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2019 North Carolina Orange Flesh and Specialty Melon Cultigen Evaluations

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Central Crops Research Station, Clayton, NC
Hort. Series #234

Jonathan R. Schultheis, Professor and Vegetable Extension Specialist and Keith D. Starke, Research Associate, Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7609

Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Cathy Herring (Superintendent) and Charles Barrow (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 cultigen evaluation trials. We want to also acknowledge the following summer research assistants for their help with the study: Maxton Collins, Benjamin Indermaur, Ryan Jarrett, Kimberly McAllister, Tanner Seay and Emma Westbrook.

The cooperation and support of the following seed companies and university is also greatly appreciated: HM Clause; Rjik Zwaan; Sakata Seed USA; Seminis; Syngenta Seeds, Inc,; Texas A&M University; United Genetics and VoloAgri/US Agriseeds.

We want to acknowledge support for this study was provided by the National Center of Excellence for Melon at the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center of Texas A&M University through the following grant project: USDA-NIFA-SCRI-2017-51181-26834. We also want to acknowledge support for this study was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, for the CucCAP Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant under award number 2015-51181-24285. View the pdf version of the 2019 NC State orange flesh melon cultigen evaluations.

General Cultural Practices

This melon study was 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.

Disclaimer

This publication presents data from the cultigen evaluation study conducted during 2019. 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.

Introduction

The acreage for melon production in North Carolina has not been published in recent years, however, it is estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 acres are produced in the state. In 2017 a survey of US growers estimated orange flesh melon production was 58,000 acres (USDA, National Agriculture Statistics Service). Since 2013, the US orange flesh melon crop has seen significant decreases in acreage (2013, 74,000 acres valued at 319 million) to 2017 when US acreage was reported to be 58,000 with a total crop value of 267 million. Further reporting showed domestic orange flesh melon prices have steadily declined from their peak of 0.25/lb in 1980 to a season-average of 0.15/lb in 2018 (USDA, National Agriculture Statistics Service). 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 shipper 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 ESL or LSL 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 than in eastern type melons. Greater flesh firmness allows the fruit to hold up better over time. This trait increases the shipability, 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 in part to move into larger scale production of these melons. More recently, the release of new cultigens 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 cultivars comprise as much as 30% of the market, taking some market share from ‘Athena’. 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 challenges with ESL/LSL and Italian (Tuscan) type melons, North Carolina growers have had some success in producing and marketing these newer melon types. In 2019 several new cultigens were evaluated in our melon field study that included 18 advanced lines or cultivar entries (cultigens) from 8 seed companies and 1 University. All entries were evaluated for yields, 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 study.Seed were sown into 72 cell Poly trays to grow transplants (Hummert Int.; Earth City, MO) on 29 March 2019. The planting medium used was a Fine Germinating Mix, a commercial soilless mix (SunGro, Agawam, MA). In October 2018 the field study area (0.28 acre) was fumigated with Telone C-17 at 10 gal/acre and a cover crop was established. Based on soil test results lime was applied at 500 lbs/acre to adjust soil pH on 20 March 2019.
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 24 April. Herbicide products, Prefar (5 qt/ac), Sonolan (4 pt/ac) and Honcho Plus (1 pt/ac)were applied to row middles for pre-emergent weed control on 30 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.
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 study was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications.Plots that were 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 with 4-0-8 liquid fertilizer was initiated 6 days after planting and applied weekly, thereafter. The first application of liquid fertilizer (3 gal) was applied through the drip tube on 8 May and the last application (2 gal) was applied 17 July. Fertilizer was applied either preplant or through fertigation in this study. Total amount of fertilizer applied through fertigation for the season was 79 lbs/ac of N and 158 lbs/ac of K2O. The total amount of fertilizer applied for the entire growing season was 127 lbs/ac of N, 24 lbs/ac of P2O5 and 254 lbs/ac of K2O.
Insecticides were applied as needed throughout the growing season beginning 10 May and followed by subsequent applications on 29 May; 6, 12, 19 and 26 June 2019. The following insecticide products were alternated throughout the season to avoid potential resistance development in insect species; Asana, Assail and FanFare. Similarly, the following fungicide products were applied; Previcur Flex Pristine, Procure, Proline, Ranman, Switch and Zampro; and applied on the following dates; 29 May; 6, 12, 19, and 26 June; 10 and 17 July 2019.
There were 14 total harvests of the orange flesh melon cultigens. The first harvest was 24 June 2019 and the fourteenth harvest was 26 July 2019. Harvests occurred three times per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Evaluations of each melon entry included; yield, fruit size, production earliness, soluble solids (using a digital refractometer, Atago, Vernon Hills, IL), fruit shape and size 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 through the ground spot of the fruit, lengthwise, from the fruit’s stem end to blossom end. Flesh firmness (measured in pressure) measurements were taken between the interior fruit cavity and the rind (near fruit bottom or ground spot and one from the top of the fruit) on one-half of the cut fruit.The reported measures on flesh firmness are an average of the two sample areas from five fruit per plot (10 total fruit firmness measures were obtained per plot).The majority of quality measurements were taken when the melonsbecame ripe between the first and fourth harvests for a given cultigen.
The field and growing conditions throughout the harvest period were considered typical for eastern North Carolina. Rainfall for the season was above average rainfall throughout the season. Optimal ambient temperatures allowed for good plant growth and fruit set within all the cultigen plots. This study was established in the field nearly 3 weeks earlier than in 2018. Eleven entries included in the study were submitted from Texas A&M. Those cultigens were Davinci, F39, HD 150, HD 252, Infinite Gold, OC 164, TH2, TH3, TH4, TH5 and TH6. Fruits from these cultigens were shipped to Texas and Arizona to be evaluated as part of a food safety and soil borne pathogen evaluation study. HD 150 and HD 252 are honeydew melons, SFR3079 and SFR3083 are specialty melons, OC 164 is an orange casaba melon, while the other thirteen entries were orange flesh melons.

