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2014 North Carolina Watermelon Cultivar Trials

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Standard and Mini Triploid Watermelon Cultural Practices for 2014 Cultivar Trials, Central Crops Research Station, Clayton, NC
Horticulture Series # 210

Principle Investigators: Jonathan R. Schultheis, Professor and Vegetable Extension Specialist and W. Bradfred Thompson, Research Specialist, Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University, Raleigh, NC

General Cultural Practices

The watermelon trials were grown on black plastic mulch and fertigated with drip tube. Pesticides used on all plots were chemicals labeled for that crop, (2014 North Carolina Agricultural Chemicals Manual)

Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Cathy Herring (Superintendent) and Kirby Jones (Horticulture Supervisor), Central Crops Research Station, Clayton, NC, as well as, the personnel at the research station for their help in establishing, maintaining, and harvesting the cultivar evaluation trials. We want to acknowledge the following for their assistance with the trials: Sam Harris, Victoria Cox, Heather Yanno, Marie Neal, and David Cassady. The cooperation and support of Clifton Seed Company; Harris Moran; K&B Development; Nunhems; Origene Seeds; Sakata Seed Company; Seigers; Seminis; Syngenta Seeds, Inc.; and United Genetics were also appreciated. We also acknowledge the generosity of Wilbur Taylor and Carolina Greenhouse and Soil Company in Kinston, NC for their donation of the soilless media that was used in transplant grow out.

Disclaimer: This publication presents data from the cultivar evaluation trials conducted during 2014. Information in this report is believed to be reliable but should not be relied upon as a sole source of information. Limited accompanying detail is included but excludes some pertinent information, which may aid interpretation.

Download a PDF version of this report to view or print.

Introduction

Watermelon continues to be an important crop grown in North Carolina as the state was ranked seventh in production among U.S. states nationally in 2012 representing 6.4% of the nation’s watermelon production. Approximately 8,300 acres valued at nearly $34.9 million were produced and harvested in North Carolina in 2012. Growers in NC need to remain competitive in the market place and must grow and sell the best cultivars. More recently, in addition to yields, seed companies and markets have focused on specific traits such as lycopene and citrulline content, hollow heart incidence, seed trace size, and flesh firmness. We have committed more of our resources to the evaluation of many of these traits. In the tables that follow, the adaptability of the various red-flesh watermelons is evaluated, both for yields and quality. This should help the watermelon industry make informed decisions regarding newly released red-flesh cultivars or those that are being considered for release.

Materials and Methods

We have evaluated red-flesh standard size watermelon types annually since 1989. We initiated the evaluation of mini triploid watermelon types in 2003. Before the growing season, companies which sell watermelon seeds were contacted to obtain seed for the watermelon cultivar trials.

Once all seed were obtained, they were planted into Poly growing transplant trays (Hummert Int.; Earth City, MO). Seeds of standard size and mini triploid cultigens were sown on 15 April, 2014. The planting medium used was Fine Germinating Mix, a commercial soilless mix (CarolinaGreenhouse and Soil Company; Kinston, NC). Approximately 3 weeks after seeding, the plants were placed in a “hardening” greenhouse and hardened before being established in the field. Standard size triploids and mini triploids were established in the field on 19 May 2014. Fertilizer, 30lb/acre N and 80lb/acre K2O, was incorporated into the beds on 29 April prior to the laying of black polyethylene plastic (0.70mil thick high density plastic film, 48 inches wide; B.B. Hobbs, Clinton, NC). Fumigant (TeloneC-17) was broadcast and incorporated into the soil on 7 November 2013 at 9.0 gallons/acre prior to the start of the growing season. Herbicides, Curbit at 4 pints/acre, Gramaxone at 3 pints/acre, and Prefar at 5 quarts/acre, were applied between the plastic beds for weed control on 29 May. Spacing between row middles was 10 feet for all watermelon types and in-row spacing was 2.5 feet for standard size triploid watermelons and 1 foot for mini triploid watermelons. Plot size for standard triploid size watermelons was one row, 10 plants per plot, 25 feet long with 10 feet alleys between plots. Plot size for the mini triploid watermelons was one row, 10 plants per plot, 10 feet long with 10 feet alleys between plots. At time of transplant, a starter solution was applied using 20-20-20 (0.5 lb/50 gallons water) and 5 oz. Coragen per 50 gallons water for insect control. Plots with missing plants were replanted approximately 7 days after planting to achieve 100% stand in most cases. For the 2014 growing season, ‘SP-6’ was the sole pollinizer source. Pollinizers were interplanted between plants 1 and 2; 5 and 6; and 9 and 10. Trickle irrigation was utilized (NETAFIM, 12 inch spacing, 0.24 gph; NETAFIM, Tel Aviv, Israel) over the growing season. Fertigation was initiated two weeks after planting and applied weekly during the planting season. A total of 61.2lb/acre N and 122.3 lb/acre K2O was drip applied through the season using a 4-0-8 liquid fertilizer. Cumulative amount of fertilizer applied for the season was 91.2 ,0, and 202.3 lb/acre of N, P2O5, and K2O, respectively. Insecticides were applied every week as a preventative measure beginning 4 June and on the following dates (11, 18, and 25 June; 2, 9,16, and 28 July; and 6 and 14 August).The following products were alternated during consecutive spray applications to avoid insect resistance: Asana, Fan Fare, Perm Up, and Sevin. Fungicides were similarly applied throughout the growing season at weekly intervals. The fungicide program that was implemented consisted of the following fungicide products which were alternated during consecutive spray applications to avoid disease resistance: Bravo, Kocide, Pristine, Previcur Flex, Penncozeb, and Ranman; and applied on the following dates; 11, 18, and 25 June; 2, 9, 16, and 28 July; and 6 and 14 August.

There were four harvests for the standard size triploid watermelon study and 5 harvests for the mini triploid watermelon study.The first harvest for the standard size triploid test was 24 July. Subsequent harvests were 30 July; 13 and 20 August.The first harvest for the mini triploid trial was 15 July, and subsequent harvests were 22 and 29 July; and 5 and 13 August. Each fruit was harvested when ripe, weighed and categorized statistically by size category. For the triploid watermelon test, fruits were placed in the following categories; < 8.9 lb, 9.0-13.5lb, 13.6-17.5lb, 17.6-21.4lb, and 21.5+ lb. Fruits were considered marketable if they weighed at least 9 pounds. Fruit are often commercially marketed by number or count per bin with 9-13.5 lb. fruit termed 60-count, 13.6-17.5 lb. fruit termed 45-count, 17.6-21.4 lb. fruit termed 36-count, and fruit 21.5 lb. or larger termed 30-count. We use these weight designations to categorize the fruits harvested in this study. The most popular standard triploid fruit size has typically ranged from 12-16 lb. For the mini triploid trial, fruits were placed into the following categories; < 3lb, 3.0-3.9 lb, 4-7 lb, 7.1 –8.0 lb, 8.1 –9.0 lb, 9.1 –10 lb, and > 10 lb. Fruits were considered marketable if they were within the 3 –7 lb category. Evaluations of each watermelon entry included yield, fruit size, production earliness, soluble solids using a hand held digital refractometer, fruit shape and size, exterior and interior descriptions (rind pattern, length/width ratio, seed trace size, occurrence of hard seeds, hollow heart incidence and severity, and flesh color), and interior flesh firmness. Hard seed in triploid fruit was determined according to USDA standards. Fruits were cut longitudinally in half, then these halves were cut laterally. The number of hard seeds exposed on the cut surface were counted and recorded. This is the second year we have rated for hard seeds according to USDA standards. Flesh firmness was taken by using a Penetrometer FT 011 witha 7/16” plunger tip, (QA Supplies LLC, Norfolk, Va.), and recorded in pounds. Samples were obtained by cutting the center of the fruit from the stem to blossom end. Pressure was then taken in five areas of the fruit; stem end, top side, ground spot side, blossom end, and center. Pressure was not taken on fruit with hollow heart. The reported measures on flesh firmness are an average of the five sample areasand are an average value taken for five fruit per plotor 20 fruit per cultigen. Most of the quality measurements were taken at the first or second harvests.

2014 Trial Note: The 2014 growing season was optimal for watermelon production. Vine growth and fruit set were excellent as wasfruit quality among a majority of the cultivars evaluated. Unlike 2013, there was no crow damage observed within the trial which we attribute to vigorous vine growth that allowed the fruit to size and mature under the cover of the foliage. Overall, we would rate the 2014 trial as one of the best watermelon trials resulting in high yields and fruit quality.

Financial Support

In addition to seed companies, this program has been supported by the College of Life & Agricultural Sciences, North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.

Table 1. Triploid Red-Flesh Watermelon Seed Sources and Descriptions; 2014.

