A new strawberry cultivar Huayan

Abstract:Huayan is a new strawberry cultivar derived from a cross between Darselect (female parent) and Akihime (male parent) at experimental field. In 2010, the hybrid seeds were obtained by artificial hybridization pollination and stored at 4 °C. In March of 2011, the seeds were sown, about 300 hybrid seedlings were obtained and were transplanted into greenhouse in September. In 2012, it was initially se- lected for early ripening, high yield, strong plant growth, bright fruit color, good taste and fruit shape, good stress resistance, and so on. The selected seedlings were propagated, then 30 healthy seedlings propagated from each initially selected seedling were planted in greenhouse in early September for fur- ther evaluation. E2-7-N6, one of the selected seedlings, was determined to serve as the line for further evaluation and was propagated largely. In early September of 2013, the seedlings from E2-7-N6 line were planted at Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xinyang, and so on for cultivable adaptability testing. The results evaluated in 2014 were shown that this line has good multiple characters and stable growth perfor- mance. Its planting area was expanded continually, and it was evaluated finally for three-year continual regional adaptability testing at Dengfeng, Luoyang, Zhengzhou Fruit Research Institute, CAAS, and so on from 2014 to 2017. The plant growth of E2-7-N6 line is strong vigorous and the growth habit of the plant is upright. The plant height is 32.2 cm and crown diameter is 28.4 cm. The leaves are elliptic with green in color. The grown-up leaf is 9.8 cm in length, 7.4 cm in width, and 0.013 cm in thickness. The petiole length is 16.3 cm. The average leaf life-span is about 90 d. The plant has 3-6 inflorescences and the flowers number per inflorescence is 7-15. The fruit is long conical with red peel and good surface with bright luster. The flesh is orange-red with pleasant aroma. The average weight of the fruits on the first-order is 29.3 g and on whole plant is 21.4 g. The fruit tastes sweet with some sour. The contents of soluble solids, total sugar and titratable acid are 12.6%, 7.18% and 0.42%, respectively. The fruit firm-ness is 2.35 kg · cm- 2. The fruit is suitable for long time storage and transportation. In Zhengzhou, Henan, the planting time is in early September. In greenhouse the plants are in full bloom in mid-to-late October, and the fruits begin ripeness in late November. Huayan is a high yield cultivar. It is resistance to powdery mildew and gray mould, and is a little resistance to anthracnose. This cultivar is suitable for forcing cultivation in most areas of China. Its cultivation technique is similar to common strawberry varieties. But it is need to apply enough base-fertilizes for its higher yield and to remove the old or diseased leaves in time. In a word, Huayan is a new strawberry cultivar with early maturity, high quality, high yield, anti-powdery mildew, and suitable for forcing cultivation.