Results

In the early harvests (1-4), entries that yielded over 100 cwt per acre were Athena, HMX 4606, SFR 3079, and SFR 3083 (Table 1). The highest yielding entries based on fruit numbers that exceeded 2,000 fruit per acre for early harvests (1-4) were Athena, F39, HMX 4606, SFR 3079 and SFR 3083 (Table 2). With the exception of TH2, TH3 and OC 164, the accepted market size category of 3.1 to 7 lbs. had the highest percentage of fruit produced from the early yielding entries. A high percentage (69% and 100%, respectively) of fruit produced by TH2 and TH3 weighed less than 3 lbs. in the early harvest 1-4. Fruit produced by OC 164 all weighed greater than 7.1 lbs and may be acceptable in commercial specialty melon markets.
The highest yielding entries for fruit weight, in the mid-season harvests (5-9), that yielded greater than or equal to 400 cwt per acre were Caribbean Jackpot, HD 150, HD 252, TH3, TH6, USAM 14836 and USAM 16203 (Table 5). The entries that yielded the highest (> 8,000 fruit number) in the mid-season (harvests 5-9) were Caribbean Jackpot, Davinci, Infinite Gold, F39, HD 150, HD 252, TH2, TH3, TH5, TH6, USAM 14836, and USAM 16203 (Table 6). Most fruits produced from these entries were between 3.1 to 7 lbs., with the exception of SFR3079, which produced fruits ≤, 3 lbs. (Tables 7 & 8). Orange fleshfruits that weigh ≤ 3 lbs. would ordinarily be culled in eastern US markets, however, other markets in the US sell smaller sized fruits. Smaller sized white flesh specialty melons may be acceptable in these alternative markets.
Some of the latest yielding (harvests 10-14) melon entries that exceeded 75 cwt per acre were SFR 3083 and TH2. (Table 9). These were likely fruit that reset after the initial earlier harvests. Average fruit size for these entries were 3.4 and 3.5 lbs., respectively. (Table 9).Davinci, F39, and SFR 3079 produced fruits that weighed mostly ≤ 3 lbs. andOC164 yielded fruits that weighed mostly above 7.1 lbs. (Table 11).
The highest yielding entries across all harvests, in terms of tonnage (≥ 475 cwt/acre) were Athena, Caribbean Jackpot, HD 252, SFR 3079, TH2, TH3, USAM 14836, and USAM 16203 (Table 13). The melon entries that produced the greatest number of fruit per acre (> 12,000) across all harvests were Davinci, F39, SFR3079, SFR3083, TH2, TH3, and TH6 (Table 14).