Cultivar

Company

Description

13-13077 K&B Dev. Indistinct, medium width, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; long round to blocky shape, sizes are mainly medium to large.
7197HQ Nunhems Indistinct, medium width, medium to dark green stripes on light green background; smaller fruit are mainly short and round, larger fruit are short blocky to blocky, fruit size ranges from small to large.
ACX6177 Nunhems ndistinct, medium wide, dark green stripes on light green background, mainly long round shape, fruit size is mainly medim.
Affirmed Sakata Indistinct, medium wide, dark green stripes on light greenbackground; shape is mainly short blocky to blocky large fruit;medium to large fruit size.
Bold Ruler Sakata Indistinct, medium wide, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; fruit are mainly short blocky oval, medium to large size.
Captivation Syngenta Indistinct, medium to wide, dark green stripes on light green background, mainly short blocky and blocky fruit, fruit size mainly medium to large, excellent rind/flesh deliniation, one fruit in seven with internal hard core in one rep.
Charismatic Sakata Indistinct, medium wide dark green stripes on medium green background, uniform, round fruit; uniformly small to medium size fruit; indistinct rind flesh delineation, fairly thick rind.
Crunchy Red Harris Moran Indistinct, medium wide, medium green stripes on a light greenbackground; large fruit are elongated, small fruit round; mainly largesize fruit; indistinct rind flesh delineation with many very thick areasof rind around fruit.
Cut Above Clifton Indistinct, medium wide, medium green stripes on a light greenbackground; uniform blocky fruit, mainly medium to large sized fruitwith good rind flesh delineation.
Declaration Nunhems Indistinct, medium width, medium to dark green stripes on lightgreen background, very uniform oval blocky fruit; very uniform mediumto large sized fruit; cookie cutter shape fruit; indistinct rind flesh delineation.
Exclamation Syngenta ndistinct, medium width,dark green stripes on light green background, mainly oval fruit; size varies from small to large; good rind flesh delineation; minimal rind thickness.
Fascination Syngenta ndistinct, medium width, dark green stripes on light green background; oval and blocky shapes; size mainly medium to large; very dark red flesh; distinct rind flesh interface.
Harvest Moon K&B Dev. Solid dark green with round yellow spots (“stars”) and an occasionallyDevelopmentlarger yellow area (generally circular in shape, “moon”); very darkprotruding narrow ribbing on fruit when ripe; uniform fruit shapewhich are round to long round; mainly medium size; variations in rindthickness around fruit; very thick rind; indistinct rind flesh interface.
Kingman Sakata Indistinct, medium wide, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; fairly consistent shape, short blocky to blocky; medium tolarge fruit size; lots of hollow heart, some severe; indistinct rind flesh interface.
Liberty Nunhems Indistinct, medium wide, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; mainly oval to short blocky fruit; some smaller fruit that aremore round; mainly medium to large fruit size; thick indistinct rind flesh interface.
Maxima Origene Indistinct, medium wide, very dark green stripes on light to medium greenbackground (background is darker green, giving rind a darker green color); mainly long round fruit; mainly medium size to medium large size fruit;excellent red color.
Melody Syngenta Indistinct, medium wide, very dark green stripes on medium greenbackground, (melon rind is darker than most and very attractive); fruit are mainly round or slightly longer than round and shape is extremely uniform; size was uinform and was small to medium; excellent rindflesh delineation; relatively thin rind.
ORS-12166 Origene Indistinct; wide, very dark stripes, medium green background (one of thedarker-rinded entries in 2014 trial); oval shaped; mainly medium sizedfruits; late maturity; excellent red flesh color
Premont Clifton Indistinct, medium width, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; large fruit are mostly oval/ or blocky while small fruit are mainlyround; large dichotomy in size, small to large size.
Secretariat Sakata Indistinct, medium width, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; blocky fruit with uniform shape; uniformly medium to largesize fruit; indistinct rind flesh delineation; good red flesh color.
SV0051WA Seminis Indistinct, medium to wide, dark green stripes on light green background;large fruit are mainly blocky, fruit size variable from medium to very large;a few small round fruit; thick rind, indistinct rind flesh delineation.
SV2757WA Seminis Indistinct, medium width, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; mainly short blocky/oval shape, a few small round fruit; fruit primarily medium size; excellent rind flesh delineation; excellentdeep red flesh color; relatively thin rinds.
SV7018WA Seminis Indistinct, narrow to medium wide, dark green stripes on light to mediumgreen background; mainly short blocky/oval shape; fairly uniform size,fruit sizes were medium to large.
SV8298WA Seminis ndistinct, medium to wide, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; uniformly blocky fruit; uniformly large-sized fruit; indisitinctrind flesh delineation.
SV0241WA Seminis Indistinct, medium to wide, dark green stripes on light to medium greenbackground; short blocky or oval fruit; variable size; small to medium fruit; fairly distinct rind flesh interface.
Sweet Polly Siegers Fairly distinct; medium to wide, very dark green stripes on light greenbackground; mainly blocky fruit with uniformity in shape; a few oval,medium to large size fruit; distinct rind flesh interface.
Traveler Harris Moran Indistinct, medium width, very dark green stripes on medium to darkgreen background; fairly uniform oval fruit; mainly small size with somemedium size fruit; distinct rind flesh delineation; good red flesh color.
Tri-X-313 Syngenta Indistinct, medium wide, medium to dark green stripes on light greenbackground; mainly oval or short blocky fruit; mainly medium to largerfruit size; indistinct rind flesh delineation; thick rind.
Troubadour Harris Moran Indistinct, medium width, very dark green stripes on medium to darkgreen background; uniform oval fruit; uniform small to medium size;indistinct rind flesh delineation.
UG 711 United Genetics Indistinct, medium width, very dark green stripes on medium to dark green background; uniform round fruit; small to medium size.

View photos of each variety evaluated in the 2014 standard triploid watermelon cultivar trial.

Table 2. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit weight, (cwt.), per acre by various weight classes including average fruit size1 for harvest ¹. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Cwt. (x100) by size

Total / Acre

Mkt / Acre²

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 7 39 6 8 10 71 64
7197HQ 4 29 33 9 0 74 70
ACX6177 0 29 21 0 0 51 51
Affirmed 11 55 58 33 0 157 146
Bold Ruler 3 70 55 0 0 128 125
Captivation 3 47 38 8 19 115 112
Charismatic 4 84 58 25 9 180 176
Crunchy Red 0 0 7 0 10 16 16
Cut Above 3 14 6 0 0 23 20
Declaration 13 26 34 8 0 81 68
Exclamation 4 19 19 16 0 58 54
Fascination 0 15 21 0 0 36 36
Harvest Moon 7 37 60 0 0 104 97
Kingman 6 37 35 16 0 94 87
Liberty 9 9 27 0 0 46 36
Maxima 0 10 8 0 0 18 18
Melody 6 65 67 8 0 146 140
ORS-12166 0 6 7 0 0 13 13
Premont 0 29 15 0 0 44 44
Secretariat 6 69 98 16 0 190 184
SV0051WA 0 27 34 8 0 69 69
SV2757WA 7 40 25 0 0 73 65
SV7018WA 4 21 40 16 0 81 77
SV8298WA 0 11 20 34 0 65 65
SV0241WA 0 60 25 0 0 86 86
Sweet Polly 6 10 8 25 0 48 42
Traveler 11 65 7 0 0 83 72
Tri-X-313 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Troubadour 6 46 13 0 0 65 59
UG 711 13 83 50 8 0 153 140
Average 4 35 30 8 2 79 74
LSD (0.05) 15 37 41 37 43 67 65

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 3. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Bin boxes per acre by various various weight classes including average fruit size¹ for harvest ¹. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Bin boxes / acre by size grade²

Mkt / Acre3

% Total Yield by Count

Avg lb./ fruit

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

60

45

36

30

13-13077 0.9 5.6 0.9 1.2 1.4 9.1 14 12 9 56 12.3
7197HQ 0.6 4.1 4.7 1.2 0.0 10.0 0 12 45 39 13.9
ACX6177 0.0 4.2 3.0 0.0 0.0 7.3 0 0 42 58 13.4
Affirmed 1.5 7.8 8.3 4.7 0.0 20.9 0 21 37 35 13.5
Bold Ruler 0.5 10.0 7.8 0.0 0.0 17.8 0 0 43 55 12.9
Captivation 0.5 6.7 5.4 1.1 2.7 15.9 16 7 33 41 14.0
Charismatic 0.6 11.9 8.3 3.5 1.3 25.1 5 14 32 47 13.7
Crunchy Red 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.4 2.3 58 0 42 0 18.2
Cut Above 0.4 2.0 0.9 0.0 0.0 2.9 0 0 27 60 11.9
Declaration 1.9 3.7 4.8 1.2 0.0 9.7 0 10 42 32 13.2
Exclamation 0.5 2.7 2.7 2.3 0.0 7.7 0 28 33 33 13.1
Fascination 0.0 2.2 3.0 0.0 0.0 5.2 0 0 58 42 14.3
Harvest Moon 1.1 5.2 8.6 0.0 0.0 13.8 0 0 58 35 13.3
Kingman 0.9 5.3 4.9 2.3 0.0 12.5 0 17 37 39 13.4
Bold Ruler 1.4 1.3 3.9 0.0 0.0 5.2 0 0 60 19 11.7
Maxima 0.0 1.5 1.1 0.0 0.0 2.6 0 0 42 57 12.9
Melody 0.8 9.3 9.6 1.2 0.0 20.0 0 6 46 44 12.8
ORS-12166 0.0 0.8 1.1 0.0 0.0 1.9 0 0 56 44 15.5
Premont 0.0 4.2 2.1 0.0 0.0 6.3 0 0 33 67 13.2
Secretariat 0.9 9.9 14.0 2.3 0.0 26.2 0 9 52 37 13.5
SV0051WA 0.0 3.9 4.8 1.1 0.0 9.9 0 11 49 40 14.6
SV2757WA 1.1 5.7 3.6 0.0 0.0 9.3 0 0 35 55 11.9
SV7018WA 0.5 3.0 5.7 2.3 0.0 11.0 0 20 49 26 15.2
SV8298WA 0.0 1.6 2.9 4.8 0.0 9.3 0 52 31 17 16.6
SV0241WA 0.0 8.6 3.6 0.0 0.0 12.2 0 0 30 70 12.2
Sweet Polly 0.8 1.4 1.1 3.5 0.0 6.0 0 52 16 21 14.2
Traveler 1.6 9.4 0.9 0.0 0.0 10.3 0 0 8 78 11.0
Tri-X-313 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Troubadour 0.8 6.5 1.9 0.0 0.0 8.4 0 0 21 70 11.7
UG 711 1.9 11.8 7.1 1.1 0.0 20.0 0 5 32 54 11.7
Average 0.6 5.0 4.3 1.1 0.2 10.6 3 9 37 42 13.0
LSD (0.05) 2.1 5.3 5.8 5.3 6.2 9.3 – – – – – – – – – –

