Abbott & Cobb, Inc.

SummerDew 252HQ
This hybrid honeydew is known for producing excellent yields of very uniform fruit even in a tough environment. It has a very small cavity, much smaller than most honeydews, which means very high recovery perentage for the fresh-cut market. The fruit size is in the 6 to 7 pound range with light to medium green color. The plant has disease tolerance to fusarium 0, 2 and powdery mildew 1.

XLT® 9000
This unique premium hybrid melon has dark-orange flesh. The variety has a very long shelflife and high Brix. This non-slip melon offers outstanding flavor and robust internal color, delivering superior quality. The large fruit size, tight cavity, and dense flesh for higher recovery make this an exceptional choice for retail and fresh cut markets. The plant has tolerance to Fusarium races 0, 1, and 2, powdery mildew race 1 and 2, and vine decline.

XLT® 4276
This variety is quite similar to the XLT® 9000 except that it is intended to be grown on short days. It keeps its size even as the days shorten in the fall.

XLT® S3 3200
Another melon in the well-received XLT (eXtended Life and Taste) series, this is a personal-sized melon in the 1.5 to 2-pound range. This specialty item is already extremely popular in Europe. Perfect not only for the smaller, modern household, chefs like to drop a scoop of ice cream in the cavity for a delightful dessert.

Super Seedless 7187HQ Watermelon
Extremely heavy yields of fruit with very dense flesh is this variety’s distinction. The super-dense flesh makes it ideal for fresh-cut markets. In addition, dense flesh means the cells are tight and the flesh holds up well over time, enabling the fruit to stand up over long shipping/storage periods. Weighing in at 16 to 20 pounds, the 7187HQ (High Quality) has deep-red flesh with a medium-green rind with light-green stripes.

Emerald Seed Co.

Lancer Cucumber
This premium dark-green straight gynoecious slicing cucumber, which measures approximately 8.5 inches in length, keeps its shape even in tough conditions. Performing well in both plastic or open ground cultures, it’s known for consistent optimum pack out. The vigorous, tough plant boasts extremely high tolerance to multiple viruses to protect yields from adverse conditions.

EM 870 Gold Zucchini
A real eye-catcher, this beautiful multi-virus-tolerant yellow zucchini has excellent color contrast between the dark-green stem and the brilliant yellow fruit. It is very productive, with an open plant.

Cucumber – Action 411 F1 Hybrid
A very uniform Gynoecious type, this is an attractive dark green blocky pickling cucumber. Growers will appreciate the plant’s multiple disease resistance.

Anaheim Pepper- EM 364 F-1 Hybrid
A very high yielding Anaheim pepper with great adaptability. It is two-lobed and flat with high heat, making it popular with buyers. Growers will like the erect plants that have a lot of foliage.

 

Harris Moran Seed Co.

Sequoia Ancho Pepper
This variety is notable for maturing quite early and producing large fruits with an average size of 6.7 inches by 2.8 inches. The flavor ranges from mild to hot, and it has uniform shape of 3/2 lobules mainly. It’s a mid-tall habit plant, and has a wide adaptability in highlands and low lands.

Invicto Jalapeño Pepper
Invicto is a brand new variety that is remarkably early and has a unique flavor and aroma. The fruit is large, averaging 3.34 by 1.37 inches, and of uniform size and shape. The plants are highly adaptable. The yields they produce are not only heavy, but there is a large concentration of fruit at harvest. Invicto has resistance to bacteria leaf spot races 1, 2, and 3 and tobacco mosaic virus.

HMX8665 Jalapeño Pepper
This variety is somewhat similar to Invicto in that it has large fruits. They run about 3.3 to 3.5 inches by 1.3 inches on average. However, the HMX8665 is not as early as the Invicto, having an intermediate maturity. It is hot like Invicto, however, and has smooth and firm fruits. It also has resistance to bacteria leaf spot races 1, 2, and 3.

