Oakes Irrigation Research
Site
Carrington Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 531, Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Voice: (701) 742-2189, FAX: (701)
742-2700, email: rgreenla@ndsuext.nodak.edu
WINTER SQUASH VARIETY PERFORMANCE TRIAL
Richard Greenland, Leonard Besemann and Heidi Eslinger
Table 54. Fruit characteristics of squash
Table 55. Numbers and yields of squash
Winter squash grow well in North Dakota. A small, but steady, market is available within the state. There are also markets outside the state, especially if squash is stored, then shipped during the winter.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Soil: |
Maddock sandy loam; pH=6.9; 2.3% organic matter; soil-P and soil-K were very high; soil-S was low. |
Previous crop: |
2002 - field corn; 2001 - cabbage; 2000 - onion. |
Seedbed preparation: |
Disked twice on April 11. Multiweeded (field cultivated) on May 22 to smooth seed bed. |
Planting: |
Seeds planted 1 ft apart in rows 7.5 ft apart on May 22. On June 20 thinned to an in-row spacing of one plant every 3 ft. |
Plots: |
Plots were 20 ft long by 6 ft (one row) wide. |
Fertilizer: |
On April 9, broadcast 11 lbs N/acre and 52 lbs P205 as 11-52-0, 30 lbs K2O as 0-0-60, and 18 lbs N/acre and 20 lbs S/acre as 21-0-0-24. Sprayed 30 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 on May 13. Fertigated 50 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 on June 26. |
Irrigation: |
Overhead sprinkler irrigation as needed. |
Pest control: |
Weeds were controlled by rototilling and by hand weeding. Sprayed Asana (8 oz/acre on July 8, July 17 and August 22) and Pounce (8 oz/acre on August 6) to control cucumber beetles. |
Harvest: |
Hand harvested September 24. |
Burgess buttercup had the largest and the fewest number of fruit. Heart of Gold had the highest yield. The study had much variability.
Go to top of winter squash performance trial report
Table 54. Fruit characteristics of squash in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2003 winter squash performance trial.
Variety |
Seed source1 |
Squash type |
Outside color |
Inside color |
Early stand2 |
Fruit size |
|
plants/17 ft |
lbs/fruit |
||||
|
||||||
Baby Blue |
RU |
Hubbard |
blue |
orange |
5.5 |
2.9 |
Burgess buttercup |
RU |
Buttercup |
green |
orange |
3.8 |
4.0 |
Heart of Gold |
RU |
Acorn |
white/green |
light orange |
9.5 |
1.8 |
Mesa Queen |
SW |
Acorn |
green |
orange |
3.8 |
2.0 |
|
||||||
Probability |
0.05 |
<.0001 |
||||
LSD (0.05) |
3.9 |
0.5 |
||||
C.V. (%) |
39 |
11 |
||||
1See Appendix A for seed source codes.
2Stand counts taken on June 10. Maximum possible was 17. Squash were later thinned to six plants/plot (3-ft in-row spacing).
Go to top of winter squash performance trial report
Table 55. Numbers and yields of squash in the Oakes Irrigation Research Site 2003 winter squash performance trial.
Variety |
Number of fruit |
Yield |
||||||
US # 1 |
US #2 |
green1 |
total |
US # 1 |
US #2 |
green1 |
total |
|
|
----------- 1000s/acre --------------- |
-------------- tons/acre ------------- |
||||||
|
||||||||
Baby Blue |
3.8 |
1.4 |
0.7 |
7.0 |
5.6 |
1.6 |
0.8 |
9.2 |
Burgess buttercup |
3.5 |
1.9 |
1.8 |
7.6 |
6.8 |
3.7 |
2.6 |
13.5 |
Heart of Gold |
10.9 |
4.9 |
6.2 |
22.4 |
10.1 |
3.9 |
4.8 |
19.0 |
Mesa Queen |
5.2 |
3.3 |
2.7 |
11.3 |
5.2 |
3.1 |
2.4 |
10.9 |
|
||||||||
Probability |
0.004 |
0.11 |
0.0009 |
0.003 |
0.10 |
0.60 |
0.012 |
0.09 |
LSD (0.05) |
3.5 |
— |
2.0 |
7.1 |
— |
— |
2.1 |
— |
C.V. (%) |
38 |
67 |
44 |
37 |
38 |
81 |
49 |
38 |
1These squash were immature at time of harvest.
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