Other 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.

Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study Clayton, NC, 2019.

 Cultigen

 Company
ATHENA Syngenta(Control)
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT Rijk Zwaan
DAVINCI* Sakata (Texas A & M)
INFINITE GOLD* Sakata (Texas A & M)
F39 Texas A & M
HD 150 Texas A & M
HD 252 Texas A & M
HMX 4606 HM Clause
OC 164 Texas A & M
SFR3079 United Genetics
SFR3083 United Genetics
TH2 Texas A & M
TH3 Texas A & M
TH4 Texas A & M
TH5 Texas A & M
TH6 Texas A & M
USAM 14836 VoloAgri
USAM 16203 VoloAgri
Figure 1. Photographs of orange flesh and specialty melons from replicated entries on pages 4 – 12 of the pdf document. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Table 1. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields, Fruit weight, (x 100), per acre for early¹ season harvests 1-4. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

Totals 2

Avg. Wt.3

 ≤ 3.0 lb

 3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 9 155 0 164 5.1
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 0 0 0 0.0
DAVINCI 3 4 0 7 3.1
INFINITE GOLD 0 18 0 18 4.2
F39 31 52 0 83 3.1
HD 150 0 6 0 6 5.8
HD 252 0 0 0 0 0.0
HMX 4606 27 255 0 282 3.8
OC 164 0 0 18 18 8.1
SFR3079 116 194 0 310 3.1
SFR3083 70 240 0 310 3.5
TH2 20 9 0 29 2.9
TH3 3 0 0 3 2.6
TH4 6 8 0 14 3.3
TH5 17 15 0 32 2.8
TH6 13 12 0 24 3.2
USAM 14836 6 9 0 15 3.3
USAM 16203 0 13 9 21 6.6
Average 18 55 1 74 4
LSD (0.05) 26 50 27 54 1.3
1 Early harvests (1-4) : 24 June – 1 July (53 – 60 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 and specialty melon cultigen study yields, Fruit number per acre for early¹ season harvests 1-4. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category2

Totals3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 327 3049 0 3376
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 0 0 0
DAVINCI 109 109 0 218
INFINITE GOLD 0 436 0 436
F39 1307 1307 0 2614
HD 150 0 109 0 109
HD 252 0 0 0 0
HMX 4606 1198 6207 0 7405
OC 164 0 0 218 218
SFR3079 4792 5336 0 10128
SFR3083 2940 5881 0 8821
TH2 980 218 0 1198
TH3 109 0 0 109
TH4 218 218 0 436
TH5 762 436 0 1198
TH6 545 327 0 871
USAM 14836 218 218 0 436
USAM 16203 0 218 109 327
Average 750 1337 18 2106
LSD (0.05) 1172 1149 347 1500

1 Early harvests (1-4) : 24 June – 1 July (53 – 60 days after planting).
2 Each number for fruit size category and total is rounded to the nearest whole number
3 Totals include all fruit size categories.

