Breeding of a new late ripening nectarine cultivar 'Fumei'

Abstract: 'Fumei' is a late-ripening nectarine cultivar with excellent appearance. The original seedingwas derived from a cross between‘Ruiguang 19'and (‘Beijingwanmi'+‘Guanhuaxuetao'+‘Jiajiatiany-outao'et al.) in 1999 at experimental field. It was initially selected in 2004 for its bright colors and lateripening stage. Through artificial hybridization pollination, 361 hybrid seeds were got. After regionaladaptability testing at four sites (including Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Xi'an, Taiyuan) over 8 years from 2006 to 2014, it was finally selected in 2014.‘Fumei'is a dwarfing tree cultivar, attaining a height of 4-5 m;the tree is vigorous with ramose crown and upright tree gesture. Young branches are glabrous, yellowish-brown in color. Leaves are broad-lanceolate, acuminate, 16.28 cm long, 3.6 cm wide, serrated. Flower ispink, 3.9 cm across. Fruit is mainly round, has dark red surface. Its flesh is white, crisp, hard melting andtasting sweet. The average fruit mass is 174.7 g, maximum fruit mass is 293.2 g. the content of soluble sol-id is 19.8%, the content of total sugar is 15.77%, the content of total acid is 0.2%, the sugar-acid ratio is78.85, hardness without skin is 11.5 kg·cm-2, vitamin C is 77.3 mg·kg-1, freestone, and the edible rate is97.9%. Quality is excellent. The fruit development period is about 120 d and it matures from the end Au-gust to early September in Yantai area; proportion of flower buds/leaf buds is 108.5%, single flower bud/complex flower buds is 205.3%. Branching ability is great and yield is high and stable. It is resistant tocoldness, powdery mildew and moderate resistant to fruit cracking, etc. Suitable cultivation area is NorthChina peach producing, this variety can bear fruits next year after planted, has high yield potential. Theyield of 4-year-old trees is about 34.8 t·hm-2. Orchard should choose neutral sandy soil which is flat andhas ability of moisture and fertilizer retention; spacing in the rows and spacing between rows are 3 m× (4-5) m with open-centered training, and spacing in the rows and spacing between rows are (1.5-2) m×4 mwith central leader-type training; pruning includes pinching, bending and back spune, aiming at control-ling tree size and maintaining tree vigor.