A. Brent Smith and Charles A. Mullins

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. Maturity dates for the different cultivars did not vary greatly.

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 2002 to evaluate performance of 21 SE type sweet corn cultivars.

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 16. Plot size was one row, 20 ft long, and rows were spaced 30 inches apart. Planting was on May 23 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 16 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 28 to August 5 for the 21 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

The target plant stand was 23,500 plants per acre. Stand of all cultivars except ‘EX8415187’, ‘Sunset’, ‘Silver Queen’, and ‘Wizard’. ‘Peaches and Cream’ and ‘Seneca Dancer’ were among varieties with significantly higher stand than expected (Table 1). Some rows of these cultivars apparently were missed during thinning. Plants of ‘Honey Select' were taller than plants of all cultivars except ‘Absolute’, ‘EX8415187', and ‘Sunset’. ‘Alexis’ had the shortest plants present in this test. Ears were set higher on plants of ‘Honey Select' than on plants of other cultivars except ‘Absolute’, ‘Brocade’, and ‘Peaches and Cream’. Plants of ‘Wizard’ had the shortest ear height. Ears of ‘Brocade’ and ‘EX8410279' were among varieties heavier ears weight.

Ears of ‘Providence’ and ‘Honey Select’ were longer than ears of all cultivars except ‘Absolute’, ‘EX8410297', ‘Peaches and Cream’, and ‘Sunset’ (Table 2). ‘Sugar Buns’ was among several cultivars with shorter ear length. Cultivars with ears of the largest diameter included ‘EX8410297’ and ‘Silver Queen’. Among cultivars rated highest for external appearance was ‘Absolute’. All cultivars rated high for internal appearance (after shucking) and ear fill, accept ‘Sugar Buns’ and ‘Sweet Cheeks’ which had low ratings in both categories. ‘Seneca Spring’ had the most insect damage of the cultivars tested.

All the cultivars tested matured in a range of 7 days. This is typical of maturity ranges of sweet corn cultivars grown in Tennessee, which have not had the spread in maturity ranges described in seed catalogs.

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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.