indicated size category – Cumulative harvests 1-13. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

≥7.1 lb

8H288 1 76 23
8H300 1 76 22
8H312 40 60
8H403 25 75
8H405 4 83 13
8H423 7 81 12
8H424 17 83
Accolade 8 82 10
Astound 6 86 8
Athena 16 76 8
Cayucos Beach 5 86 9
Durawest 1 87 12
HMX4606 18 81 1
Infinite Gold 3 96 1
ME4858 13 71 16
MS4344 16 81 3
NUN4346 3 43 54
NUN7609 8 89 3
NUN26191 16 84
Pixie 67 33
Tasty Bites 62 38
Tasty Sherbert 10 89 1
USAMR 50785 5 94 1
USAMR 50786 11 89
Average 14 76 14

¹ Percentages for each fruit size category for each cultivar were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Table 17. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial; percentage of fruit weight harvested among varying harvest intervals. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Early Harvests¹

Mid Harvests²

Late Harvests³

8H288 3 72 25
8H300 1 49 50
8H312 1 58 41
8H403 14 51 35
8H405 2 77 22
8H423 3 71 26
8H424 66 34
Accolade 24 49 27
Astound 31 46 23
Athena 37 33 30
Cayucos Beach 43 24 33
Durawest 1 87 12
HMX4606 44 20 37
Infinite Gold 1 64 35
ME4858 28 41 32
MS4344 71 29
NUN4346 7 67 26
NUN7609 81 19
NUN26191 3 44 53
Pixie 10 57 33
Tasty Bites 1 61 38
Tasty Sherbert 36 38 26
USAMR 50785 57 43
USAMR 50786 54 46
Average 15 56 32

¹ Early harvests (1-4) : 30 June – 7 July (60 – 67 days after planting).
² Mid harvests (5-8) : 10 July – 17 July (70 – 77 days after planting).
³ Late harvests (9-13) : 21 July – 7 August (81 – 96 days after planting).

Table 18. Orange flesh melon cultigen trial; percentage of fruit number harvested among varying harvest intervals. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

Early Harvests1

Mid Harvests2

Late Harvests3

8H288 3 75 23
8H300 1 45 54
8H312 2 55 43
8H403 14 53 33
8H405 1 74 24
8H423 4 65 31
8H424 63 37
Accolade 25 49 25
Astound 34 41 24
Athena 37 33 30
Cayucos Beach 43 23 34
Durawest 1 87 12
HMX4606 40 19 40
Infinite Gold 1 63 35
ME4858 33 38 29
MS4344 72 28
NUN4346 7 64 28
NUN7609 79 21
NUN26191 4 46 50
Pixie 11 59 31
Tasty Bites 1 63 36
Tasty Sherbert 34 40 26
USAMR 50785 56 44
USAMR 50786 54 46
Average 16 55 33

¹ Early harvests (1-4) : 15 – 25 July (52 – 62 days after planting).
² Mid harvests (5-8) : 27 July – 5 August (64 – 73 days after planting).
³ Late harvests (9-13) : 8 – 22 August (76 – 93 days after planting).

Table 19.1 Orange flesh melon hybrid cultivar trial. Descriptive characteristics and interior fruit quality. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

