Breeding report of a new ever-bearing strawberry cultivar Jingdianhong

Abstract: Jingdianhong is a new ever-bearing strawberry cultivar selected from seedlings of a goodtaste ever-bearing cultivar Charlotte. In 2014, 301 ever-bearing individual plants were retained after initial evaluation in open field in Yanqing District, Beijing and their daughter plants were planted in Yanqing and Longhua County, Hebei Province, respectively, for the second open-field evaluation in 2015. In2016 and 2017, selection F500 was selected due to its outstanding characters of continuous flowering and fruit quality in high tunnels in Longhua. It was temporarily named Jingcheng 2 and tested in Longhua, and Kunming City, Yunnan Province, Huzhu County, Qinghai Province and Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province from 2018 to 2021. It showed elite and stable performance of continuous flowering, fruit quality, and disease resistance in summer. In 2021, this selection was authenticated as a new cultivar in Yunnan and named formally as Jingdianhong. Its spreading plants grow with medium vigor. The average plant height is 13.90 cm and the crown diameters are 25.31 cm and 24.94 cm. The leaves are dark green, oval, and in medium size with 5.14 cm in length and 5.34 cm in width. The petiole length is 6.45cm. The hermaphrodite flowers are white with touching petals. The calyx and the corolla are almost of the same diameter. The red and glossy fruit is conical and the rate of its length and width is 1.02. The uniform fruits are in medium size with even surface. The seeds are thin and level with fruit surface. The flesh and the core are both oranges. The fruit tastes a little sour with some sweet and smells aromatic.The content of soluble solids, the fruit firmness and the average fruit weight in summer are 8.3%, 0.40kg·cm-2and 15.0 g, respectively. In regional adaptability tests, Jingdianhong is resistant to powdery mildew, leaf spot and anthracnose and moderately resistant to root rot, gray mold, mites, thrips and aphids.It has the characteristics of continuous flowering in summer and is suitable for shelter cultivation in cool areas such as Yunnan. When Jingdianhong is planted in spring, harvest usually starts in June and lasts until December with cover at night.