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Vegetable Improvement Newsletter No. 24, February 1982
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Compiled by H.M. Munger, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

1. Responses to Spacing of Spacemaster Cucumber

H.M. Munger, R. Washek, and R.W. Riker

Departments of Plant Breeding and Vegetable Crops, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

Spacemaster, essentially a dwarf version of Tablegreen 65, is characterized by a short hypocotyl in the seedling stage, short internodes, and early and profuse production of female flowers. We have obtained yield data on it for a number of years, when it was included in standard replicated trials of slicing cucumbers, with spacings of 6 feet between rows and 2 plants per hill in hills 2 feet apart in the row. In such trials, it has produced good early yields of marketable fruit, but after the first few pickings, the yields fall off drastically in contrast to cucumbers with standard vine size. Spacemaster appears to occupy only about half the row width at 6-foot spacings, suggesting that if the rows were closer together, the yields might be increased to a greater extent than would be the case for cucumbers with standard vines that occupy the full 6-foot width of the row.

Accordingly, a trial was set up in 1979 with spacings of 6, 4, and 2 feet between rows, with hills of 2 plants spaced 1.5 feet apart in the rows, and with the standard viney Pacer for comparison with Spacemaster.

Results are shown in Table 1, where number of marketable fruits per acre are reported for the first picking on August 27, and the total yields from 2 pickings concluding September 10. The soil was dry during the harvest period, and fruits were not developing rapidly. It was clear at the first picking date that the production of Pacer was increased more by close spacing than was true for Spacemaster. For this picking, the yields at the 4-foot spacing were not intermediate between the 6- and 2-foot spacings for either variety and an examination of the yields by individual replicates shows so much variability that no significance can be attached to this deviation from what one would expect. For the two picking combined, Pacer showed slightly more increase in yield from close spacings than did Spacemaster, with yields at the intermediate width being about what one would expect from the extremes of spacing.

It appeared that Spacemaster might not have responded to close spacing because of lack of moisture in the soil, and therefore the experiment was repeated in 1980, in a location where irrigation could be provided. As it happened there was ample rainfall and moisture did not seem to be a limiting factor at any time during the growth of this planting. One replicate was lost as a result of late frost in June, and results from two replicates are given in Table 2. In this situation, Spacemaster gave a higher average yield than Pacer in the early pickings, but at the closest spacing, Spacemaster did not show a great advantage over Pacer, and this advantage disappeared in the later pickings.  Contrary to expectation, the early yields of Spacemaster were increased by only about 50% by tripling the number of plants, whereas yields of Pacer increased about 3-fold.  Also contrary to expectation, the yield advantage of high density was maintained or increased throughout the harvest period for both varieties. The percentage of culls was much higher in Spacemaster than in Pacer but surprisingly similar for the three spacings and showing no clear trend through the picking season.

These data are limited but obtained under very different growing conditions with respect to soil moisture. In neither situation do they support the general idea that dwarf plants will show more advantage from increased density of planting than cucumbers with standard vines.

Table 1. Marketable yields in 1979 of cucumbers in rows 6, 4, and 2 feet apart with 2 plants per hill and hills 1.5 feet apart in the rows. Averages for 3 replicates at Ithaca, N.Y.

Variety
Spacing
Thousands of marketable fruits per acre - 8/27
Thousands of marketable fruits per acre- 8/27+9/10
Culls as % of total yield
Plants/A
Spacemaster
1.5' x 6'
4.4
13.5
37
9,680
Spacemaster
1.5' x 4'
5.4
18.5
36
14,520
Spacemaster
1.5' x 2'
3.3
24.2
40
29,040
Pacer
1.5' x 6'
2.1
19.2
11
9,680
Pacer
1.5' x 4'
1.5
31.2
10
14,520
Pacer
1.5' x 2'
5.1
41.1
15
29,040

Table 2. Marketable yields in 1980 of cucumbers in rows 6, 4, and 2 feet apart with 2 plants per hill and hills 1.5 feet apart in the rows. Averages for 2 replicates at Ithaca, N.Y.

Thousands of marketable fruits per acre through:
Variety
Spacing
8/11
8/15
8/19
8/22
8/25
8/28
9/3
Culls as % of total yield
Spacemaster
1.5' x 6'
7.3
10.5
15.3
19.4
23.0
26.2
29.4
51
Spacemaster
1.5' x 4'
5.4
10.3
15.1
26.6
30.9
39.9
48.4
42
Spacemaster
1.5' x 2'
9.1
16.3
24.2
33.9
40.5
46.6
54.4
53
Pacer
1.5' x 6'
2.0
3.6
6.0
11.3
12.9
21.4
33.9
23
Pacer
1.5' x 4'
2.4
7.9
13.9
19.4
26.6
40.5
58.7
14
Pacer
1.5' x 2'
7.9
13.3
21.2
35.7
43.6
56.3
74.4
23

2. Uncatalogued Vegetable Varieties Available for Trial in 1982

This list is aimed at facilitating the exchange of information about potential new varieties, or new varieties which have not yet appeared in catalogues. Persons conducting vegetable variety trials who wish seed of items on this list should request samples from the sources indicated.

It is the responsibility of the person sending out seed to specify that it is for trial only, or any other restriction he may want to place on its use.

Crops are listed alphabetically. For each entry the following information is given: Designation, source of trial samples, outstanding characteristics, variety suggested for comparison (not given separately if mentioned in description), status of variety (preliminary trial, advanced trial, to be released, or released) and contributor of information if different from source of trial samples. Where several samples are listed consecutively from on source, the address is given only for the first.

3. Stocks Desired

Request from: J.H. Curme, Agr. Research Dept., The Pillsbury Company, Le Sueur, MN 56058.

Crop: beans, P. vulgaris
Characteristic: Hooked trichomes, lending some degree of insect larva inhibition.