Preliminary Report on the Breeding of Dongxuewang Tao, a New Extremely Late-Ripening Peach Line

With the breeding objective of developing new varieties that are extremely late-ripening, high quality, storage-tolerant and high-yielding, we carried out hybridization in 1998 using Dongxue Mi Tao (Winter Snow Honey Peach) as the female parent and Zhonghua Shou Tao (China Longevity Peach) as the male parent, obtaining 50 hybrid fruits. In 1999, 46 hybrid seedlings were raised, top-grafting was carried out in 2000, and fruit was borne in 2001. The fruit traits were excellent, and multi-site trials were conducted in 2004. It was selected as a new line and tentatively named Dongxuewang Tao. Its main traits are as follows. (1) Botanical characteristics: The tree habit is relatively spreading; the main branches and perennial branches are grayish white, 2-year-old branches are dark reddish brown, 1-year-old branches are reddish brown, the leaves are lanceolate, dark green, large, 13.82 cm x 3.16 cm in length and width, the petals are pink, and the pollen quantity is abundant. (2) Economic traits of the fruit: The fruit is round and large, with an average single-fruit weight of 216.5 g and a maximum single-fruit weight of 400.0 g. The skin has patches of bright rose red (see Plate 2), the fruit surface is smooth and glossy with little fuzz, the fruit apex is flat, the shoulders are slightly raised, there is no fruit russeting, the stem cavity is shallow, the skin is thick, and the stone is small, with a stone weight of 6.59. Clingstone to semi-freestone. The flesh is milky white, pink near the stone, firm and crisp in texture, sweet in flavor, and good in quality. The soluble solids content is 18.10%, and the edible rate is 97.00%. It is extremely storage-tolerant and can be stored until New Year's Day at room temperature and until the Spring Festival under refrigerated conditions. (3) Growth and fruiting characteristics and phenological periods: Young trees grow vigorously, while fruiting trees have moderate vigor. Young fruiting trees mainly bear fruit on medium and long fruiting branches; after the tree vigor moderates, they mainly bear fruit on medium and short fruiting branches. The fruit set rate from self-pollination is high, fruiting is early, and yields are high. In a high-yielding orchard, the yield is 4000 kg per 667 sq m. In Qingzhou, Shandong Province, Dongxuewang Tao buds in mid-March, blooms in early April, and the fruit ripens in late October. This line has shown no freezing injury in Qingzhou, Shandong, few insect-damaged fruits, relatively few diseases, and strong adaptability. (4) Key cultivation techniques: In hilly and mountainous areas, the suitable row spacing and plant spacing are 4 m x 3 m and 4.5 m x 3 m; in plain areas, the suitable row spacing and plant spacing are 5 m x 3 m and 5 m x 4 m. The tree form used is the natural open-center form. Strengthen fertilizer and water management; nitrogen fertilizer can be applied in the early growth stage, and a compound fertilizer of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium can be applied in the later stage, with timely foliar fertilizer spraying. Pay attention to the control of aphids, red spiders, gummosis, bacterial shot hole disease of peach, and so on.