‘El Dorado’ and ‘La Estrella’: New Tropical Pumpkins

(Cucurbita moschata Duchesne)

Donald N. Maynard

Gulf Coast Research and Education Center

University of Florida

Wimauma

ADDITIONAL PROJECT LEADERS

Gary Elmstrom R. Bruce Carle Linda Wessel­Beaver Stephen T. Talcott

FUNDING

USDA Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research Grant Caribbean Basin Agricultural Grant

Tropical Pumpkin Variety Improvement

­ P.R. AES Linea C Pinta ­ P.R. AES Soler ­ Fla. AES La Segunda

1979 Fla. AES La Primera 1950 P.R. AES Fortuna 1940’s P.R. AES Camaguey 1940’s P.R. AES Borinquen Date Developer Variety

5. GLOBE, FLAT OR ROUND REGULAR SHAPE

4. SMOOTH FRUIT SURFACE

3. MEDIUM SIZE (3.6 TO 6.8 KG)

2. PIEBALD OR DARK PIEBALD RIND COLOR

1. ORANGE – YELLOW TO DARK – ORANGE FRUIT WALL

Desirable Tropical Pumpkin Fruit Characteristics Puerto Rico Survey

OBJECTIVES OF TROPICAL PUMPKIN IMPROVEMENT

*F1 Hybrids *Compact Plant Habit

*Concentrated, Early Maturity

*High Yields

*Thick, Deep Orange Flesh

*Readily Available Seed Supply

51.8 16.9 G39­5 51.7 15.5 G38­2 58.3 29.4 C42­1­9

Hybrids Inbreds Bush Inbreds Yield (t•ha ­1 )

Yields of Tropical Pumpkin Compact Plant Inbreds and Their Hybrids. Spring 1995.

55.9 40.6 Soler 54.3 33.0 Seminole 56.8 31.0 Linia C Pinta 53.2 54.6 La Segunda 47.6 35.5 La Primera

Hybrids Inbreds Vining Inbreds Yield (t•ha ­1 )

Yields of Tropical Pumpkin Vining Inbreds and Their Hybrids. Spring 1995.

ORIGIN OF COMPACT PLANTS

*Bush Butternut

*Burpee’s Butterbush

*Cornell 89­441­3

ORIGIN OF LONG­VINE PARENTS

*Borinquen *Linea C Pinta

*La Primera *Seminole

*La Segunda *Soler

1 0 none to 4 severe silverleaf

0 1.3 0 53 L18­4 0 1.8 0 25 La Segunda

1.0 1.6 75 35 La Primera

4.0 3.0 100 85 Soler 4.0 3.0 100 90 Linea C Pinta 4.0 4.0 100 90 Borinquen

Severity 1 (%) Cultivar

1992 1991 1992 1991 Incidence and Severity of Silverleaf

54 46 54 46 ­ ­ ­ ­ La Primera

48 45 52 49 42 40 51 47 El Dorado

44 35 47 37 38 33 46 36 La Estrella

Spring Fall Spring

% & % & % & % & Entry Average 2000 1999 1999

ANTHESIS OF TROPICAL PUMPKIN

FLOWERS (DAP)

4.6 4.6 ­ ­ La Primera

4.1 4.2 3.0 5.0 El Dorado

3.6 3.4 2.2 5.3 La Estrella

Spring Fall Spring

Fruit/plant (no.) Entry Average 2000 1999 1999

NUMBER OF FRUIT PER TROPICAL

PUMPKIN PLANT

4.5 4.5 ­ ­ La Primera

2.4 2.3 2.3 2.6 El Dorado

3.2 2.2 3.5 3.8 La Estrella

Spring Fall Spring

Average Fruit Weight (kg) Entry Average 2000 1999 1999

TROPICAL PUMPKIN FRUIT WEIGHT

42.6 42.6 ­ ­ La Primera

62.8 58.2 30.3 100.0 La Estrella

53.3 67.3 27.7 65.0 El Dorado

Spring Fall Spring

Yield (t•ha ­1 ) Entry

Average 2000 1999 1999

TROPICAL PUMPKIN YIELDS

Tropical Pumpkin Fruit Characteristics. Spring 2000.