Table 3. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields; Percent¹ fruit weight per indicated size category – early season harvests 1-4. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 5 95 0
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 0 0
DAVINCI 41 59 0
INFINITE GOLD 0 100 0
F39 37 63 0
HD 150 0 100 0
HD 252 0 0 0
HMX 4606 10 90 0
OC 164 0 0 100
SFR3079 37 63 0
SFR3083 23 77 0
TH2 69 31 0
TH3 100 0 0
TH4 40 60 0
TH5 53 47 0
TH6 52 48 0
USAM 14836 41 59 0
USAM 16203 0 59 41
Average 28 53 8

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

Table 4. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields; Percent¹ fruit number per indicated size category – early season harvests 1-4. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 10 90 0
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 0 0
DAVINCI 50 50 0
INFINITE GOLD 0 100 0
F39 50 50 0
HD 150 0 100 0
HD 252 0 0 0
HMX 4606 16 84 0
OC 164 0 0 100
SFR3079 47 53 0
SFR3083 33 67 0
TH2 82 18 0
TH3 100 0 0
TH4 50 50 0
TH5 64 36 0
TH6 63 38 0
USAM 14836 50 50 0
USAM 16203 0 67 33
Average 34 47 7

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

Table 5. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields, fruit weight, (x 100), per acre for mid¹ season harvests 5-9. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

Avg. Wt.3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb

Totals 2
ATHENA 7 295 25 327 4.9
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 3 402 58 463 5.0
DAVINCI 78 305 0 383 3.3
INFINITE GOLD 5 380 0 385 4.5
F39 96 166 0 263 3.1
HD 150 25 374 8 407 4.3
HD 252 7 464 0 471 4.8
HMX 4606 24 62 0 86 3.8
OC 164 3 274 100 377 5.8
SFR3079 39 37 0 76 2.9
SFR3083 26 39 0 65 3.2
TH2 85 276 0 361 3.5
TH3 30 407 8 445 3.9
TH4 16 224 0 240 3.9
TH5 40 332 0 372 3.9
TH6 166 234 0 400 2.7
USAM 14836 21 427 0 448 4.3
USAM 16203 4 359 76 439 5.4
Average 38 281 15 334 4
LSD (0.05) 40 73 39 69 0.4

1 Mid harvests (5-9) : 3 July – 12 July (62 – 71 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 and specialty melon cultigen study yields, Fruit number per acre for mid¹ season harvests 5-9. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category2

Totals3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 327 5990 327 6643
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 109 8385 762 9257
DAVINCI 3158 8494 0 11652
INFINITE GOLD 218 8276 0 8494
F39 4138 4356 0 8494
HD 150 1089 8168 109 9365
HD 252 327 9474 0 9801
HMX 4606 980 1307 0 2287
OC 164 109 5118 1307 6534
SFR3079 1634 1089 0 2723
SFR3083 1089 980 0 2069
TH2 3703 6534 0 10237
TH3 1198 9910 109 11217
TH4 653 5445 0 6098
TH5 1634 8059 0 9692
TH6 8930 6098 0 15028
USAM 14836 871 9692 0 10563
USAM 16203 218 6861 980 8059
Average 1688 6346 200 8234
LSD (0.05) 2059 1841 498 2220

1 Early harvests (1-4) : 24 June – 1 July (53 – 60 days after planting).
2 Each number for fruit size category and total is rounded to the nearest whole number
3 Totals include all fruit size categories.

Table 7. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields; Percent¹ fruit weight per indicated size category – mid season harvests 5-9. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 2 90 8
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 1 87 13
DAVINCI 20 80 0
INFINITE GOLD 1 99 0
F39 37 63 0
HD 150 6 92 2
HD 252 1 99 0
HMX 4606 28 72 0
OC 164 1 73 27
SFR3079 51 49 0
SFR3083 40 60 0
TH2 24 76 0
TH3 7 91 2
TH4 7 93 0
TH5 11 89 0
TH6 41 59 0
USAM 14836 5 95 0
USAM 16203 1 82 17
Average 16 81 4