Summer Dew F1 Melon
This honey dew melon is extremely firm. In fact, Harris Moran breeders say it’s the firmest commercially available honeydew. That firmness makes it well-suited for shipping to far-flung Asian markets. It’s intended for growers in Mexico and Central America in addition to the U.S. It has a uniform size of 5 to 6 and late relative maturity. The strong, vigorous plant has good powdery mildew resistance.

HMX0583 Melon
This new Eastern shipper is to be grown in Georgia and north Florida, targeting the early and main slots in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic markets. This cantaloupe keeps its firmness through the distribution chain, a key feature on the East Coast where large 120-piece bins add up to greater pressure on the fruit. This variety is also notable for thick flesh and a small cavity with a Brix of 12.7 to 13. The plant is very vigorous with a stong disesase package with resistance to Fusarium races 0, 1, and 2 and powdery mildew races 1 and 2.

 

Hollar Seeds

Dewlightful Honeydew Melon
This very productive hybrid honeydew has an attractive appearance, strong vine, and Brix ranging from 13 to 16 in trials at Hollar headquarters in Colorado. Excellent eating quality and good shipping ability combine with superb uniformity to make this honeydew a winnner. It has disease resistance to powdery mildew.

Holbrook Melon 
A main season hybrid western shipper melon with thick flesh, a tight cavity, and high sugar content. The slightly oval fruit are firm and have a strong net. While it is not a monoecious hybrid, the size is consistently large and breeders recommend that it should be tested when it is difficult for other hybrids to reach the proper size. It is resistant to powdery mildew and fusarium wilt.

Cougar Pumpkin
This variety combines the earliness of Hollar’s Neon variety with the patent pending PMR (powdery mildew resistance) gene that is found in that popular series. The fruit have a brilliant orange color with nice ribbing and a sturdy, dark-green handle. Cougar PMR is very productive and has a large, vigorous plant.

Summer Squash – Three from the Ball Series
1) One Ball (yellow as the #1 ball in billiards) has a vigorous bush with an upright and open habit assuring multiple harvests and easy picking, as does 2) Eight Ball (black or dark green) and 3) Cue Ball (pale or light green). All three have nice young shiny fruit with a desirable round shape.

Victory Butternut Squash
This new uniform butternut is bred specifically for the fresh market trade. Not too large, not too small, the fruit average 2.5 lbs (1.2 kg) and are about 7 inches long (18 cm). The attractive tan skin and classic butternut shape add to this variety’s display appeal. The flesh is fine textured, deep orange, and sweet.

 

Monsanto Company

PS 1143-5807 Jalapeño Pepper
Excellent fruit set, which leads to high yields, is one of the hallmarks of this new Peto Seed jalapeño pepper from Monsanto. Breeder Terry Berke notes the variety has food pungency and nice flavor, which consumers will like. Growers will appreciate the plant’s resistance to nematodes as well as its earliness. This variety is a good 5 to 7 days earlier than most commercial varieties.

Seminis brand EX 01420200
This Seminis brand variety is a great example of Monsanto’s tomato breeding program. In addition to taste and a roma, one of Monsanto’s key focuses is breeding for disease resistance. Specifically, EX 01420200, a Seminis main-season fresh market tomato, has resistance to tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). Intended for spring planting in south and central Florida where TYLCV is a threat to growers, it produces deep oblate, smooth, uniform fruit on a vigorous, determinate plant with a high yield potential of high-quality fruit.

PS 9941819 Pepper
Seminis has a broad pepper portfolio, and two varieties well-suited for Eastern U.S. growers are PS 9928302 and PS 9941819. PS 9941819 (with X5R®) is a green to red, blocky sweet pepper offering high resistance to bacterial spot races 1-5 (X5R®) and intermediate resistance to phytophthora blight.

Castle Dome Broccoli
Seminis’ Castle Dome variety is an early maturing hybrid broccoli with excellent holding ability. Well-suited for Western U.S. growers, this versatile variety offers good heat tolerance, as well as cold vigor. The compact, open plant produces uniform heads that are deep and domed with tight, small beads. Castle Dome has good tolerance to hollow stem and brown bead. It is suitable for crown-cut packs, bunching, or florets.

