A new middle ripening flat peach cultivar‘Zhongpan 15’

Abstract:‘Zhongpan 15’is a middle ripening flat peach cultivar, selected from the cross between‘98-2-1’and‘Zhen 1-3’in 2007. The female parent‘98-2-1’is an excellent peach hybridization offspringwith the early-mid ripening date, yellow flesh, and red skin. The male parent‘Zhen 1-3’is a good flatnectarine breeding material combining yellow flesh, mid-to-late ripening date (August), and high thicknessin flesh.‘Zhongpan 15’was initially figured out by its beautiful appearance, big size, and firm texturein 2011. After regional adaptability testing at four sites (including Xinxiang county, Wenxian county,and Xihua county in Henan province, and Mengyin county in Shandong province) over five yearsfrom 2013 to 2017, it was finally named in 2015. The fruit is broad oblate, absent mucron tip at pistilend, strongly depressed pistil end, symmetric with medium prominence of suture, and the stalk cavitydepth is shallow and width is broad. The peel harbor approximately 60% of bright red over color andyellow ground color with short fluff. Its flesh is yellow with hard melting texture and free stone. Thepeel is strong adherence. The contents of soluble solid, soluble sugar and titratable acidity in flesh juicyare 14.5%, 10.62%, and 0.23% on average, respectively. The average fruit weight is 200 g, and maximumfruit weight can be up to 350 g. The eating quality and flavor are excellent. The flower is pink,showy and the anther is orange yellow with abundant pollen.‘Zhongpan 15’is self- pollination withhigh fruit setting ratio. In Zhengzhou, the first blooming date of‘Zhongpan 15’comes into bloommostly appears in late March and the flowering period can last about 5-7 days. The fruit mature date islate July, about 120 days after full blooming. The tree is upright to spreading with medium to strong vigor.The average internode length is about 2.06 cm. The leaf is greenish colored, with lanceolate in shapeand reniform glands along the petiole. In full bearing stage, controlling of the growth vigor should byperformed by prunuing, the fertilizer and yield management. In view of the high setting rate, it is necessaryto adopt flowers and fruits thinning. The fruit of this variety is relatively large in size, so the distancebetween fruits greater than 15cm should be taken into account during thinning of flowers and fruits. The mature period frequently is overlapped with the rainy season, so the bagging cultivation isrecommended, which is also helpful to the fruit appearance. The bagging time is generally carried outafter the fruit is set, when the fruit development enters the hard-core period, and the insecticide and fungicideneed to be sprayed before the bagging. Picking should be performed carefully to avoid peeling atthe carpopodium that affect storage and transportation. In addition, the whole cold chain protection isrecommended for long-distance transport.