Pumpkin Cultivars for Southern Illinois Growers Alan Walters Professor of Vegetable Science Southern Illinois University Illinois Pumpkins ~ 12,000 acres of jack-o-lantern pumpkins grown in Illinois Important crop for many fruit and vegetable growers in Illinois Several factors need to be considered when producing pumpkins My discussion will focus on: Cultivar Selection Pumpkin Cultivar Selection There are numerous pumpkin cultivars from which to select, with new ones coming out from seed companies every year Which one is the best for me? A few things to consider before selection: 1) Has the cultivar generally performed well in your region (Midwest Vegetable Production Guide, Extension specialists, etc. will help) 2) Disease resistance 3) Plant size at maturity 4) Seed costs 5) Availability 6) Market 1) Consult the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide or local extension personnel for cultivars that have done well in your region over a period of time 2) Disease resistance in the most expensive hybrid cultivars frequently relates to less fungicide applications. You may spend more up front for seed but reduce overall dollar inputs by reducing fungicide sprays 3) Plant and pumpkin fruit size at maturity whether bush, semi-vine or vine, as this will determine plant spacing requirements 4) Pumpkin seed costs can be overwhelming, ranging from ~$25 per pound ( Howden OP) to over $100 per pound ( Magic Lantern ~ $165) and need to be taken into consideration. The increased seed costs of those cultivars having fungal disease resistance (i.e., powdery mildew) can often be cheaper in the long run by reducing fungicide sprays 1
5) Pumpkin seed availability. Purchase seed ASAP for the upcoming growing season as many seed companies and distributors run out of many popular cultivars fairly quickly. Grow several cultivars in an operation and not just one or two Pumpkin Cultivars for Southern Illinois 6) Know your market Know what size your market requires (e.g., very small, small, medium, large, extra-large) as this relates to the cultivar package that you will purchase We have done pumpkin cultivar evaluations for several years now and it is hard to keep up with all the new ones that are always coming out. But I am going to share some data from some trials that we conducted over the last few years. Going to focus on 2 studies that we conducted: 1) Jack-o-lantern Trial that we conducted in 2010-2011 2) Pie Pumpkin Trial in 2008 Jack-O-Lantern Trial Chose the 6 of best performers out of our trials for the last few years: Appalachian, Camaro, Dependable, Magic Lantern, Magic Wand, Solid Gold Planted into large plots: 2 rows, 50 feet in length and 7 foot centers and used 3 replications Large Pumpkin Trial Results Large Pumpkin Trial Results Cultivar %Small %Medium %Large %X-large Totno/A Totwt/A Appalachian 10 47 35 8 3,037 55,101 Camaro 16 41 32 11 3,173 57,490 Dependable 14 27 41 18 2,349 45,307 Solid Gold 22 54 22 2 2,290 35,276 Magic Lantern 51 42 5 2 4,066 53,002 Magic Wand 30 54 13 2 2,962 42,725 Data combined over two growing seasons (2010 and 2011) Small < 12 lbs, medium is 12 to 18 lbs, large is 18 to 25 lbs, and x-large >25 lbs Cultivar Avg Frt Wt Avg Frt Dia Appalachian 17.9 10.24 Camaro 17.7 10.65 Dependable 19.3 10.40 Solid Gold 15.4 9.96 Magic Lantern 12.7 9.54 Magic Wand 14.1 10.21 Data combined over two growing seasons (2010 and 2011) Fruit wt in lbs and diameter in inches 2
Appalachian Dependable Magic Lantern- The #1 powdery mildew tolerant hybrid, 115 Days. Classic 16-24 lb. slightly upright fruit are produced on semi-vine plants (here in southern Illinois ~ 13 lb average). Fruit average 12" wide x 14" high and have an attractive dark orange color with medium ribs. The preferred variety for PM tolerance. Appalachian Vigorous plants produce good yields of 18-25 pound large, uniform, deep-orange pumpkins with thick flesh, smooth-ribbed skin and strong handles (~ 18 lb average here in southern Illinois). Been around awhile, but still would include it in my pumpkin planting Magic Lantern 3
Many others jack-o-lantern pumpkin cultivars that need to be trialed --- Magic Lantern Pie PumpkinTrial (2008) Pie Pumpkin Trial Chose 14 cultivars to evaluate: Baby Pam, Cannonball, Hybrid Pam, Ironman, Orange Smoothie, Peek-A-Boo, Pik-a-pie, Prankster, Rockafellow, Small Sugar, Snackjack, Spooktacular, Touch of Autumn, Trickster Planted into 10 plots plots: 2 foot in-row spacings and 4 foot centers and used 3 replications Cultivar Disease %Small %Medium %Large Totno/plot Totwt/plot Baby Pam* 8.25 47 50 2 15 25 Cannonball* 0.92 0 70 30 12 38 Hybrid Pam* 7.58 12 50 38 15 47 Ironman* 2.75 3 95 2 11 28 Orange Smoothie 4.17 2 43 55 17 62 Peek-A-Boo 7.38 32 66 2 18 33 Pik-A-Pie* 6.75 10 68 22 15 42 Prankster* 5.92 14 74 12 14 33 Rockafellow 8.25 77 23 0 27 29 Small Sugar* 8.33 25 69 6 15 31 Snackjack 5.17 24 76 0 20 38 Spooktacular* 8.50 44 51 5 26 46 TouchofAutumn* 5.42 49 51 0 29 41 Trickster* 5.92 46 54 0 23 38 Data for 1 growing season (2008) Small < 1.5 lbs, medium is 1.5 to 3.5 lbs, and large >3.5 lbs Pie Pumpkin Trial Cultivar %Frt consistency Frt Diameter Avg Frt Wt Baby Pam* 60 4.7 1.64 Cannonball* 96 5.4 3.09 Hybrid Pam* 78 5.9 3.00 Ironman* 91 5.2 2.62 Orange Smoothie 84 5.8 3.64 Peek-A-Boo 70 5.1 1.86 Pik-A-Pie* 76 5.6 2.87 Prankster* 73 5.5 2.29 Rockafellow 53 3.9 1.07 Small Sugar* 58 5.1 2.11 Snackjack 70 4.8 1.92 Spooktacular* 58 5.0 1.69 TouchofAutumn* 77 4.2 1.36 Trickster* 87 4.6 1.57 Ironman Data-1 growing season (2008) Fruit diameter in inches and Average Frt Wt in lbs Cannonball 4
Smaller Pumpkin types: Cannonball Vigorous plant, good yield of fruits that have excellent orange color with large firmly rooted handle (hard shell pumpkin) 110 days, ~5 lb fruit (~3 lb/fruit here in southern IL) Great for painting and school tours Powdery mildew tolerant Ironman Another hard shell pumpkin that will store for months Vigorous full vine Tolerant to Powdery mildew, and Fusarium and Phytophthora fruit rots 110 days, 3-4 lb fruits (~2.5 lb/fruit here in southern IL) Pik-A-Pie Hybrid Pam Some of the best Pumpkin cultivars for Southern Illinois based upon cultivar evaluations at SIU (Carbondale and Belleville) Orange Smoothie Spooktacular Touch of Autumn Less than 5 lbs Pie Pumpkin class Cannonball, Ironman, Touch of Autumn, Hybrid Pam, Pik-A-Pie, Orange Smoothie, (Field Trip), new one - Mischief Jack-o-lantern class Appalachian and Magic Lantern best Others with potential: Dependable, Camaro Newly released ones out there that we haven t looked at Remember in Southern Illinois Heat set ability is very, very important Trickster Questions? 5