14.0 a 1.29 a 4.9 a 4.6 a La Primera

13.3 a 1.06 b 4.9 a 4.1 b El Dorado

12.3 ab 1.32 a 4.0 b 3.3 c La Estrella

Dry Flesh Flesh

(%) ratio (1­5) (cm) Entry matter Eq:Polar color thickness

Fruit Characteristics

Total carotenoid and Hunter color values for La Estrella, El Dorado and La Primera tropical pumpkin cultivars. Spring 2001.

42.67 a 70.42 a 40.08 a 14.27 b 71.13 ab 51.67 ab La Primera 41.72 a 66.14 b 38.08 a 16.88 a 69.28 b 48.92 b La Estrella 43.11 a 65.82 b 39.28 a 17.70 a 73.24 a 56.82 a u El Dorado

Hunter chroma v

Hunter Hueº w

Hunter b x

Hunter A* y

Hunter L* z

Carotenoids (mg∙kg ­1 FM) Cultivar

z L* = lightness values (100 = white; 0 = black). Y a* = redness, the higher the value the more red the flesh. X b* = yellowness, the higher the value the more yellow the flesh. w Hue angle = measured in degrees from 0­360. For this product 0º = red, 45º = orange, and 90º = yellow v Chroma = measures color intensity, the higher the value, the “brighter” the flesh appearance. u Mean separation in columns by Duncan’s multiple range test, 5% level.

El Dorado Tropical Pumpkin Pedigree

M29­5 89­441­3 Cornell 89­441­3 F 8 ­F 9 F 1 ­ F 7

TP411 Bulk Self La Primera

Bush Butternut El Dorado Hollar

F 4 D43­1

TP241 F 8 F 1 ­ F 7 La Segunda Bulk Self S87­6

NK Seminole Pumpkin

El Dorado

La Estrella Tropical Pumpkin Pedigree

Bush Butternut Hollar

F 4 D43­1

F 1 ­ F 5 La Segunda G38­2­28 G38­2 Self S87­6 Self NK

Seminole Pumpkin

La Estrella

La Primera Self

La Estrella

PUMPKIN VARIETY COMPARISON

+ Yield + Flesh Color + Fruit Uniformity

+ Fruit Size + Earliness

+ Compact Plant La Estrella El Dorado Characteristic

ADVANTAGES OF COMPACT­VINE

HYBRID TROPICAL PUMPKINS

*Commercial Seed Availability

*Higher Plant Populations

*Earlier, Concentrated Harvest

*Higher Yields

DISADVANTAGES OF COMPACT­VINE HYBRID TROPICAL PUMPKINS

*Higher Seed Costs *Concentrated Maturity for Smallholder Production

SUMMARY •Compact plant type tropical pumpkin inbreds have been developed

•Hybrids have been constructed between compact plant inbreds (SS) and vining and compact plant inbreds (SV)

•Heterosis has been shown

•SS hybrids produce compact plants, SV hybrids develop intermediate­length vines

•SV hybrids are earlier than SS hybrids and produce larger, but more variable fruit

•Compact plants permit greater plant density and higher concentrated yields per unit area

RECOMMENDED TROPICAL PUMPKIN SPACING

1.5 1.0 x 1.5 Compact

5.0 2.0 x 2.5 Vining

Area (m 2 )

Spacing (m) Plant Type

Seed Source Rupp Seeds, Inc. 17919 County Road B

Wauseon, Ohio 43567

Phone: 419­337­1841

Fax: 419­337­5491

http://www.ruppseeds.com

ADVANCED

EXPERIMENTAL

HYBRIDS