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Values were determined based upon 700 lb bin box weight.
³ Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 4. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit number for harvest¹ by various weight classes (per acre) including fruit number per plant. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank¹

Fruit size category

Total Number

Total Mkt. No.2

Fruit No./ Plant

< 9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 15 87 349 44 44 44 566 479 0.3
7197HQ 12 44 261 218 44 0 566 523 0.3
ACX6177 19 0 261 131 0 0 392 392 0.2
Affirmed 4 131 479 392 174 0 1176 1045 0.7
Bold Ruler 6 44 610 349 0 0 1002 958 0.6
Captivation 7 44 436 261 44 44 828 784 0.5
Charismatic 2 44 697 392 131 44 1307 1263 0.8
Crunchy Red 29 0 0 44 0 44 87 87 0.1
Cut Above 26 44 131 44 0 0 218 174 0.1
Declaration 15 174 218 218 44 0 653 479 0.4
Exclamation 19 44 174 131 87 0 436 392 0.3
Fascination 23 0 131 131 0 0 261 261 0.2
Harvest Moon 8 87 305 292 0 0 784 697 0.5
Kingman 10 87 305 218 87 0 697 610 0.4
Liberty 23 131 87 174 0 0 392 261 0.2
Maxima 27 0 87 44 0 0 131 131 0.1
Melody 4 87 566 436 44 0 1133 1045 0.7
ORS-12166 28 0 44 44 0 0 87 87 0.1
Premont 22 0 261 87 0 0 349 349 0.2
Secretariat 1 87 610 653 87 0 1438 1350 0.8
SV0051WA 15 0 218 218 44 0 479 479 0.3
SV2757WA 12 87 349 174 0 0 610 523 0.4
SV7018WA 12 44 174 261 87 0 566 523 0.3
SV8298WA 19 0 87 131 174 0 392 392 0.2
SV0241WA 8 0 523 174 0 0 697 697 0.4
Sweet Polly 23 87 87 44 131 0 349 261 0.2
Traveler 10 174 566 44 0 0 784 610 0.5
Tri-X-313 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Troubadour 15 87 392 87 0 0 566 479 0.3
UG 711 3 174 741 349 44 0 1307 1133 0.8
Average – – 60 305 193 42 6 608 549 0.3
LSD(0.05) – – 197 333 261 195 147 508 467 0.3

¹ Ranked according to total marketable number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 5. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit weight, (cwt.), per acre by various weight classes including average fruit size¹ for harvest 2. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Cwt. (x100) by size

Total / Acre

Mkt / Acre²

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 4 53 79 33 0 169 165
7197HQ 2 57 74 27 0 160 158
ACX6177 0 40 48 58 0 147 147
Affirmed 7 37 53 48 9 154 147
Bold Ruler 7 31 42 41 0 121 114
Captivation 6 84 82 25 30 227 221
Charismatic 2 28 81 24 11 146 144
Crunchy Red 4 35 83 41 0 163 159
Cut Above 7 43 78 32 0 161 153
Declaration 0 37 54 41 0 132 132
Exclamation 3 63 102 60 40 267 264
Fascination 0 16 53 84 0 153 153
Harvest Moon 0 61 59 41 0 162 162
Kingman 0 43 81 40 10 175 175
Liberty 12 57 75 57 9 210 198
Maxima 0 8 15 34 10 67 67
Melody 0 59 91 8 10 168 168
ORS-12166 0 17 20 51 10 98 98
Premont 13 64 76 26 19 197 185
Secretariat 10 32 80 42 9 174 163
SV0051WA 11 37 60 69 43 221 210
SV2757WA 20 65 48 16 0 149 129
SV7018WA 4 48 75 67 10 204 201
SV8298WA 4 25 43 75 52 198 195
SV0241WA 18 106 80 8 0 212 194
Sweet Polly 6 77 79 66 0 228 222
Traveler 5 90 96 8 0 199 194
Tri-X-313 7 54 85 67 31 245 237
Troubadour 0 71 52 17 0 140 140
UG 711 4 62 90 0 0 156 152
Average 5 50 68 40 10 173 168
LSD (0.05) 18 61 66 49 47 92 92

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants / plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 6. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Bin boxes per acre by various various weight classes including average fruit size¹ for harvest 2. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Bin boxes / acre by size grade2

Mkt / Acre3

% Total Yield by Count

Avg lb./ fruit

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

60

45

36

30

13-13077 0.5 7.6 11.3 4.7 0.0 23.6 0 19 47 32 13.8
7197HQ 0.3 8.2 10.5 3.8 0.0 22.5 0 17 46 36 14.6
ACX6177 0.0 5.8 6.9 8.3 0.0 21.0 0 40 33 28 15.3
Affirmed 1.0 5.2 7.5 6.8 1.4 21.0 6 31 34 24 14.7
Bold Ruler 1.0 4.5 5.9 5.8 0.0 16.2 0 34 34 26 14.2
Captivation 0.9 12.1 11.7 3.6 4.3 31.5 13 11 36 37 14.1
Charismatic 0.3 4.0 11.6 3.4 1.5 20.5 7 16 56 19 15.0
Crunchy Red 0.6 5.0 11.8 5.9 0.0 22.7 0 25 51 22 14.5
Cut Above 1.1 6.2 11.1 4.6 0.0 21.9 0 20 48 27 13.9
Declaration 0.0 5.3 7.7 5.9 0.0 18.8 0 31 41 28 15.8
Exclamation 0.4 8.9 14.5 8.5 5.8 37.7 15 22 38 23 15.4
Fascination 0.0 2.3 7.5 12.0 0.0 21.9 0 55 34 10 16.5
Harvest Moon 0.0 8.8 8.5 5.9 0.0 23.1 0 25 37 38 14.4
Kingman 0.0 6.2 11.6 5.8 1.4 25.0 6 23 47 25 15.5
Liberty 1.8 8.1 10.7 8.1 1.3 28.3 4 27 36 27 14.8
Maxima 0.0 1.1 2.1 4.9 1.5 9.6 16 51 22 12 17.0
Melody 0.0 8.4 13.1 1.1 1.4 24.1 6 5 54 35 13.6
ORS-12166 0.0 2.4 2.9 7.3 1.4 14.0 10 52 21 17 16.7
Premont 1.8 9.1 10.9 3.7 2.7 26.4 10 13 39 32 14.3
Secretariat 1.5 4.6 11.5 5.9 1.4 23.3 5 24 46 18 14.5
SV0051WA 1.6 5.3 8.6 9.8 6.2 30.0 20 31 27 17 16.6
SV2757WA 2.9 9.3 6.8 2.3 0.0 18.4 0 11 32 44 12.1
SV7018WA 0.5 6.9 10.7 9.6 1.5 28.7 5 33 37 24 15.6
SV8298WA 0.5 3.6 6.2 10.7 7.4 27.8 26 38 22 13 17.7
SV0241WA 2.6 15.1 11.4 1.2 0.0 27.7 0 4 38 50 12.6
Sweet Polly 0.9 11.0 11.3 9.4 0.0 31.7 0 29 35 34 14.0
Traveler 0.7 12.8 13.8 1.1 0.0 27.7 0 4 48 45 13.1
Tri-X-313 1.1 7.7 12.2 9.6 4.4 33.9 13 27 35 22 15.5
Troubadour 0.0 10.2 7.4 2.4 0.0 20.0 0 12 37 51 13.6
UG 711 0.5 8.9 12.9 0.0 0.0 21.7 0 0 58 40 13.0
Average 0.7 7.2 9.7 5.7 1.4 24.0 5 24 39 28 14.7
LSD (0.05) 2.5 8.8 9.4 7.0 6.7 13.2 – – – – – – – – – –

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Values were determined based upon 700 lb bin box weight.
³ Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 7. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit number for harvest 2 by various weight classes (per acre) including fruit number per plant. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Fruit size category

