Performance of SE Sweet Corn Cultivars

Performance of SE Sweet Corn Cultivars, Plateau Experiment Station, 2001

Charles A. Mullins and A. Brent Smith

Interpretative Summary

Most of the SE sweet corn cultivars performed well in the trial. Excellent named and numbered cultivars of white, bicolor, and yellow sweet corn cultivars were tested. >Fleet= and >Trinity= were a week earlier than the other cultivars, and produced relatively small plants.

Introduction

Sweet corn is widely grown in home gardens and in small commercial plots for local fresh market sales in Tennessee. Acreage produced for local markets has expanded in recent years. Sweet corn is grown commercially in every county in Tennessee, and total acreage is over 3000. Most of the cultivars grown for local markets are SE type, and white sweet corn is preferred by many Tennessee consumers. A shipping market exists, but optimum cultural and post harvest practices are very rigid to insure insect free and high quality sweet corn. Economic and marketing conditions do not appear highly favorable for sweet corn production during the season when corn can be produced in Tennessee. Several excellent sweet corn cultivars are available to commercial growers, and seedsmen are continually introducing new cultivars. Several sweet corn cultivar trials have been conducted by University of Tennessee researchers in recent years. An experiment was conducted at the Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, TN in 2001 to evaluate performance of 25 SE type sweet corn cultivars.

Materials and Methods

The site was prepared for planting using conventional tillage in late April. Fertilizer was broadcast at 600 lb/A of 15-15-15 before final disking on May 8. Plot size was one row, 20 ft long, and rows were spaced 30 inches apart. Planting was on May 10 using a cone-type mechanical planter. Seventy seeds were planted per row which was more than double the desired final stand. Plots were thinned to the desired stand about three weeks after planting. Rows were spaced 30 inches apart. Experimental plot design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Herbicides applied on May 8 were atrazine (Aatrex) at 1.0 lb ai/A and metolachlor (Dual II) at 2.0 lb ai/A. Insecticides were applied on a 3 to 5 day frequency starting at silking. Insecticides were esfenvalerate (Asana) at 0.05 lb ai/A alternated with lambda-cyhalothrin (Warrior T) at 0.03 lb ai/A. Harvests varied from July 13 to August 3 for the 23 cultivars.

Records taken included plant stand, plant height, ear height, plant diameter, yield in number and weight, ear length, ear diameter, shuck cover rating, external ear appearance, internal ear appearance, and % fill. Average ear weight was calculated. All data were analyzed by analysis of variance methods, and cultivar means were separated by Duncan=s multiple range tests at the 0.05 level of probability

Results and Discussion

The target plant stand was 23,500 plants per acre. Stand of >EX8410337=, >Mystique=, >Punctuality=, >Serendipity=, and >Silver Queen= exceeded the target level, with >Silver Queen= being significantly higher than all other cultivars (Table 1). Some rows of these cultivars apparently were missed during thinning. Plants of >Silver Queen' were taller than plants of all cultivars except >Sunset=. Cultivars with plants that were relatively short were >Fleet=, >Punctuality=, and >Trinity=. Ears were set higher on plants of >Silver Queen' than on plants of most other cultivars. Plants of >Punctuality= were relatively short. Ears of >Accord= were heavier than ears of all cultivars except >Emaculata=. The lightest weight ears were produced by >Trinity=.

Ears of >Trinity= were longer than ears of all cultivars (Table 2). The cultivar with the shortest ears was >Imaculata=. Cultivars with ears of the largest diameter included >Gold Nuggets= and >Imaculata=. Among cultivars rated highest for external appearance was >Buckeye=. All cultivars rated high for internal appearance (after shucking) and ear fill, accept >Fleet= which had the lowest rating in both categories.

Earliness is a desired characteristic of SE sweet corn cultivars. However, early maturing cultivars generally lack plant and ear size. >Fleet= and >Trinity= were a week earlier than the other cultivars, but lacked desirable plant and ear characteristics. The other cultivars had a maturity range of 7 days for the 23 cultivars. Maturity ranges of sweet corn cultivars grown in Tennessee have not had the spread in maturity ranges described in seed catalogs.

Table 1. Plant characteristics and yield of sweet corn cultivars evaluated at The University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2001.

