Introduction to the Characteristics and Traits of the Qin Guan Peach Variety

Bred by Yuan Wuzhou and others at the Shaanxi Institute of Pomology, with parentage Jin Guan x Ji Guan. Crossed in 1957, selected in 1966, named in 1970. It once participated in the large apple regional trials and won the second prize of the National Invention Award in 1988. It is fairly widely distributed in China, with more cultivation in the northwest region.

The fruit is conical, with a single fruit weight of about 200-250 g; the ground color is yellow-green, the sunny side has a dark red blush and broken red stripes, often with white russeting; in areas of the northwest at higher altitude, when fully ripe, it can reach an overall dark red, while in low-altitude plain areas it is difficult to color; the fruit surface is smooth with more wax, the lenticels are obvious, and the skin is relatively thick and tough; the flesh is milky white, crisp and slightly dense, with relatively much juice and a sweet-sour flavor, containing 11%-16% soluble solids (varying greatly among different regions); the fresh-eating quality at first harvest is above average. The growth vigor is strong and the tree posture is open. It begins to bear fruit early; after planting, saplings bear fruit in 2-3 years. In the early fruiting stage, long fruiting branches and axillary flower buds are the main fruiting positions; after the full fruiting period, short fruiting branches and axillary flower buds are the main fruiting positions, with a high fruit-setting rate and relatively strong self-pollination ability, and outstanding early fruiting and high yield. In the northwest region, as well as northern North China and western Liaoning, it matures in mid-October. The fruit is very storage-tolerant and can generally be stored in a semi-underground earth cellar until May of the following year.

Qin Guan performs better in quality when cultivated in areas of higher altitude with large day-night temperature differences, while when cultivated in low-altitude plains with hot, humid climate and poor light, the fruit quality is poor. Cultivation and management are relatively easy. During the young tree period, a solid framework foundation should be built for high yield; after heavy fruiting, special attention should be paid to maintaining an appropriate crop load, strengthening fertilizer and water management, and ensuring high and stable yields.

Qin Guan's early fruiting, strong high-yield performance, and storage-tolerant fruit are its outstanding advantages, so it is very popular in areas newly developing apple production, but the fruit flavor is not good enough and the coloring is not ideal, making it difficult to serve as a high-grade commercial @#@136@#@. In the past more than ten years, as fruits of superior varieties have continuously occupied the market, sales of Qin Guan have become relatively difficult and its cultivation has been affected; it can be cultivated as a supplementary variety or pollinator variety in newly developed areas.