‘Zhongtao 9’, a new early ripening and storable peach cultivar

Abstract: To breed the early ripening and storable peach cultivar, we chose‘Qinwang’, a late ripening and storable peach cultivar, as female parent, and‘99-37-46’, an early ripening and storable nectarine selection for pollen donation. In spring of 2009, the cross was done by artificial castrating, pollinating, and bagging in case of interference from non-targeting pollen. 63 hybrid fruits were harvested after ma- tured. The fruits were cleaned and disinfected with 75% alcohol. 41 seedlings were survived and trans- planted to in vivo the next spring with 1 m in line and 3 m in row. The trees were pruned to trunk type. Other agronomic measures were done as normal. Two seasons later, most of the trees began to flower and fruit,‘09south-9-22’, one of the hybrid seedlings, exhibited round, big, bright color, good eating quality and storable characteristic. It was named‘Zhongtao 9’in 2014 and licensed in 2018. In 2014, the bud wood from this selection was grafted onto wild peach (Maotao) rootstocks and planted in many sites in Henan province, including Yuanyang, Xinzheng, Luoshan, Mengzhou, Kaifeng, etc. The tree is middle vigorous and semi-opening in canopy. The sprouting and branching ability are moderate. The length and width of leaves are 16.8-17.9 cm and 4.6-4.9 cm, respectively. The leaf is green and lanceo- late in shape, with 2-3 kidney shaped leaf glands. The flowers were rose shaped, with pollen, pistils. The stamens were highly congruent, and pistil was slightly higher than stamens. The fruit of‘Zhongtao 9’is round, the ground of the fruit is white with the surface covered in dark red when matured. It’s large with average fruit weight 255 g and up to 350 g for the big ones. The vertical and longitudinal di- ameters of the fruit are 82.0 and 75.0 mm, respectively. The flesh is white with much anthocyanin around the skin, fruit texture is crisp. The soluble solids in the fruit juice are 12.1%-13.6%, titratable ac- id in fruit is 0.21% and vitamin C in fruit is 8.02 mg · 100 g- 1 (fresh weight). The stone is oval, brown and cling to the flesh. In Zhengzhou, the bud break of‘Zhongtao 9’happens in end of February. The flowers start to open in late March and last for 5-7 days. The fruits can be harvested from middle to end of June, the fruit development period is about 85 days. The leaves begin to fall in end of October. The growth period is 240 days approximately. When full bearing period is coming, the vigorous may turn zmoderation and the new shoots may become a little shorter. The trees can start to fruit from the 2nd season after the grafted nursery stocks planted. The yield was suggested to keep 30 tons. For cultivation techniques, nothing is special to pay attention‘. Zhongtao 9’was certified by the evaluation committees of Henan province in 2018 and is suitable for cultivated in Henan province.