Cultivar	Plants/Acre	Plant height - inches	Plant diameter - inches	Ear height - inches	Yield - doz/A	Ear wt. - oz/ear
White
Silver Queen	33541 a^z	90.75 a	1.02 a	29.75 a	2596 ab	11.3 bc
Silver Princess	25047 bc	63.25 hijk	0.90 abc	13.75 cde	2087 bcdef	09.7 c-g
Faith	20038 cd	73.75 cdef	0.83 abc	12.00 cdef	1906 cdefg	11.2 bc
EX8414877	22433 bcd	75.50 bcde	0.89 abc	15.00 bcde	2505 ab	10.3 b-g
EX8410337	27007 b	81.50 b	0.91 abc	18.00 bcd	2805 ab	08.9 efg
Imaculata	21780 bcd	68.50 gfhi	0.98 ab	12.50 cdef	2178 abcd	11.7 ab
Cloud Nine	23522 bcd	69.00 efgh	0.89 abc	16.00 bcde	1706 defg	10.7 b-e
Avalanche	189499 cd	70.75 defg	0.85 abc	15.75 bcde	1742 defg	09.4 c-g
Yellow
Gold Nuggets	22216 bcd	77.00 bcd	0.59 cd	18.00 bcd	1833 defg	10.7 b-e
Bicolor
Bon Appetite	21562 bcd	69.75 efgh	0.76 abcd	15.25 bcde	1561 fg	10.8 b-e
Encore	20038 cd	81.50 b	0.84 abc	20.00 bc	2196 abcd	09.87 b-g
Serendipity	25483 bc	69.50 efgh	0.85 abc	15.75 bcde	2196 abcd	11.0 bcd
Buckeye	21344 bce	76.75 bcd	0.81 abcd	17.13 bcd	2378 abc	09.9 b-g
Sunset	23305 bcd	93.00 a	0.86 abc	17.50 bcd	2668 a	10.0 b-g
Fortune	23305 bcd	78.75 bc	0.80 abcd	17.00 bcd	2124 bcde	08.6 fg
July Gem	23740 bc	62.25 ijk	0.74 abcd	11.25 def	1724 defg	09.7 c-g
Trinity	20038 cd	59.50 klm	0.50 d	08.38 ef	1670 defg	06.6 h
Mystique	24176 bc	70.58 defg	0.83 abc	15.75 bcde	1688 defg	10.3 b-f
Elation	20255 cd	60.00 kl	0.69 bcd	11.63 def	1615 efg	09.0 efg
Fleet	21127 bcd	53.75 m	0.60 cd	12.38 cdef	1470 g	08.3 g
Accord	20038 cd	73.50 cdef	0.87 abc	17.63 bcd	1688 defg	13.3 a
Punctuality	21344 bcd	54.50 lm	0.82 abc	05.75 f	1688 defg	08.4 fg
Friendship	20473 bcd	61.50 jk	0.63 cd	13.00 cdef	1833 defg	11.3 bc
SSC23058	16988 d	66.50 ghij	0.84 abc	17.25 bcd	1561 fg	09.0 efg
SSC23059	20255 cd	68.50 fghi	0.69 bcd	22.38 b	1779 defg	09.1 d-g

^{z Means within columns followed by the same
letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level of probability, Duncan=s
multiple range tests.

Table 2. Ear characteristics of sweet corn cultivars evaluated at The
University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2001.}

Cultivar	Ear length - inches	Ear Dia. - inches	External appearance^x	Internal appearance^x	Ear fill (%)
White
Silver Queen	7.88 cde^z	1.68 cdefg	8.98 bcdef	9.70 a	96.5 a
Silver Princess	7.00 efgh	1.71 cdefg	9.30 abcde	9.50 ab	94.3 ab
Faith	8.31 bc	1.83 bcdef	9.30 abcde	9.35 ab	93.0 ab
EX8414877	7.75 cdef	1.60 fg	9.45 abcde	9.80 a	97.8 a
EX8410337	7.31 defg	1.68 cdefg	9.13 abcde	9.75 a	88.5 ab
Imaculata	6.19 h	1.96 ab	8.40 f	9.50 ab	94.8 ab
Cloud Nine	7.63 cdef	1.66 cdfg	9.08 aabcde	8.48 ab	85.5 abc
Avalanche	7.31 defg	1.81 bcdef	8.93 cdef	9.20 ab	93.5 ab
Yellow
Gold Nuggets	7.69 cdef	2.10 a	9.58 abc	9.70 a	97.0 a
Bicolor
Bon Appetite	6.63 gf	1.89 abcd	9.50 abcd	9.50 ab	94.5 ab
Enclore	8.94 b	4.69 cdefg	8.83 ef	8.20 bc	81.8 bc
Serendipity	8.00 cd	1.71 cdefg	9.08 abcde	9.50 ab	94.8 ab
Buckeye	7.31 defg	1.80 bcdef	9.65 a	9.60 a	95.8 a
Sunset	8.29 bc	1.65 efg	9.60 ab	9.10 ab	90.3 ab
Fortune	7.69 cdef	1.49 g	9.23 abcde	9.00 ab	89.0 ab
July Gem	7.17 defg	1.86 bcde	9.20 abcde	8.75 ab	88.3 ab
Trinity	10.37 a	1.65 efg	9.25 abcde	8.75 ab	88.8 ab
Mystique	7.81 cdef	1.68 cdefg	9.38 abcde	9.60 a	95.5 a
Elation	7.19 defg	1.78 bcdef	9.28 abcde	9.15 ab	91.0 ab
Fleet	7.69 cdef	1.71 cdefg	9.18 abcde	7.42 c	74.0 c
Accord	7.44 cdefg	1.90 abc	9.25 abcde	9.80 a	97.0 a
Punctuality	6.88 fgh	1.70 cdefg	9.28 abcde	8.50 ab	86.5 ab
Friendship	7.34 cdefg	1.90 abc	9.25 abcde	8.50 ab	86.5 ab
SSC23058	7.00 efgh	1.68 cdefg	9.143 abcde	9.45 ab	94.3 ab
SSC23059	7.19 defg	1.69 cdefg	8.88 def	9.45 ab	94.8 ab

Ratings on a scale of 1 to 10, 10=most desirable.

z Means within columns followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 level of probability, Duncan=s multiple range test

Email all comments and suggestions to ghonea@utk.edu
Copyright � 1999 by The University of Tennessee. All rights reserved.

This research represents one season's data and does not constitute recommendations. After sufficient data is collected over the appropriate number of seasons, final recommendations will be made through research and extension publications.