Obsession Corn
The Seminis sweet corn program has high quality varieties to meet every need today, and is using those successful varieties to create an excellent germplasm base for the varieties of the future. Obsession is a bicolor, high quality shrunken with an 8-inch ear, an attractive flag and husk package, and good tip cover. Obsession has excellent eating quality because it has the sh2 holding quality with kernels that have sugar-enhanced characteristics. Obsession is a main season variety with 79-day maturity.

 

Click here to get a closer look at a new jalapeno from Seminis.

 

Rupp Seeds, Inc.

4852 Pumpkin
The variety 4852 is a 10-pound pumpkin that is very uniform without deep ribbing. According to Barry Rupp, the company has advanced pilot production stage of this variety to get seed.

 

Click here to watch Barry Rupp talk about 50 pumpkin varieties the company evaluated last summer.

Autumn Delight Squash
Rupp Seeds is adding a dark squash that was developed by Seminis/Monsanto called Autumn Delight to its line. This acorn squash variety is now a Rupp exclusive. Featuring large, deep ribs, his variety boasts a dark green exterior and a butter-colored interior. It grows on a strong semi-bush plant and is resistant to powdery mildew.

4861 Pumpkin
This small, bright orange pumpkin, experimental variety 4861, is moving forward in Rupp’s trials. Designated a pie pumpkin, it weighs in around 5 pounds.

Tirreno Melon
A new cantaloupe called Tirreno is being promoted by Rupp Seeds. A Tuscan type, Tirreno also will work as a deep sutured Eastern. An exclusive to Rupp, this variety boasts a great disease resistance package and has good eating quality.

4853 Pumpkin
4853 is a medium-sized 17-pound pumpkin with an unusual ribbing. Every pumpkin looks very uniform with its defined sutures.

 

Sakata Seed America, Inc.

Quantum Butternut Squash
Quantum has exceptional uniformity of size and shape with a thick neck, and small seed cavity. This hybrid’s strong, vigorous plant produces a high number of fruits per plant, with smooth tan exterior and bright orange interior. Uniform size and shape makes Quantum ideal for the boxing market.

Watermelon SWT7436
This melon is notable for its ability to set well in cold temperatures, maturing five to seven days earlier than standard varieties. It’s vigorous, aggressive vine produces uniform 16- to 18-lb. fruit that has a vivid-red, fine texture. Sometimes such super-sweet varieties have problems with durability, but breeders report its shipping ability will be exciting for growers.

Ovation Onion
Ovation is a late intermediate hybrid that transitions into a long-day Spanish-type. Jumbo-plus in size with nice brown scales and uniform globe shape, growers often comment that it has a very high percentage of single centers. Consumers give it high marks for being a very sweet onion. It has late relative maturity, and has disease resistance/tolerance to pink rot and fusarium.

Olympic Gold
This western shipper is becoming well-known for its outstanding yields. It also has excellent uniformity, consistently coming in at Size 9. It’s well-adapted to be grown in the San Joaquin Valley and central Arizona, as well as northern Mexico. Sweet, firm, and fresh, it is well-suited for fresh-cut markets.

Tachi Tomato
Very similar to another well-known Sakata variety, Mariana, breeders are excited about Tachi because of its resistance to tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). With great color, shape and size, its shipping-friendly because it gases well. The plants are strong and compact, with high yield potential.

 

Sakata Seed America showcased a variety of crops at its new trial location. Watch here.

 

Seeds of Change

Capriccio Tomato
These sweet little fruits have a classic grape shape. Capriccio has a highly productive plant habit with vigorous healthy vines. It is suitable for heated or unheated shelters. If grown in the open field, fruit can be pear-shaped, and the yield is somewhat reduced. It has a strong, comprehensive disease package.