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

Table 8. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields; Percent¹ fruit number per indicated size category – mid season harvests 5-9. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 5 90 5
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 1 91 8
DAVINCI 27 73 0
INFINITE GOLD 3 97 0
F39 49 51 0
HD 150 12 87 1
HD 252 3 97 0
HMX 4606 43 57 0
OC 164 2 78 20
SFR3079 60 40 0
SFR3083 53 47 0
TH2 36 64 0
TH3 11 88 1
TH4 11 89 0
TH5 17 83 0
TH6 59 41 0
USAM 14836 8 92 0
USAM 16203 3 85 12
Average 22 75 3

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

Table 9. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields, Fruit weight, (x 100), per acre for late¹ season harvests 10-14. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

Avg. Wt. 3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb

Totals 2
ATHENA 0 30 0 30 4.6
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 12 0 12 5.1
DAVINCI 15 5 0 19 3.5
INFINITE GOLD 3 46 0 48 4.2
F39 26 12 0 38 2.3
HD 150 9 45 0 54 3.7
HD 252 4 23 17 44 4.6
HMX 4606 17 50 0 66 3.4
OC 164 3 21 34 58 5.3
SFR3079* 127 53 0 181 2.4
SFR3083 24 63 0 87 3.4
TH2 36 70 0 106 3.5
TH3 9 42 0 51 3.8
TH4 11 56 0 67 3.5
TH5 8 30 0 38 3.6
TH6 19 19 0 38 2.6
USAM 14836 3 10 0 13 3.5
USAM 16203 3 24 18 45 5.2
Average 18 34 4 55 3.8
LSD (0.05) 24 42 66 55 1.8

1 Late harvests (10-14) : 15 July – 26 July (74 – 85 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 and specialty melon cultigen study yields, Fruit number per acre for late¹ season harvests 10-14. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category2

Totals3

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 0 653 0 653
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 218 0 218
DAVINCI 545 109 0 653
INFINITE GOLD 109 1089 0 1198
F39 1198 327 0 1525
HD 150 327 1089 0 1416
HD 252 218 436 218 871
HMX 4606 653 1307 0 1960
OC 164 109 545 436 1089
SFR3079 5881 1525 0 7405
SFR3083 980 1634 0 2614
TH2 1525 1851 0 3376
TH3 327 980 0 1307
TH4 436 1416 0 1851
TH5 327 762 0 1089
TH6 871 545 0 1416
USAM 14836 109 218 0 327
USAM 16203 109 436 218 762
Average 762 841 48 1652
LSD (0.05) 1011 1039 833 1448

1 Early harvests (1-4) : 24 June – 1 July (53 – 60 days after planting).
2 Each number for fruit size category and total is rounded to the nearest whole number
3 Totals include all fruit size categories.

Table 11. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields; Percent¹ fruit weight per indicated size category – late season harvests 10-14. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 0 100 0
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 100 0
DAVINCI 77 23 0
INFINITE GOLD 5 95 0
F39 69 31 0
HD 150 17 83 0
HD 252 9 52 39
HMX 4606 25 75 0
OC 164 5 37 58
SFR3079 70 30 0
SFR3083 27 73 0
TH2 34 66 0
TH3 17 83 0
TH4 16 84 0
TH5 21 79 0
TH6 50 50 0
USAM 14836 21 79 0
USAM 16203 6 53 40
Average 26 66 8

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

Table 12. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields; Percent¹ fruit number per indicated size category – late season harvests 10-14. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 0 100 0
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 100 0
DAVINCI 83 17 0
INFINITE GOLD 9 91 0
F39 79 21 0
HD 150 23 77 0
HD 252 25 50 25
HMX 4606 33 67 0
OC 164 10 50 40
SFR3079 79 21 0
SFR3083 38 63 0
TH2 45 55 0
TH3 25 75 0
TH4 24 76 0
TH5 30 70 0
TH6 62 38 0
USAM 14836 33 67 0
USAM 16203 14 57 29
Average 34 61 5