Total Number

Total Mkt. No.²

Fruit No./ Plant

Rank¹

< 9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 12 44 479 523 174 0 1220 1176 0.7
7197HQ 16 44 479 479 131 0 1133 1089 0.7
ACX6177 22 0 349 305 305 0 958 958 0.6
Affirmed 22 87 305 349 261 44 1045 958 0.6
Bold Ruler 28 87 261 261 218 0 828 741 0.5
Captivation 2 87 741 523 131 131 1612 1525 0.9
Charismatic 25 44 218 523 131 44 958 915 0.6
Crunchy Red 18 44 305 523 218 0 1089 1045 0.6
Cut Above 18 87 349 523 174 0 1133 1045 0.7
Declaration 27 0 305 349 218 0 871 981 0.5
Exclamation 1 44 523 653 305 174 1699 1655 1.0
Fascination 25 0 131 349 436 0 915 915 0.5
Harvest Moon 13 0 523 392 218 0 1133 1133 0.7
Kingman 13 0 349 523 218 44 1133 1133 0.7
Liberty 7 174 479 479 305 44 1481 1307 0.9
Maxima 30 0 87 87 174 44 392 392 0.2
Melody 10 0 523 610 44 44 1220 1220 0.7
ORS-12166 29 0 131 131 261 44 566 566 0.3
Premont 8 174 566 479 131 87 1438 1263 0.8
Secretariat 18 131 261 523 218 44 1176 1045 0.7
SV0051WA 10 131 305 392 349 174 1350 1220 0.8
SV2757WA 22 261 566 305 87 0 1220 958 0.7
SV7018WA 8 44 392 479 349 44 1307 1263 0.8
SV8298WA 16 44 218 261 392 218 1133 1089 0.7
SV0241WA 5 218 915 523 44 0 1699 1481 1.0
Sweet Polly 2 87 653 523 349 0 1612 1525 0.9
Traveler 6 87 784 610 44 0 1525 1438 0.9
Tri-X-313 2 87 479 566 349 131 1612 1525 0.9
Troubadour 18 0 610 349 87 0 1045 1045 0.6
UG 711 13 44 566 566 0 0 1176 1133 0.7
Average – – 68 428 439 211 44 1189 1125 0.7
LSD(0.05) – – 224 523 420 255 201 673 659 0.4

¹ Ranked according to total marketable number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 8. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit weight, (cwt.), per acre by various weight classes including average fruit size¹ for harvest 3. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Cwt. (x100) by size

Total / Acre

Mkt / Acre²

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 14 108 118 0 50 348 334
7197HQ 5 97 141 100 56 398 393
ACX6177 29 71 132 91 63 387 357
Affirmed 15 78 115 68 0 276 261
Bold Ruler 27 71 117 58 0 273 246
Captivation 20 142 86 33 0 282 262
Charismatic 15 102 88 82 20 306 291
Crunchy Red 26 62 171 143 40 441 415
Cut Above 42 103 158 15 20 338 296
Declaration 27 108 91 75 20 320 293
Exclamation 15 114 99 49 39 316 301
Fascination 34 111 121 65 51 382 348
Harvest Moon 25 82 108 58 10 281 257
Kingman 24 81 118 17 20 260 236
Liberty 20 103 117 82 20 342 322
Maxima 13 88 169 156 111 538 525
Melody 21 120 99 58 9 308 287
ORS-12166 26 170 135 107 53 491 465
Premont 29 143 143 107 11 434 404
Secretariat 10 41 68 50 9 178 168
SV0051WA 4 58 101 49 42 254 250
SV2757WA 41 145 139 57 0 382 340
SV7018WA 22 124 102 57 9 315 293
SV8298WA 26 42 87 69 125 350 324
SV0241WA 43 146 94 25 0 307 265
Sweet Polly 13 123 101 50 30 316 303
Traveler 22 70 86 52 0 230 208
Tri-X-313 23 82 135 90 20 351 327
Troubadour 23 130 104 49 0 307 283
UG 711 31 82 85 33 0 230 199
Average 23 100 114 65 28 331 308
LSD (0.05) 24 80 93 78 71 188 185

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 9. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Bin boxes per acre by various various weight classes including average fruit size¹ for harvest 3. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Bin boxes / acre by size grade²

Mkt / Acre3

% Total Yield by Count

Avg lb./ fruit

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

60

45

36

30

13-13077 2.0 15.4 16.9 0.0 7.2 47.7 14 0 34 31 14.0
7197HQ 0.7 13.9 20.1 14.3 7.9 56.2 14 25 35 24 15.2
ACX6177 4.2 10.1 18.9 12.9 9.1 51.0 16 23 34 18 14.6
Affirmed 2.1 11.2 16.5 9.6 0.0 37.3 0 24 42 28 13.5
Bold Ruler 3.8 10.2 16.7 8.2 0.0 35.2 0 21 43 26 13.1
Captivation 2.9 20.3 12.3 4.8 0.0 37.4 0 12 31 50 12.7
Charismatic 2.2 14.6 12.5 11.7 2.8 41.6 6 27 29 33 13.5
Crunchy Red 3.7 8.8 24.5 20.4 5.7 59.3 9 32 39 14 15.2
Cut Above 6.0 14.7 22.5 2.2 2.8 42.2 6 5 47 31 12.8
Declaration 3.9 15.4 13.0 10.7 2.8 41.9 6 23 28 34 13.6
Exclamation 2.2 16.3 14.1 7.1 5.6 43.0 12 16 31 36 14.4
Fascination 4.9 15.9 17.3 9.3 7.3 49.7 13 17 32 29 13.9
Harvest Moon 3.5 11.7 15.4 8.2 1.4 36.7 3 20 38 29 13.3
Kingman 3.4 11.6 16.9 2.5 2.8 33.7 8 7 45 31 13.5
Liberty 2.9 14.7 16.8 11.7 2.9 46.0 6 24 34 30 13.4
Maxima 1.9 12.6 24.1 22.4 15.9 75.0 21 29 31 16 16.1
Melody 3.0 17.2 14.2 8.3 1.4 41.0 3 19 32 39 12.8
ORS-12166 3.8 24.3 19.3 15.3 7.6 66.4 11 22 27 35 14.5
Premont 4.2 20.5 20.4 15.3 1.5 57.8 2 25 33 33 13.8
Secretariat 1.5 5.9 9.7 7.1 1.4 24.0 5 28 38 23 13.9
SV0051WA 0.6 8.3 14.5 7.0 6.0 35.7 16 19 40 23 15.6
SV2757WA 5.9 20.6 19.8 8.1 0.0 48.6 0 15 36 38 12.6
SV7018WA 3.2 17.7 14.6 8.2 1.4 41.8 3 18 32 39 13.3
SV8298WA 3.7 6.0 12.5 9.9 17.9 46.3 36 20 25 12 16.2
SV0241WA 6.1 20.8 13.4 3.6 0.0 37.8 0 8 31 47 11.0
Sweet Polly 1.8 17.6 14.4 7.2 4.2 43.4 9 16 32 39 13.9
Traveler 3.2 10.0 12.3 7.4 0.0 29.7 0 23 38 30 12.9
Tri-X-313 3.3 11.8 19.2 12.8 2.9 46.7 6 26 38 24 14.3
Troubadour 3.3 18.6 14.8 7.0 0.0 40.5 0 16 34 43 12.8
UG 711 4.5 11.6 12.1 4.7 0.0 28.5 0 14 37 35 11.5
Average 3.3 14.3 16.3 9.3 3.9 44.1 8 19 35 31 13.7
LSD (0.05) 3.4 11.5 13.3 11.2 10.2 26.5 – – – – – – – – – –

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Values were determined based upon 700 lb bin box weight.
³ Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 10. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit number for harvest 3 by various weight classes (per acre) including fruit number per plant. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank¹

Fruit size category

Total Number

Total Mkt. No.²

Fruit No./ Plant

< 9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 8 218 915 784 305 218 2439 2222 1.4
7197HQ 5 87 871 915 523 218 2614 2527 1.5
ACX6177 8 392 610 871 479 261 2614 2222 1.5
Affirmed 22 218 697 741 349 0 2004 1786 1.2
Bold Ruler 25 392 653 741 305 0 2091 1699 1.2
Captivation 20 261 1220 566 174 0 2222 1960 1.3
Charismatic 17 218 958 566 436 87 2265 2047 1.3
Crunchy Red 4 349 566 1089 741 174 2919 2570 1.7
Cut Above 12 566 915 1002 87 87 2657 2091 1.5
Declaration 20 349 915 566 392 87 2309 1960 1.3
Exclamation 12 218 1002 653 261 174 2309 2091 1.3
Fascination 7 479 915 784 349 218 2744 2265 1.6
Harvest Moon 22 349 741 697 305 44 2134 1786 1.2
Kingman 26 305 697 784 87 87 1960 1655 1.1
Liberty 8 305 915 784 436 87 2527 2222 1.5
Maxima 1 174 784 1089 828 436 3311 3136 1.9
Melody 17 305 1045 653 305 44 2352 2047 1.4
ORS-12166 2 392 1438 871 566 218 3485 3093 2.0
Premont 3 392 1263 915 566 44 3180 2788 1.8
Secretariat 30 174 349 436 261 44 1263 1089 0.7
SV0051WA 27 44 479 653 261 174 1612 1568 0.9
SV2757WA 6 566 1263 915 305 0 3049 2483 1.8
SV7018WA 12 305 1089 653 305 44 2396 2091 1.4
SV8298WA 22 349 349 566 349 523 2134 1786 1.2
SV0241WA 17 697 1307 610 131 0 2744 2047 1.6
Sweet Polly 12 174 1045 653 261 131 2265 2091 1.3
Traveler 29 305 610 566 261 0 1742 1438 1.0
Tri-X-313 11 305 697 871 479 87 2439 2134 1.4
Troubadour 12 305 1133 697 261 0 2396 2091 1.4
UG 711 28 436 741 566 174 0 1917 1481 1.1
Average – – 321 873 742 351 116 2403 2082 1.4
LSD(0.05) – – 333 703 603 411 297 1276 1205 0.7