SS2

Sutures3

Netting Density4

Netting Type5

Stem Scar6

Stem Splitting7

8H288 8.9 1.0 2.5 2.5 1.5 2.0
8H300 11.6 3.5 3.5 3.0
8H312 10.8 3.5 3.5 3.0
8H403 11.5 1.1 2.5 2.0
8H405 9.8 1.0 2.5 3.0 1.5 2.0
8H423 12.2 3.0 2.5 3.0
8H424 13.5 1.3 3.0 2.0
Accolade 12.2 2.0 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.0
Astound 12.0 1.5 2.5 2.0 2.0 1.5
Athena 11.6 1.5 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.0
Cayucos Beach 12.0 1.3 3.0 2.5 2.5 1.5
Durawest 13.2 1.3 2.5 2.5
HMX4606 14.3 3.0 2.5 3.0
Infinite Gold 13.1 1.3 2.5 2.0
ME4858 12.2 1.5 3.0 2.5 1.2 1.5
MS4344 (Sweet Sunrise) 13.5 1.1 2.5 2.0
NUN4246 11.3 1.1 3.0 2.5 2.0 2.0
NUN7609 13.2 1.3 3.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
NUN26191 11.9 1.0 2.0 1.5
Pixie 13.4 1.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0
Tasty Bites 13.8 1.1 2.5 3.0 2.5 1.0
Tasty Sherbert 11.9 3.5 3.5 2.5
USAMR 50785 13.3 1.1 3.0 2.0
USAMR 50786 12.3 1.0 2.5 1.7
Average 12.2 1.7 2.7 2.3 2.0 1.7
LSD (0.05) 1.2 NA NA NA NA NA

1 Most measurements were obtained from fruits in harvests 2-6.
2 SS = Indicates sw eetness, average of 5 melons per replication (20 total).
3 Sutures: 1 = none, 3=moderate, 5 = deep.
4 Netting Density: 1=none, 5=dense.
5 Netting Type: 1 = fine, 5 =thick ropy.
6 Stem Scar: 1 = small, 3=medium, 5 = large (unattractive).
7  Stem Splitting: 1= none, 5 = extensive (unmarketable).

Table 19.2 Orange flesh melon hybrid cultivar trial. Descriptive characteristics and interior fruit quality. Clayton, NC, 2017.

Cultivar

LD8

Flesh Color9

Flesh Firmness10

Cavity11

Type12

Foliage Cover13

8H288 1.2 3.4 2.5 2.0 E 6.6
8H300 1.1 4.0 4.4 1.5 T 8.0
8H312 1.2 3.9 4.4 1.5 T 8.1
8H403 1.2 4.4 4.3 1.0 LSL 7.3
8H405 1.2 3.5 2.2 1.0 E 7.0
8H423 1.1 3.9 4.6 1.0 T 7.8
8H424 1.0 5.0 4.1 1.0 LSL 7.5
Accolade 1.1 2.8 4.5 3.0 ESL 7.0
Astound 1.1 3.3 4.3 2.5 ESL 7.1
Athena 1.1 3.0 3.4 3.0 ESL 7.1
Cayucos Beach 1.1 3.3 3.8 1.5 ESL 7.5
Durawest 1.1 3.0 4.6 1.5 LSL 7.4
HMX4606 1.1 3.6 4.0 1.0 T 7.0
Infinite Gold 1.1 3.0 3.3 1.5 LSL 7.1
ME4858 1.1 3.3 4.0 2.5 ESL 6.8
MS4344 (Sweet Sunrise) 1.1 3.1 3.4 2.5 LSL 7.3
NUN4246 1.1 3.0 3.5 1.0 ESL 7.4
NUN7609 1.1 3.5 3.3 2.0 ESL 8.3
NUN26191 1.1 4.0 4.5 1.0 LSL 8.5
Pixie 1.0 2.8 3.2 1.0 E 8.0
Tasty Bites 1.0 3.1 3.4 2.5 E 8.8
Tasty Sherbert 1.0 3.1 3.4 3.5 T 6.8
USAMR 50785 1.1 3.0 3.7 1.5 LSL 7.9
USAMR 50786 1.1 3.3 5.3 1.5 LSL 7.3
Average 1.1 3.4 3.8 1.8 NA 7.5
LSD (0.05) 0.04 0.4 1.0 NA NA 0.7

8 LD = Length and diameter ratio, average of 5 melons per replication.
9 Flesh color: 1 = pale orange, 5 = deep orange.
NA = data not available
10 Flesh Firmness is represented in pounds.
11 Cavity: 1=small, 3=medium, 5=large
12 Type: E= Eastern Shipper, ESL = Extended Shelflife, LSL = Long Shelflife, T = Tuscan.
13Foliage cover: 1 = no fruit covered. 5 = all fruit covered (lush).
NA = data not available

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