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

Table 13. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields¹, Fruit weight, (x 100), per acre across all 14 harvests. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category2

Avg. Wt.4

 ≤ 3.0 lb

 3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb

 Totals3 
ATHENA 16 480 25 521 4.9
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 3 414 58 475 5.0
DAVINCI 96 313 0 409 3.3
INFINITE GOLD 7 444 0 452 4.5
F39 153 230 0 384 3.0
HD 150 34 425 8 467 4.3
HD 252 11 487 17 515 4.8
HMX 4606 67 367 0 434 3.7
OC 164 6 295 152 453 5.8
SFR3079 283 284 0 567 2.8
SFR3083 120 342 0 461 3.4
TH2 142 355 0 496 3.4
TH3 42 449 8 499 4.0
TH4 32 289 0 321 3.8
TH5 65 377 0 442 3.7
TH6 198 265 0 463 2.7
USAM 14836 30 446 0 475 4.2
USAM 16203 7 395 103 505 5.5
Average 73 370 21 463 4.1
LSD (0.05) 48 72 39 65 0.4

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

Table 14. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields¹, Fruit number per acre across all 14 harvests. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Fruit size category2

 Totals3 

≤ 3.0 lb

3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 653 9692 327 10672
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 109 8603 762 9474
DAVINCI 3812 8712 0 12524
INFINITE GOLD 327 9801 0 10128
F39 6643 5990 0 12632
HD 150 1416 9365 109 10890
HD 252 545 9910 218 10672
HMX 4606 2831 8821 0 11652
OC 164 218 5663 1960 7841
SFR3079 12306 7950 0 20255
SFR3083 5009 8494 0 13504
TH2 6207 8603 0 14810
TH3 1634 10890 109 12632
TH4 1307 7079 0 8385
TH5 2723 9257 0 11979
TH6 10346 6970 0 17315
USAM 14836 1198 10128 0 11326
USAM 16203 327 7514 1307 9148
Average 3201 8525 266 11991
LSD (0.05) 2338 1835 506 2045

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

Table 15. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study yields; Percent¹ fruit weight per indicated size category – Cumulative harvests (14). Clayton, NC, 2019.

 Cultigen

Fruit size category

 ≤ 3.0 lb

 3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 3 92 5
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 1 87 12
DAVINCI 23 77 0
INFINITE GOLD 2 98 0
F39 40 60 0
HD 150 7 91 2
HD 252 2 95 3
HMX 4606 16 84 0
OC 164 1 65 33
SFR3079 50 50 0
SFR3083 26 74 0
TH2 29 71 0
TH3 8 90 2
TH4 10 90 0
TH5 15 85 0
TH6 43 57 0
USAM 14836 6 94 0
USAM 16203 1 78 20
Average 16 80 4

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

Table 16. Orange flesh and speciality melon cultigen study yields; Percent¹ fruit number per indicated size category – Cumulative harvests (14). Clayton, NC, 2019.

 Cultigen

Fruit size category

 ≤ 3.0 lb

 3.1 – 7.0 lb

 ≥ 7.1 lb
ATHENA 6 91 3
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 1 91 8
DAVINCI 30 70 0
INFINITE GOLD 3 97 0
F39 53 47 0
HD 150 13 86 1
HD 252 5 93 2
HMX 4606 24 76 0
OC 164 3 72 25
SFR3079 61 39 0
SFR3083 37 63 0
TH2 42 58 0
TH3 13 86 1
TH4 16 84 0
TH5 23 77 0
TH6 60 40 0
USAM 14836 11 89 0
USAM 16203 4 82 14
Average 23 75 3

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

Table 17. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study; percentage of fruit weight harvested among varying harvest intervals. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Pecentage harvested among harvest periods

