Abstract
In a cooperative effort between the Universities of Georgia and Florida and the USDA-ARS Stone Fruit and Tree Nut Laboratory, nine moderate chill peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) cultivars were evaluated at the University of Georgia, Attapulgus station in 1997-2000. They were assessed for crop ping reliability, crop load, color, size, shape, firmness, overall external quality and whole fruit quality. The 400-hour 'Gulfprince', which ripens at the end of 'June Gold' season, produced well in every year of the study. It produced a 69% crop even in 1998 when the 'June Gold' crop was only about 13% due to frost damage. 'Gulfprince' was also the firmest (nonmelting flesh) of all the fruit evaluated in this trial. Though it was not the most highly colored of the fruit evaluated, it carried 56% red blush on a yellow background. 'Flordadawn' ripened the earliest, but as with many early cultivars, it had lower firmness and was smaller than later cultivars. 'Flordadawn' cropped reliably in 1997 and 1999 at about a 50% crop load, but in 1998 it carried only a 10% load. In 2000, it carried a 100% crop, with excellent size, 95 grams, for an early season cultivar. The white-fleshed 'White Robin' also performed well under the late frost conditions of the 1997-1998 winter, producing a 40% crop that year with adequate size and quality.
