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Vegetable Varieties for Maine Gardens |
| Developed by: Mark G. Hutton, Extension vegetable crops specialist, and David T. Handley, Extension small fruit and vegetable crops specialist. |
Choosing the right varieties of vegetables to grow is an important part of successful gardening.
Select varieties that are adapted to Maine’s climate and your local growing conditions. The varieties recommended in this bulletin are generally available and successful in northern New England. There are many other varieties available, both new and old, that may perform well in some Maine gardens. Use your past experience—the soils and climate in your location may greatly affect the performance of some varieties. You will probably develop a list of favorite vegetable varieties that consistently do well in your garden.
It’s best to test new varieties in a small planting next to a familiar variety of the same crop so that you can fairly compare their performance and qualities. For most crops, different varieties will have a range of maturity dates, indicated in seed catalogs by the number of days from planting to harvest. In northern Maine, plant only early varieties of warm-season vegetable crops, such as tomatoes, peppers, and melons, to ensure harvest before frost. In more southerly parts of Maine, both early and midseason varieties can be successfully harvested in most years.
Look for varieties with disease resistance. There are many varieties available today that are resistant to some of the most common vegetable diseases. Disease resistance can prevent crop loss and reduce the need for pesticides. Seed catalogs typically list any disease resistance a variety has. For example, with tomatoes and peppers, look for resistance to Fusarium, Verticillium, and tobacco mosaic virus. For cucumbers and squash, look for resistance to scab, anthracnose, Alternaria, Fusarium, mosaic virus, powdery mildew, and bacterial wilt. For beans, look for resistance to halo blight, mosaic virus, and rust.
| Suggested Varieties | |||
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Asparagus Mary Washington Improved Jersey King Jersey Knight Guelph Millennium Purple Passion Beans Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Chinese Cabbage Corn—Popcorn |
Corn—Sweet Early—Yellow: Kandy Kwik (se), Seneca Horizon (su), Daybreak (se), Sugar Buns (se+) Bicolor: Seneca Arrowhead (se), Fleet (se+), Quickie (se) Midseason—Yellow: Tuxedo (se), Northern Xtra-Sweet (sh2) Bicolor: Luscious (se), Delectable (se), Bojangles (sy), Absolute (sy), Sweet Chorus Late—Yellow: Honey Select (sy) Bicolor: Lancelot (se), Seneca Dancer (se) White: Argent (se), Silver Queen (su), Silver King (se)
Cucumbers Eggplant Endive Escarole Kohlrabi Kale Leek Lettuce |
Muskmelon Early: Earliqueen, Fastbreak, Earligold Midseason: Athena, Harper Hybrid, Super Star Speciality Types: Passport, Amy, Angel, Earli-Dew
Onions Parsley Parsnip Peas Peppers Pumpkins
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Radishes Red: Champion, Cherriette, Fire Ball White: White Icicle, D’Avignon, French Breakfast Oriental: Minowase Summer Cross #3, Miyashige
Rhubarb Rutabagas Spinach Squash Tomatoes Turnips Watermelon |
Published and
distributed in furtherance of Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by
the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the Land Grant University of the
state of Maine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Cooperative
Extension and other agencies of the U.S.D.A. provide equal opportunities in
programs and employment.
© 1992, 2006
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