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Home » Products And Services » Vegetable Hybrids » Squash » Pluto

Pluto

OUTSTANDING QUALITIES

  • Uniform, medium sized fruit
  • Excellent yield potential
  • Outstanding internal quality and flavour
  • Intermediate resistance to powdery mildew
  • Industry standard

Pluto F1 hybrid is a Cucurbita moschata type butternut with medium sized fruit and excellent fruit quality. Plants are adaptable and vigorous and tend therefore to be less susceptible to diseases. Yield potential is excellent and the fruit are not inclined to crack. Fruit set is excellent and covers a long bearing season. Fruit shape is similar to that of Waltham and the weight is 1 000 – 1 500 g. The firm, deep orange flesh has an excellent flavour and high sugar content. The smooth rind has a tan colour when mature. Mature fruit have an excellent shelf life. Pluto is well adapted for cooler season harvests where small to medium fruit are required. Fruit are used as traditional butternut for the fresh market, however the superior flesh quality makes Pluto suitable for processing and export. Pluto has intermediate resistance to Powdery mildew (Px) (ex Sf).

SPECIAL VARIETAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Pluto performs good in cool and warm season plantings however during cool seasons, fruit size is smaller than during summer
  • Fruit size is affected by plant population: The higher the population, the smaller the fruit size. We suggest

 

12 000 – 15 000 plants per hectare CHARACTERISTIC*

PLUTO

KIND

F1 hybrid squash (Cucurbita moschata (Duchesne) Duchesne ex Poiret)

TYPE

Butternut squash

MATURITY

85 - 100 days to harvest as mature fruit

SEASON

Widely adapted for warm season production and cool season production in tropical and sub-tropical areas

PLANT TYPE

Full vine

FRUIT SHAPE

Cylindrical, with a bulbous blossom end

RIND COLOUR

Tan

YIELD POTENTIAL

35 - 50 t/ha

MATURE HARVEST MASS

1 000 – 2 000 g (depending on season)

SHELF LIFE (MATURE FRUIT)

Excellent

UNIFORMITY

Very good

POPULATION GUIDE

Final stand of 12 000 – 15 000 plants per ha

DISEASE REACTION (SCIENTIFIC)

Intermediate resistance: Podosphaera xanthii (ex Sphaerotheca fuliginea) Px (ex Sf)

MARKETS / END USE

Export, fresh market and processing

SPECIAL FEATURES

Very uniform, medium size fruit, superior flesh quality and excellent flavour, excellent yield potential