Performance of SE Sweet Corn Cultivars, Plateau Experiment Station, 2002 A. Brent Smith and Charles A. Mullins 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. 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. 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 16. Plot size was one row, 20 ft long, and rows were spaced 30 apart. Planting was on May 23 using a conetype 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 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 Results and Discussion 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. Table 1. Plant characteristics and yield of sweet corn cultivars evaluated at The University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2002. Cultivar Plants/ acre Plant height - Plant diameter - Ear height - Yield - doz/a. Ear oz./ White Alexis 27878 59.5 i 0.86 def 16.25 bc 2647 e 7.99 EX8415187 22651 efg 88.0 ab 0.75 f 16.00 bc 2919 8.33 cde
EX8414877 28314 abc 80.5 cd 1.09 abc 12.75 de 2798 10.14 ab Silverado 27878 70.0 fgh 0.95 cde 12.00 e 3115 ab 8.04 defghi Silver Queen 20909 g 72.0 efgh 1.16 a 16.00 bc 2677 e 9.65 Yellow Honey Select 28096 abc 92.0 a 0.93 de 21.50 a 2979 abc 9.30 ef Legend Sugar Buns 26789 bcde 23740 defg 69.25 h 0.84 ef 15.50 bc 2026 def 9.09 bcdef 69.75 gh 0.84 ef 16.50 bc 2102 cdef 6.73 hi Sweet Cheeks 24611 cdefg 75.0 defgh 0.89 def 15.50 bc 1497 f 7.32 ghi Welcome 24394 cdefg 75.5 defg 0.84 ef 16.75 bc 2193 bcdef 8.78 bcdefg Bicolor Absolute 26354 bcde 87.5 ab 0.88 def 20.75 a 3357 a 9.85 abc Brocade 25483 cdef 84.0 bc 1.10 ab 20.50 a 2374 bcd 10.34 ab Bojangles 25265 cdef 74.5 defgh 0.96 bcde 15.00 bcd 1845 ef 9.44 e EX08705482 25918 cde 73.0 efgh 1.00 bcd 17.00 b 2707 e 7.84 efghi EX8410297 27661 77.8 de 1.00 bcd 15.50 bc 2389 bcde 10.95 a Peaches and Cream 31363 a 84.0 bc 0.95 cde 20.00 a 2692 e 7.79 efghi Providence 27878 76.0 def 0.95 cde 14.00 2510 e 9.76 abc
cde Seneca Dancer 31363 a 77.0 de 0.90 de 15.00 bcd 3388 a 8.62 bcdefg Seneca Spring 30492 ab 74.5 defgh 0.95 cde 16.50 bc 2556 e 6.52 i Sunset 21344 fg 92.0 a 1.10 ab 17.00 b 3433 a 9.81 abc Wizard 22651 efg 80.0 cd 0.84 ef 9.50 f 2601 e 7.72 fghi 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, 2002. Cultivar Ear length - Ear Diam. - External appear. x Internal appear. x Insect Dmg. (%) Ear f (%) White Alexis 7.35 c-g z 1.61 b-g 8.50 ab 8.50 a 3.00 b 97.5 EX8415187 7.81 b-f 1.75 8.50 ab 8.50 a 3.00 b 95.0 EX8414877 7.56 b-g 1.79 ab 8.75 a 8.00 ab 3.00 b 90.0 Silverado 7.69 b-f 1.64 a-g 8.75 a 8.50 a 4.00 b 98.9 Silver Queen 7.63 b-f 1.66 a-f 8.50 ab 8.50 a 3.00 b 93.8 Yellow Honey Select 8.31 abc 1.53 fg 8.75 a 8.75 a 1.75 b 97.5 Legend 6.94 fg 1.71 a-e 9.00 a 8.00 ab 1.25 b 95.0
Sugar Buns 6.69 g 1.31 h 7.50 b 5.50 c 4.50 b 77.5 bc Sweet Cheeks 7.25 efg 1.46 gh 8.00 ab 6.25 bc 3.25 b 76.3 c Welcome 6.94 fg 1.56 efg 8.75 a 8.75 a 0.75 b 90.0 ab Bicolor Absolute 8.19 1.58 defg 9.00 a 8.00 ab 0.75 b 93.8 a Brocade 7.75 b-f 1.76 abc 8.00 ab 7.25 abc 7.00 b 92.5 a Bojangles 7.94 bcde 1.59 c-g 8.50 ab 7.75 ab 1.75 b 92.5 a EX08705482 7.13 efg 1.61 b-g 8.75 a 8.25 a 0.75 b 95.0 a EX8410297 8.03 a-e 1.80 a 8.50 ab 9.00 a 1.50 b 99.0 a Peaches and Cream 7.96 a-e 1.61 b-g 8.50 ab 8.25 a 3.00 b 97.5 a Providence 8.83 a 1.52 gf 8.25 ab 8.50 a 2.25 b 97.5 a Seneca Dancer 7.73 b-f 1.57 efg 8.75 a 7.25 bc 4.25 b 88.8 abc Seneca Spring 7.00 fg 1.51 fg 8.50 ab 8.00 ab 15.25 a 87.5 abc Sunset 8.45 ab 1.59 c-g 8.50 ab 8.50 a 4.25 b 95.0 a Wizard 7.31 defg 1.75 8.25 ab 9.00 a 3.00 b 100.0 a x 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 tests. 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.