¹ Ranked according to total marketable number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 11. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit weight, (cwt.), per acre by  various weight classes including average fruit size¹ for harvest 4. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Cwt. (x100) by size

Total / Acre

Mkt / Acre²

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 34 20 20 8 0 81 48
7197HQ 14 32 12 9 10 77 63
ACX6177 19 34 0 17 11 80 62
Affirmed 25 48 0 8 0 81 56
Bold Ruler 23 29 7 9 0 68 45
Captivation 28 19 19 0 0 65 37
Charismatic 9 25 46 0 0 80 71
Crunchy Red 11 31 28 16 0 86 76
Cut Above 30 30 13 0 0 73 43
Declaration 15 37 14 0 0 67 52
Exclamation 12 25 20 0 0 57 45
Fascination 27 23 21 8 0 79 52
Harvest Moon 30 19 26 16 0 91 61
Kingman 20 30 0 8 0 59 39
Liberty 17 45 20 0 0 82 65
Maxima 20 42 39 9 0 111 91
Melody 17 59 33 8 0 117 100
ORS-12166 20 39 58 16 11 145 125
Premont 25 27 8 32 9 101 76
Secretariat 18 17 14 0 0 48 31
SV0051WA 23 21 28 0 10 81 58
SV2757WA 18 18 0 0 0 36 18
SV7018WA 22 65 19 17 0 124 101
SV8298WA 2 19 35 24 0 81 78
SV0241WA 26 20 0 0 0 46 20
Sweet Polly 6 28 0 0 0 35 28
Traveler 30 22 0 0 10 62 32
Tri-X-313 9 10 14 0 10 43 34
Troubadour 30 23 12 0 0 65 35
UG 711 12 31 13 0 39 95 83
Average 20 30 17 7 4 77 57
LSD (0.05) 25 38 41 34 48 75 69

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 12. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Bin boxes per acre by various various weight classes including average fruit size¹ for harvest 4. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Bin boxes / acre by size grade²

Mkt / Acre3

% Total Yield by Count

Avg lb./ fruit

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

60

45

36

30

13-13077 4.8 2.8 2.8 1.2 0.0 6.8 0 10 24 24 9.9
7197HQ 2.1 4.6 1.8 1.3 1.4 9.0 13 11 16 41 9.8
ACX6177 2.7 4.8 0.0 2.4 1.6 8.8 14 21 0 42 11.2
Affirmed 3.6 6.9 0.0 1.1 0.0 8.0 0 10 0 59 10.3
Bold Ruler 3.3 4.2 1.0 1.2 0.0 6.4 0 13 10 43 10.3
Captivation 4.0 2.7 2.6 0.0 0.0 5.3 0 0 29 29 8.5
Charismatic 1.3 3.6 6.6 0.0 0.0 10.2 0 0 57 31 11.6
Crunchy Red 1.5 4.5 4.0 2.3 0.0 10.8 0 19 32 36 11.5
Cut Above 4.3 4.2 1.9 0.0 0.0 6.1 0 0 18 41 8.8
Declaration 2.2 5.3 2.0 0.0 0.0 7.4 0 0 21 56 10.2
Exclamation 1.7 3.6 2.8 0.0 0.0 6.4 0 0 34 44 10.1
Fascination 3.8 3.2 3.1 1.1 0.0 7.4 0 10 27 29 10.9
Harvest Moon 4.2 2.8 3.8 2.2 0.0 8.8 0 17 29 21 10.6
Kingman 2.9 4.3 0.0 1.2 0.0 5.5 0 14 0 52 9.0
Liberty 2.4 6.4 2.9 0.0 0.0 9.3 0 0 25 55 10.5
Maxima 2.8 6.0 5.6 1.3 0.0 13.0 0 8 36 38 11.4
Melody 2.4 8.4 4.7 1.1 0.0 14.3 0 7 28 50 10.8
ORS-12166 2.8 5.6 8.3 2.3 1.6 17.8 8 11 40 27 12.9
Premont 3.6 3.8 1.1 4.6 1.3 10.8 9 32 8 26 13.4
Secretariat 2.5 2.5 1.9 0.0 0.0 4.4 0 0 28 35 8.6
SV0051WA 3.3 2.9 4.0 0.0 1.4 8.3 12 0 34 25 10.8
SV2757WA 2.6 2.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 0 0 0 50 8.5
SV7018WA 3.2 9.3 2.7 2.4 0.0 14.5 0 14 15 53 10.0
SV8298WA 0.4 2.7 5.1 3.4 0.0 11.2 0 29 44 24 14.1
SV0241WA 3.6 2.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.9 0 0 0 45 9.9
Sweet Polly 0.9 4.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.1 0 0 0 82 10.0
Traveler 4.3 3.2 0.0 0.0 1.4 4.6 16 0 0 36 9.2
Tri-X-313 1.3 1.5 1.9 0.0 1.4 4.8 22 0 32 24 11.1
Troubadour 4.2 3.3 1.8 0.0 0.0 5.0 0 0 19 35 9.0
UG 711 1.7 4.4 1.9 0.0 5.6 11.9 41 0 14 32 13.3
Average 2.8 4.2 2.5 1.0 0.5 8.2 5 8 21 40 10.5
LSD (0.05) 3.6 5.4 5.9 4.8 6.9 9.8 – – – – – – – – – –

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Ranked according to total marketable weight.
³ Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 13. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit number for harvest 4 by various weight classes (per acre) including fruit number per plant. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank¹

Fruit size category

Total Number

Total Mkt. No.²

Fruit No./ Plant

< 9.0

9.0   – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 18 436 174 131 44 0 784 349 0.5
7197HQ 9 218 305 87 44 44 697 479 0.4
ACX6177 12 261 305 0 87 44 697 436 0.4
Affirmed 9 349 436 0 44 0 828 479 0.5
Bold Ruler 18 305 261 44 44 0 653 349 0.4
Captivation 23 392 174 131 0 0 697 305 0.4
Charismatic 7 131 218 305 0 0 653 523 0.4
Crunchy Red 5 131 305 174 87 0 697 566 0.4
Cut Above 18 436 261 87 0 0 784 349 0.5
Declaration 12 218 349 87 0 0 653 436 0.4
Exclamation 18 174 218 131 0 0 523 349 0.3
Fascination 16 349 218 131 44 0 741 392 0.4
Harvest Moon 12 392 174 174 87 0 828 436 0.5
Kingman 18 305 305 0 44 0 653 349 0.4
Liberty 5 218 436 131 0 0 784 566 0.5
Maxima 4 261 392 261 44 0 958 697 0.6
Melody 3 261 523 218 44 0 1045 784 0.6
ORS-12166 1 261 349 392 87 44 1133 871 0.7
Premont 9 349 218 44 174 44 828 479 0.5
Secretariat 25 261 174 87 0 0 523 261 0.3
SV0051WA 16 305 174 174 0 44 697 392 0.4
SV2757WA 29 261 174 0 0 0 436 174 0.3
SV7018WA 2 305 610 131 87 0 1133 828 0.7
SV8298WA 7 44 174 218 131 0 566 523 0.3
SV0241WA 29 349 174 0 0 0 523 174 0.3
Sweet Polly 25 87 261 0 0 0 349 261 0.2
Traveler 25 392 218 0 0 44 653 261 0.4
Tri-X-313 28 131 87 87 0 44 349 218 0.2
Troubadour 23 392 218 87 0 0 697 305 0.4
UG 711 12 174 305 87 0 44 610 436 0.4
Average – – 272 273 113 36 12 706 434 0.4
LSD(0.05) – – 349 344 271 179 115 635 495 0.4

¹ Ranked according to total marketable number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 14. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Cumulative weight, (cwt.), per acre of fruit harvested by various weight classes including average fruit size¹. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Rank²

