A new early ripening seedless table grape cultivar ‘Tiangong Moyu'

Abstract: ‘Tiangong Moyu'is a new early ripening European-American hybrid grape cultivar. It was initially selected in 2008 for its 7-10 days earlier ripening time than‘Summerblack'under the name of‘08-8-1'in Jinhua. The‘08-8-1 germplasm garden was built in 2009. From 2011, it was observed for three years. Then it was evaluated in regional trials in three sites of Zhejiang province (Haining, Jinhua and Tongxiang) from 2014 to 2016. It was finally released as‘Tiangong Moyu'after the validation by Zhejiang Forest Approval Committee in 2017. The growth vigor of the plant is strong. The shoot is upright and the shoot tip is half open with hair. The color of dorsal side of internodes is green with red strips, while the color of ventral side of internodes is green. The upper surface of a young leaf is glossy reddish brown color while the undersurface of a young leaf is pale green color. The shape of the mature leaves is subrounded, the average vertical diameter is 25.02 cm and the average across diameter is 26.9 cm. The blade margin is pronounced in undulation. The petiole sinus is very open and U shaped. The teeth are convex and straight on both sides. Upper lateral sinus is overlapped, while lower lateral sinus is open. The upper surface is dark green. Anthocyanin coloration of main veins on lower leaf surface is extremely weak, density of prostrate and erect hairs on petiole is very sparse. The cluster is large and conical or cylindrical with the average mass of 597.3 g, average length of 18.5 cm and average width of14.2 cm. The cluster density is compact. The berries are subglobose with average mass 6.7 g and blue black in color. The skin is crispy, with no astringency. The firmness of the berry is hard. The flesh is crispy and sweet. The fruit quality is very good with seedless, soluble solids content is 18.0%-23.1%, acid content is 0.39% and vitamin C content is 54.3 mg · kg-1. In northern Zhejiang province, the time of budburst is usually at middle March, the flowering begins at late April, the fruit ripens and the shoot matures both at late June. The average rate of bud burst is 87.5%, the rate of fruiting shoot is 86.3% and the fructification coefficient is 1.60. The average yield is recommended about 22.5 tons per hectare.Avoid high yield, otherwise the fruit quality could be affected. The vines have vigorous growth with good adaptability to environment and high disease resistance. For commercial production, keep 70-90 berries per cluster and one cluster for each shoot are appropriate. Single cross flyer type trellis system and horizontal trellis system are recommended.