By Dan Rahn
University of Georgia
There’s a good reason most farmers don’t even think of growing
pumpkins in south Georgia. It’s always been almost impossible to
do. But a new pumpkin variety could soon change these growers’
outlook on Halloween.
“Most of the pumpkins traditionally grown commercially in Georgia
are Cucurbita pepo types,” said George Boyhan, a
University of Georgia horticulturist in Statesboro, Ga. “They’re
in the same species as summer squash. And they’re highly
susceptible to viruses and other foliar diseases.”
UGA horticulturists have been developing a new pumpkin from
plants in another species, Cucurbita moschata. It’s the
same species as butternut squash, Boyhan said.
“We selected a squash that has a good jack-o’-lantern appearance,
in terms of shape and color,” he said. “It has a much higher
level of disease resistance, particularly to viral diseases.”
Pumpkin’s roots
The new pumpkin got its start from seeds that UGA horticulturists
Gerard Krewer and Marco Fonseca and Union County Extension agent
Tim Jennings collected in the wilds of Brazil. They were there in
1996 and ’99 on UGA exchange trips to help small farmers.
Since ’96, Boyhan, Krewer and UGA horticulturist Darbie Granberry
have been making improved selections for adaptation to Georgia
conditions.
The result, Boyhan said, is a pumpkin farmers will finally be
able to grow in south Georgia.
Field day debut
The scientists will be showing off the new pumpkin Oct. 21 in a
twilight field day at the UGA Vidalia Onion and Vegetable
Research Center near Reidsville, Ga.
The field day will start with a look at pumpkin research plots at
5:30 p.m. The center’s organic Vidalia onion plots will also be
on display. A sponsored dinner will cap the event at 6:30.
In the research plots this year, the difference between
conventional pumpkins and the new variety was striking. “The
other plants absolutely melted” from foliar diseases, Boyhan
said. The new plants, though, were thriving.
The new variety is one farmers could grow in north Georgia, too,
where the state’s small pumpkin crop is grown entirely now. “But
the whole purpose of this variety is to give south Georgia
growers a pumpkin they can grow, too,” Boyhan said.
Coming soon
Boyhan expects to have seed available to a limited number of
growers for the 2005 season. Sufficient supplies for virtually
all growers should be ready in 2006.
Farmers who are already growing produce for you-pick, roadside
and other local markets have long struggled to grow pumpkins,
said Jeff Cook, a UGA Extension Service agent in Tattnall County.
“There’s a lot of interest in pumpkins among our you-pick
growers,” Cook said. “They’ve been asking us, ‘When are we going
to get a pumpkin with more resistance?’”
In Tattnall County’s 18-grower cooperative, “Farm Fresh
Tattnall,” several farmers already grow pumpkins every year, Cook
said. But they struggle.
“It’s very labor-intensive,” Cook said. “You have to get out
there and spray every few days, and you never know whether a
disease might wipe you out. Those guys are very interested in a
pumpkin with disease resistance.”
(Dan Rahn is a news editor with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