Cwt. (x100) by size

Total / Acre

Mkt / Acre³

<9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 14 58 221 223 107 60 669 611
7197HQ 5 25 215 259 144 65 709 684
ACX6177 13 48 174 202 166 75 665 616
Affirmed 15 58 218 226 156 10 668 610
Bold Ruler 27 60 202 221 107 0 590 530
Captivation 11 58 292 224 66 49 689 632
Charismatic 6 30 239 273 130 40 712 682
Crunchy Red 8 41 128 289 200 49 707 666
Cut Above 29 83 190 255 48 20 594 512
Declaration 25 55 208 193 124 20 600 545
Exclamation 9 34 221 239 125 79 698 664
Fascination 18 61 165 216 157 51 650 590
Harvest Moon 20 62 199 253 115 10 638 576
Kingman 26 50 191 234 82 30 587 537
Liberty 12 59 213 240 138 30 680 621
Maxima 2 33 149 231 200 121 734 701
Melody 4 44 303 291 83 19 739 696
ORS-12166 3 46 232 221 174 74 747 701
Premont 1 67 263 242 165 39 776 709
Secretariat 24 44 160 259 108 19 590 546
SV0051WA 19 38 143 223 126 95 625 587
SV2757WA 23 87 267 212 73 0 639 552
SV7018WA 7 52 259 236 158 20 724 672
SV8298WA 10 32 98 186 201 177 694 662
SV0241WA 22 86 332 199 33 0 651 565
Sweet Polly 17 31 239 188 141 30 627 596
Traveler 30 68 247 189 60 10 575 506
Tri-X-313 16 40 147 233 157 61 638 598
Troubadour 28 59 270 181 66 0 576 517
UG 711 21 60 257 238 41 39 634 574
Average – – 52 215 229 122 43 661 609
LSD (0.05) – – 37 97 103 104 84 167 172

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploid
plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Ranked according to total marketable weight.
³ Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 15. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Bin boxes per acre by various weight classes including average fruit size¹. Clayton, N.C. 2014.

Cultivar

Bin boxes/acre

% Total Yield by Count

Avg lb./ fruit

<9.0

9.0  – 13.5

13.6  –  17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

Mkt / Acre²

60

45

36

30

13-13077 8.3 31.5 31.9 15.2 8.6 87.3 34 34 15 9 13.3
7197HQ 3.6 30.8 37.1 20.6 9.3 97.7 32 37 19 9 14.2
ACX6177 6.9 24.9 28.8 23.7 10.7 88.1 27 32 24 8 14.0
Affirmed 8.3 31.1 32.3 22.3 1.4 87.1 33 34 23 2 13.3
Bold Ruler 8.6 28.9 31.5 15.3 0.0 75.7 36 37 17 0 12.9
Captivation 8.3 41.8 32.0 9.5 6.9 90.2 42 32 10 7 12.9
Charismatic 4.3 34.2 39.0 18.6 5.7 97.4 34 38 18 6 13.7
Crunchy Red 5.8 18.3 41.2 28.6 7.0 95.1 18 41 28 7 14.8
Cut Above 11.8 27.1 36.4 6.8 2.8 73.1 33 42 8 3 12.4
Declaration 7.9 29.7 27.6 17.7 2.8 77.8 35 32 20 4 13.3
Exclamation 4.8 31.5 34.1 17.8 11.4 94.9 32 34 17 11 14.2
Fascination 8.7 23.5 30.9 22.5 7.3 84.2 25 34 24 7 14.0
Harvest Moon 8.8 28.5 36.1 16.4 1.4 82.3 31 40 18 2 13.1
Kingman 7.1 27.3 33.5 11.7 4.3 76.7 32 41 13 5 13.1
Liberty 8.5 30.5 34.3 19.8 4.2 88.8 32 35 19 4 13.1
Maxima 4.7 21.3 33.0 28.5 17.4 100.1 22 30 27 16 15.1
Melody 6.2 43.3 41.6 11.8 2.8 99.4 41 40 11 3 12.9
ORS-12166 6.6 33.1 31.6 24.9 10.6 100.1 30 29 23 11 14.4
Premont 9.6 37.6 34.5 23.6 5.6 101.2 34 30 22 5 13.5
Secretariat 6.3 22.8 37.0 15.4 2.7 78.0 27 44 18 3 13.4
SV0051WA 5.5 20.5 31.9 17.9 13.5 83.9 24 37 20 13 15.1
SV2757WA 12.4 38.1 30.3 10.4 0.0 78.9 42 33 11 0 12.0
SV7018WA 7.4 36.9 33.7 22.5 2.8 96.0 37 32 21 3 13.4
SV8298WA 4.6 14.0 26.6 28.7 25.2 94.6 16 26 28 26 16.3
SV0241WA 12.3 47.4 28.4 4.8 0.0 80.7 51 31 5 0 11.5
Sweet Polly 4.4 34.1 26.8 20.1 4.2 85.2 39 30 20 4 13.6
Traveler 9.8 35.3 27.0 8.6 1.4 72.3 45 31 10 2 12.2
Tri-X-313 5.7 21.0 33.3 22.4 8.7 85.4 24 36 24 9 14.6
Troubadour 8.4 38.6 25.9 9.4 0.0 73.9 46 32 11 0 12.2
UG 711 8.6 36.7 34.0 5.8 5.6 82.1 41 38 6 5 12.6
Average 7.5 30.7 32.7 17.4 6.1 86.9 33 35 18 6 13.5
LSD (0.05) 5.3 13.9 14.7 15.3 12.0 24.5 15 14 13 11 1.5

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. SP-6 pollinizers were interplanted after triploidplants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit weights for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number. 
² Includes fruit ≥ 9 pounds.

Table 16. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Fruit number for cumulative harvests, (4), by various weight classes (per acre) including fruit number per plant. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank¹

Fruit size category

Total Number

Total Mkt. No.²

Fruit No./ Plant

< 9.0

9.0 – 13.5

13.6 – 17.5

17.6 – 21.4

> 21.5

13-13077 14 784 1917 1481 566 261 5009 4225 2.9
7197HQ 5 392 1917 1699 741 261 5009 4617 2.9
ACX6177 19 653 1525 1307 871 305 4661 4008 2.7
Affirmed 12 784 1917 1481 828 44 5053 4269 2.9
Bold Ruler 24 828 1786 1394 566 0 4574 3746 2.6
Captivation 7 784 2570 1481 349 174 5358 4574 3.1
Charismatic 3 436 2091 1786 697 174 5184 4748 3.0
Crunchy Red 12 523 1176 1830 1045 218 4792 4269 2.8
Cut Above 29 1133 1655 1655 261 87 4792 3659 2.8
Declaration 24 741 1786 1220 653 87 4487 3746 2.6
Exclamation 8 479 1917 1568 653 349 4966 4487 2.9
Fascination 22 828 1394 1394 828 218 4661 3833 2.7
Harvest Moon 18 828 1742 1655 610 44 4879 4051 2.8
Kingman 24 697 1655 1525 436 131 4443 3746 2.6
Liberty 10 828 1917 1568 741 131 5184 4356 3.0
Maxima 10 436 1350 1481 1045 479 4792 4356 2.8
Melody 1 653 2657 1917 436 87 5750 5097 3.3
ORS-12166 5 653 1960 1438 915 305 5271 4617 3.0
Premont 2 915 2309 1525 871 174 5794 4879 3.3
Secretariat 24 653 1394 1699 566 87 4400 3746 2.5
SV0051WA 29 479 1176 1438 653 392 4138 3659 2.4
SV2757WA 16 1176 2352 1394 392 0 5314 4138 3.1
SV7018WA 4 697 2265 1525 828 87 5401 4705 3.1
SV8298WA 23 436 2919 1307 1045 741 4225 3790 2.4
SV0241WA 9 1263 828 1176 174 0 5663 4400 3.3
Sweet Polly 16 436 2047 1220 741 131 4574 4138 2.6
Traveler 24 958 2178 1220 305 44 4705 3746 2.7
Tri-X-313 21 523 1263 1525 828 261 4400 3877 2.5
Troubadour 20 784 2352 1220 349 0 4705 3920 2.7
UG 711 15 828 2352 1568 218 44 5009 4182 2.9
Average – – 720 1879 1490 640 177 4906 4186 2.8
LSD(0.05) – – 507 836 672 551 345 1078 1052 0.6

¹ Ranked according to total marketable number.
² Includes fruit ≥ 10 pounds.