Camino Real Serrano Pepper
Tall, multi-branched plants form an excellent protective canopy of grayish green foliage, and are best when staked. Yield is high with an extended fruit set. Fruit has the typical Serrano shape and pungent flavor, with a slighly lighter green color. Some cold tolerance has been observed.

Hurakan Summer Squash
The Hurakan F1 grey zucchini has a true grey zucchini type that’s widely adaptable. It has a semi-erect plant habit with medium vigor and mid-early maturity with a consistent and extended fruit set that delivers very high yields. The fruit has uniform shape, is extremely easy to pick, and ships well with a long shelflife. It has intermediate resistance to powdery mildew.

Natura Zucchini
Cylindrical, glossy dark-green fruit have a small blossom end scar for a refined appearance. This widely adapted high yielder is also suitable for hoop house production. It has an open erect plant habit with medium vigor and regular, consistent fruit set.

 

Seedway

Nubia Eggplant
Seedway is adding the eggplant variety Nubia to its offerings. Boasting unique wine and cream streaks, this eggplant matures in 64 days. Nubia is a medium-size, smooth teardrop shaped eggplant. According to Seedway’s Debra Deis, this variety is larger than Zebra and boasts a brighter color.

Barbarella Eggplant
A new Sicilian variety, Barbarella has a true purple skin with a white halo. Maturing in 65 days, Barbarella grows on a vigorous plant that produces heavy fruit. It compares to Birgah and is suitable for protected cultivation and open field.

Catriona Pepper
Moving into the pepper department, the yellow pepper Catriona is new for this year. This four-lobed yellow bell matures early and grows on a compact plant. It can be grown in the field or protected culture. In fact, this variety is being recommended for tunnel production.

Awesome Sweet Corn
Awesome sweet corn is said to be good for the local market as well as for shipping. According to Seedway’s Debra Deis, it has a refined ear. “Awesome is as good as it gets for a supersweet coming up in the cold,” she adds. This variety matures in 74 days and has intermediate resistance to Stewart’s wilt.

Verona Cantaloupe
Verona is a very large, productive early Eastern cantaloupe. It has top-notch flavor, “melony” and sweet with medium-firm and medium-dark orange flesh. It has resistance to Fusarium wild and powdery mildew.

 

Syngenta Seeds/ROGERS Brand

Ambition (SB4474) Bean
This experimental bean variety Ambition will be coming after Prevail. According to Bob Kotch, area business manager for Syngenta (pictured on the left), this promising new variety has good uniformity. It is grown on an upright plant, reducing the chances of getting tip rot. There is interest in this new variety east of the Mississippi for the fresh market, adds the company’s Jim McIntosh (right).

Watch Jim McIntosh talk about Spineless Perfection.

Monticello (RFT860012) Tomato
Monticello is a new variety that will be released for production in a large portion of the Eastern U.S. It is well-suited for areas from Georgia north. This Roma grows on an extremely vigorous plant, and offers good fruit size and quality. Monticello has a disease package combination that includes resistance to Fusarium wilt races 1 and 2, tomato spotted wilt virus, root knot nematode, Verticillium, and bacterial speck.

Distinction (RWT8229) Watermelon
Distinction is a new medium-large seedless hybrid with very firm red flesh. This variety has intermediate resistance to Fusarium wilt races 0 and 1, and Anthracnose race 1. In fact, Distinction is one of the first true Fusarium race 1 intermediate resistant seedless types. In addition, it has been broadly tested throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

Rembrandt (WH7350) Sweet Corn
This sweet corn variety is a white TripleSweet® hybrid similar to Avalon. Rembrandt is slated for East Coast production and will be recommended for farm stand sales.

SP 5 Pollenizer
A non-harvestable pollenizer, SP 5 has intermediate resistance to: Fusarium wilt races 1 and 2; Anthracnose race 1 and Powdery Mildew. SP5 has a more “durable” and long lasting plant that continues to grow through the season. This sturdy pollinizer does not compete with the crop and ensures adequate pollination for the season.