Early Harvests1

Mid Harvests2

Late Harvests3
ATHENA 31 63 6
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 98 2
DAVINCI* 2 94 5
INFINITE GOLD* 4 85 11
F39 22 68 10
HD 150 1 87 12
HD 252 0 91 9
HMX 4606 65 20 15
OC 164 4 83 13
SFR3079 55 13 32
SFR3083 67 14 19
TH2 6 73 21
TH3 1 89 10
TH4 4 75 21
TH5 7 84 9
TH6 5 87 8
USAM 14836 3 94 3
USAM 16203 4 87 9
Average 16 73 12

1 Early harvests (1-4) : 24 June – 1 July (53 – 60 days after planting).
2 Mid harvests (5-9) : 3 July – 12 July (62 – 71 days after planting).
3 Late harvests (10-14) : 15 July – 26 July (74 – 85 days after planting).
  Study was planted 2 May, 2019.
* These entries are seed developed by Sakata but were submitted by Texas A&M University.

Table 18. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study; percentage of fruit number harvested among varying harvest intervals. Clayton, NC, 2019.

Cultigen

Pecentage harvested among harvest periods

Early Harvests1

Mid Harvests2

Late Harvests3
ATHENA 32 62 6
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 0 98 2
DAVINCI* 2 93 5
INFINITE GOLD* 4 84 12
F39 21 67 12
HD 150 1 86 13
HD 252 0 92 8
HMX 4606 64 20 17
OC 164 3 83 14
SFR3079 50 13 37
SFR3083 65 15 19
TH2 8 69 23
TH3 1 89 10
TH4 5 73 22
TH5 10 81 9
TH6 5 87 8
USAM 14836 4 93 3
USAM 16203 4 88 8
Average 15 72 13

1 Early harvests (1-4) : 24 June – 1 July (53 – 60 days after planting).
2 Mid harvests (5-9) : 3 July – 12 July (62 – 71 days after planting).
3 Late harvests (10-14) : 15 July – 26 July (74 – 85 days after planting).
Study was planted 2 May, 2019.
* These entries are seed developed by Sakata but were submitted by Texas A&M University.

Table 19. Orange flesh and specialty melon cultigen study. Interior fruit quality¹. Clayton, NC, 2019.

 Cultigen

 SS2 

 LD3 

Flesh Firmness4 

Melon Type5 
ATHENA 12.7 1.1 5.9 E
CARIBBEAN JACKPOT 13.0 1.2 8.2 LSL
DAVINCI* 13.4 1.2 5.2 T
INFINITE GOLD* 12.7 1.2 7.8 LSL
F39 12.3 1.1 3.4 Western
HD 150 14.2 1.2 3.8 HD
HD 252 13.5 1.0 6.4 HD
HMX 4606 13.4 1.1 8.2 T
OC 164 13.4 1.2 6.1 OC
SFR3079 13.5 1.2 6.3 S
SFR3083 13.3 1.0 5.0 S
TH2 12.1 1.1 4.1 Western
TH3 13.0 1.1 5.1 Western
TH4 12.5 1.1 4.2 Western
TH5 13.3 1.1 3.4 Western
TH6 13.3 1.0 3.6 Western
USAM 14836 13.7 1.1 8.5 LSL
USAM 16203 13.3 1.0 6.8 HD
Average 13.1 1.1 5.7
LSD (0.05) 1.2 0.1 1.2

1 Most measurements were obtained from fruits in harvests 2-6.
2 SS = Indicates sweetness, average of 5 melons per replication (20 total).
3 LD = Length and diameter ratio, average of 5 melons per replication.
4 Flesh Firmness is represented in pounds.
5 Type: E = Eastern Shipper, ESL = Extended Shelf Life, HD = Honeydew LSL, = Long Shelf Life,  O = Orange Casaba, S = specialty, T = Tuscan, W = Western.
* These entries are seed developed by Sakata but were submitted by Texas A&M University.

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