Table 17.1. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Interior fruit quality. Clayton, N.C., 2014.¹

Cultivar

SS2

Flesh Color3

Seed Trace  Size4

Hard Seed Pop.5

LD6

Internal Hardcore7

Rind8

Flesh Firmness9

13-13077 12.9 3.8 2.8 1.9 1.2 0.0 16.6 3.7
7197HQ 12.9 4.0 1.7 4.5 1.3 0.0 18.2 3.3
ACX6177 12.7 4.1 1.6 6.2 1.1 0.0 18.2 3.5
Affirmed 13.1 4.2 2.2 0.3 1.2 25.0 15.0 2.9
Bold Ruler 13.0 4.2 2.3 0.3 1.2 5.0 17.2 2.4
Captivation 12.7 4.0 1.8 1.4 1.1 10.0 15.5 3.7
Charismatic 12.9 4.3 1.4 3.3 1.0 5.0 16.9 3.0
Crunchy Red 12.5 3.7 2.0 2.5 1.3 0.0 20.2 3.6
Cut Above 13.2 4.1 1.5 0.8 1.2 5.0 14.8 3.0
Declaration 13.2 3.9 1.9 0.3 1.2 5.0 15.9 3.0
Exclamation 12.5 3.9 1.8 3.2 1.1 5.0 16.6 3.5
Fascination 13.0 4.5 1.3 4.5 1.2 0.0 17.8 3.2
Harvest Moon 12.6 4.2 3.0 0.4 1.0 0.0 17.9 2.1
Kingman 12.9 4.2 1.5 10.4 1.2 5.0 17.7 3.0
Liberty 13.1 4.0 2.2 0.4 1.2 5.0 19.8 2.8
Maxima 12.9 4.4 2.0 0.6 1.1 0.0 20.3 3.4
Melody 12.8 4.3 2.1 0.3 1.1 5.0 16.1 2.8
ORS-12166 12.7 4.3 2.2 0.5 1.2 10.0 18.7 2.9
Premont 11.9 3.9 1.6 4.5 1.2 0.0 16.8 3.8
Secretariat 13.0 4.2 1.5 3.9 1.2 0.0 16.7 3.4
SV0051WA 11.9 4.1 1.7 3.4 1.3 5.0 19.8 5.3
SV2757WA 12.7 4.4 1.4 1.0 1.1 40.0 15.9 3.4
SV7018WA 13.5 4.4 1.4 0.8 1.3 5.0 16.6 3.3
SV8298WA 13.4 4.4 1.4 1.4 1.3 25.0 15.7 3.3
SV0241WA 12.3 3.9 1.7 0.2 1.2 5.0 17.1 3.4
Sweet Polly 12.7 4.1 1.5 1.4 1.2 30.0 15.2 3.2
Traveler 12.3 4.4 2.5 3.0 1.1 0.0 13.7 2.8
Tri-X-313 12.8 4.0 2.1 0.2 1.2 0.0 18.8 2.7
Troubadour 12.8 4.2 3.0 1.7 1.2 0.0 14.9 3.3
UG 711 13.2 4.0 1.7 2.6 1.0 0.0 15.1 2.8
Average 12.8 4.1 1.9 2.2 1.2 6.5 17.0 3.2
LSD(0.05) 0.7 0.3 0.5 4.8 0.075 20.8 2.78 0.5

1 Most measurements were obtained from fruits in harvest 1 and 2.
2 SS = Indicates sweetness, average of 5 melons per replication (20 total).

3 Rating: 1 = yellow, 2 = pink, 3 = red, 4 = medium-dark red, 5 = blood red.
4 Rating: 1=small (i.e. tomato), 3=medium, 5=large.
5 Average number of hard seeds couted within 5 melons per replication (20 total).
6 LD = Length and diameter ratio, average of 5 melons per replication (20 total).
7 Internal Hardcore = Percentage of melons with internal hardcore symptoms in flesh among all replications (20 fruit total).
8 Rind = Rind thickness (mm), measured from rind to where white and colored flesh meet.
9 Fruit pressure was taken by a penetrometer, Fruit Pressure Tester – FT011 from QA Supplies LLC, Norfolk Va.

Table 17.2. Triploid Red-Flesh watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Interior fruit quality. Clayton, N.C., 2014

Cultivar

Hollow Heart Ratings 10

HH0

HH1

HH2

HH3

HH4

13-13077 75 0 15 5 5
7197HQ 95 5 0 0 0
ACX6177 75 20 5 0 0
Affirmed 75 20 0 5 0
Bold Ruler 50 30 10 10 0
Captivation 100 0 0 0 0
Charismatic 70 0 25 5 0
Crunchy Red 90 0 10 0 0
Cut Above 80 5 10 5 0
Declaration 80 10 5 0 5
Exclamation 95 5 0 0 0
Fascination 75 10 10 5 0
Harvest Moon 90 0 0 5 5
Kingman 65 10 15 10 0
Liberty 50 25 15 5 5
Maxima 95 0 5 0 0
Melody 85 15 0 0 0
ORS-12166 100 0 0 0 0
Premont 100 0 0 0 0
Secretariat 90 0 5 5 0
SV0051WA 65 0 25 10 0
SV2757WA 95 5 0 0 0
SV7018WA 95 5 0 0 0
SV8298WA 95 5 0 0 0
SV0241WA 100 0 0 0 0
Sweet Polly 90 10 0 0 0
Traveler 95 5 0 0 0
Tri-X-313 85 0 5 5 5
Troubadour 100 0 0 0 0
UG 711 65 0 25 10 0
Average 84 6 6 3 1
LSD(0.05) 31 22 15 10 6

10 HH Percentage Rating Scale:
HH0: No crack in flesh
HH1: Slight crack in flesh
HH2: Small crack in flesh
HH3: Med. separation in flesh
HH3: Med. separation in flesh
HH4: Complete separation in flesh to rind
**HH3 & HH4 = Non-marketable

Table 18. Triploid mini-watermelon cultivar seed sources and descriptions; 2014.

Cultigen

Company

Description

Babba Seminis Distinct, narrow, dark green stripes on a light green background; uniform, oval fruit; sizes are mainly medium to large for mini triploid market, more ice box size than mini; good, red flesh color with distinct flesh to rind delineation.
Petite Perfection Syngenta Distinct, narrow, dark green stripes on a light green background; uniform oval shape; uniform and ideal mini triploid size; deep, red flesh color with excellent flesh to rind delineation.
Pixie Nunhems Distinct, narrow, very dark green stripes bordered by a dark green shadow on a medium green background; uniform round shape; mini melon size to small ice box size; very wide rind thickness; good red flesh color with distinct flesh to rind delineation
Sweet Bite Zeraim Gedera Indistinct, medium width, dark green stripes on a light to medium green background; uniform round to oval shape with some variations in size; small to very large mini watermelon size; deep red flesh color with a distinct flesh to rind delineation

View photos of each triploid mini watermelon cultivar in the PDF version of this document.

Table 19. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Number of fruit harvested in first harvest by various weight classes (per acre) and average fruit size¹. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank²

Fruit Size Category

Total

Total Mkt³

Avg. Wt. (lb)

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 4 0 109 218 109 0 109 0 545 327 4.6
Petite Perfection 2 327 218 653 0 0 0 0 1198 871 3.1
Pixie 3 218 218 545 0 0 0 0 980 762 4.6
Sweet Bite 1 0 327 653 109 0 0 0 1089 980 5.3
Average – – 136 218 517 54 0 27 0 953 735 4.4
LSD(0.05) –  – 523 465 436 260 0 174 0 699 659 2.7

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. Ace pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit numbers for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number. 
² Ranked according to total marketable number.
³ Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 20. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Number of fruit harvested in second harvest by various weight classes (per acre) and average fruit size¹. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank²

Fruit Size Category

Total

Total Mkt³

Avg. Wt. (lb)

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 4 0 109 109 109 218 0 653 1198 218 9.5
Petite Perfection 3 436 218 436 0 0 0 0 1089 653 4.3
Pixie 1 545 545 1960 218 109 0 0 3376 2505 5.0
Sweet Bite 2 218 109 1416 218 0 0 0 1960 1525 5.0
Average – – 299 245 980 136 82 0 163 1906 1225 5.9
LSD(0.05) –  – 755 773 1240 438 290 0 201 2326 1619 1.4

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. Ace pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit numbers for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number.
² Ranked according to total marketable number.
³ Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 21. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Number of fruit harvested in third harvest by various weight classes (per acre) and average fruit size¹. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank²

Fruit Size Category

Total

Total Mkt³

Avg. Wt.(lb)

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 4 109 0 218 218 218 327 1089 2178 218 10.6
Petite Perfection 3 653 218 1307 436 653 0 0 3267 1525 5.1
Pixie 2 436 436 1416 218 436 109 0 3049 1851 5.4
Sweet Bite 1 218 545 1742 436 436 218 218 3812 2287 6.1
Average – – 354 299 1171 327 436 163 327 3076 1470 6.8
LSD(0.05) –  – 617 790 1404 493 716 348 367 1830 1630 1.9

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. Ace pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit numbers for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number. 
² Ranked according to total marketable number.
³ Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 22. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Percentage of fruit number harvested in first harvest by various weight classes (per acre). Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Percentages¹ (%) by Fruit Size Category

Mrkt²

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 0 20 40 20 0 20 0 60
Petite Perfection 27 18 55 0 0 0 0 73
Pixie 22 22 56 0 0 0 0 78
Sweet Bite 0 30 60 10 0 0 0 90
Average 12 23 53 8 0 5 0 75

¹ Fruit number (per cultivar and weight class) divided by the total number (per cultivar) times 100. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding to nearest whole number. 
² Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 23. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Percentage of fruit number harvested in second harvest by various weight classes (per acre). Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Percentages¹ (%) by Fruit Size Category

Mrkt²

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 0 9 9 9 18 0 55 18
Petite Perfection 40 20 40 0 0 0 0 60
Pixie 16 16 58 6 3 0 0 74
Sweet Bite 11 6 72 11 0 0 0 78
Average 17 13 45 7 5 0 14 58

¹ Fruit number (per cultivar and weight class) divided by the total number (per cultivar) times 100. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding to nearest whole number. 
² Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 24. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Percentage of fruit number harvested in third harvest by various weight classes (per acre). Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Percentages¹ (%) by Fruit Size Category

Mrkt²

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 5 0 10 10 10 15 50 10
Petite Perfection 20 7 40 13 20 0 0 47
Pixie 14 14 46 7 14 4 0 61
Sweet Bite 6 14 46 11 11 6 6 60
Average 11 9 36 10 14 6 14 44

¹ Fruit number (per cultivar and weight class) divided by the total number (per cultivar) times 100. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding to nearest whole number. 
² Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 25. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Number of fruit harvested in fourth harvest by various weight classes (per acre) and average fruit size¹. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank²

Fruit Size Category

Total

Total Mkt³

Avg. Wt. (lb)

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 4 0 109 218 0 109 218 653 1307 327 9.6
Petite Perfection 1 109 762 1634 545 109 0 0 3158 2396 5.4
Pixie 2 436 327 762 218 109 0 0 1851 1089 4.7
Sweet Bite 3 0 0 545 545 109 218 218 1634 545 7.8
Average – – 136 299 790 327 109 109 218 1987 1089 6.9
LSD(0.05) –  – 290 1066 1091 402 284 367 435 2186 1887 3.7

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. Ace pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit numbers for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number. 
² Ranked according to total marketable number.
³ Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 26. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Number of fruit harvested in fifth harvest by various weight classes (per acre) and average fruit size¹. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank²

Fruit Size Category

Total

Total Mkt³

Avg. Wt. (lb)

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 4 218 327 871 218 218 0 980 2831 1198 7.4
Petite Perfection 3 762 762 980 109 0 0 0 2614 1742 3.8
Pixie 2 545 653 1307 327 109 109 0 3049 1960 4.7
Sweet Bite 1 545 871 1198 0 436 109 109 3267 2069 5.0
Average – – 517 653 1089 163 191 54 272 2940 1742 5.2
LSD(0.05) –  – 773 697 1314 450 372 260 706 1651 1441 2.5

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. Ace pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit numbers for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number. 
² Ranked according to total marketable number.
³ Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 27. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Percentage of fruit number harvested in fourth harvest by various weight classes (per acre). Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Percentages¹ (%) by Fruit Size Category

Mrkt²

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 0 8 17 0 8 17 50 25
Petite Perfection 3 24 52 17 3 0 0 76
Pixie 24 18 41 12 6 0 0 59
Sweet Bite 0 0 33 33 7 13 13 33
Average 7 13 36 16 6 8 16 48

¹ Fruit number (per cultivar and weight class) divided by the total number (per cultivar) times 100. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding to nearest whole number.
² Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 28. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Percentage of fruit number harvested in fifth harvest by various weight classes (per acre). Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Percentages¹ (%) by Fruit Size Category

Mrkt²

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 8 12 31 8 8 0 35 42
Petite Perfection 29 29 38 4 0 0 0 67
Pixie 18 21 43 11 4 4 0 64
Sweet Bite 17 27 37 0 13 3 3 63
Average 18 22 37 6 6 2 9 59

¹ Fruit number (per cultivar and weight class) divided by the total number (per cultivar) times 100. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding to nearest whole number.
² Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 29. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Cumulative number of fruit harvested over 5 harvests by various weight classes (per acre)¹. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank²

Fruit Size Category

Total

Total Mkt³

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 4 327 653 1634 653 762 653 3376 8059 2287
Petite Perfection 3 2396 2178 5009 1089 762 0 0 11435 7187
Pixie 1 2178 2178 5990 980 762 218 0 12306 8168
Sweet Bite 2 980 1851 5554 1307 980 545 545 11761 7405
Average – – 1470 1715 4547 1007 817 354 980 10890 6262
LSD(0.05) –  – 1339 2288 1873 699 1201 807 1314 1523 2641

¹ Yields are calculated using 100 percent seedless watermelon population. Ace pollinizers were interplanted after triploid plants 1, 5, and 9, (3 plants/plot). Fruit numbers for each category are rounded to the nearest whole number. 
² Ranked according to total marketable number.
³ Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 30. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Cumulative Percentage harvested by number within each fruit size category. Clayton, NC, 2014.

Cultivar

Source²

Percentages¹ (%) by Fruit Size Category

Mkt³

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 1 5 9 20 8 9 9 41 29
Petite Perfection 2 21 19 44 10 6 0 0 63
Pixie 3 18 17 49 8 6 2 0 67
Sweet Bite 4 9 16 47 11 8 5 5 63
Average 13 15 40 9 7 4 11 55
LSD(0.05) 10 17 16 7 11 8 13 17

¹ Fruit number (per cultivar and weight class) divided by the total number (per cultivar) times 100. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding to nearest whole number.
² Sources: 1=Seminis; 2=Syngenta; 3=Nunhems; 4=Zeraim Gedera
³ Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 31. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Percent harvested by number by harvest within total and total marketable categories. Clayton, NC, 2014.

Cultivar

Percentages¹ (%) by harvest for Total and Total Marketable Fruit

Harvest 1

Harvest 2

Harvest 3

Harvest 4

Harvest 5

Total

Total Mrkt.

Total

Total Mrkt.

Total

Total Mrkt.

Total

Total Mrkt.

Total

Total Mrkt.

Babba 7 14 15 10 27 10 16 14 35 52
Petite Perfection 10 12 10 9 29 21 28 33 23 24
Pixie 8 9 27 31 25 23 15 13 25 24
Sweet Bite 9 13 17 21 32 31 14 7 28 28
Average 9 12 17 17 28 21 18 17 28 32

¹ Fruit number (per cultivar and harvest) divided by the total number and total marketable number (per cultivar) times 100.

Table 32. Mini Triploid watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Cumulative weight (x 100) of fruit harvested over 5 harvests by various weight classes (per acre) including average fruit weight. Clayton, N.C., 2014.

Cultivar

Rank¹

Fruit Size Category (lb)

Total

Total Mkt²

Avg. Wt

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 4 8 22 92 50 65 61 437 737 114 8.9
Petite Perfection 3 56 75 254 83 64 0 0 532 329 4.6
Pixie 1 50 77 319 74 65 21 0 605 395 4.9
Sweet Bite 2 23 65 296 99 85 52 65 686 361 5.8
Average – – 34 60 240 77 70 34 126 640 300 6.0
LSD(0.05) – – 31 80 103 53 103 77 196 149 115 1.8

¹ Ranked according to total marketable number.
² Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 33. Triploid mini watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Cumulative Percentage harvested by weight within each fruit size category. Clayton, NC, 2014.

Cultivar

Percentages¹ (%) by Fruit Size Category

Mkt²

<3

3-3.9

4.0-7.0

7.1-8.0

8.1-9.0

9.1-10

>10

Babba 2 4 13 8 8 9 56 17
Petite Perfection 12 16 47 14 11 0 0 63
Pixie 8 13 54 11 10 3 0 68
Sweet Bite 4 11 45 15 11 6 8 57
Average 7 11 40 12 10 5 16 51
LSD 8 15 15 10 15 11 15 22

¹ Fruit number (per cultivar and weight class) divided by the total number (per cultivar) times 100. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding to nearest whole number.
² Includes fruit 3 to 7 lbs.

Table 34. Mini Triploid watermelon hybrid cultivar trial. Interior fruit quality. Clayton, NC, 2014.¹

Cultivar

Rind Thickness (mm)2

Soluble Solids3

Flesh Color4

Average Fruit Pressure5

Fruit LD

Average Seed Counts

11005a 14.2 13.6 3.9 3.2 1.03 1.8
Petite Perfection 7.0 13.6 4.4 3.7 1.06 3.9
Pixie 17.0 13.5 4.3 3.0 1.00 0.9
Sweet Bite 14.5 12.5 3.9 3.1 0.99 0.3
Average 13.2 13.3 4.1 3.3 1.02 1.7
LSD (0.05) 2.8 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.03 3.3

1 Most measurements were obtained from fruits in harvest 1.
2 Rind Thickness=Rinds were measured in 2 regions of the fruit (on one side and directly opposite on the other side) and an average was taken for 5 fruits per replication (20 total).
3 SS = Soluble solids indicates sweetness, average of 5 melons per replication (20 total).
4 Flesh Color Rating: 3=red, 3.5=bright red, 4=dark red, 5=blood red.
5 Fruit pressure was taken by a penetrometer, Fruit Pressure Tester – FT011 from QA Supplies LLC, Norfolk Va. Five melons per replicate, per cultivar, were probed 1/2 the distance between the rind and the center of the melon on the top and bottom sides of each fruit.

Cultivar

Hollow Heart Ratings 6

HH0

HH1

HH2

HH3

HH4

11005a 85 15 0 0 0
Petite Perfection 100 0 0 0 0
Pixie 100 0 0 0 0
Sweet Bite 40 30 15 10 5
Average 81 11 4 3 1
LSD (0.05) 29 19 15 9 8

6 Hollow Heart Ratings (Percentage occurrence in each category).
HH0 = Fruit with no hollow heart, (Marketable fruit).
HH1 = Fruit with minimal / hairline crack in flesh; (Marketable fruit). HH2 = Fruit with small crack in flesh; (Marketable fruit).
HH3 = Fruit with medium to large flesh separations; (Non marketable fruit).
HH4 = Fruit with flesh separation to rind; (Non marketable fruit).