Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/681909
www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower JUNE 2016 19 Private breeders S ince the University of California-Davis closed its cherry breeding program in the 1970s, three private breeders in California have led the search for new varieties. Here are a few details from two private breeders, BQ Genetics and Zaiger Genetics, about their vari- eties commercially released in the past eight years. The third, International Fruit Genetics, has patents still pending. —BQ Genetics of Le Grand, California, is best known for the Sequoia, released in 2000. Partner Glen Bradford compared three more recent variet- ies to the Sequoia. 2011: The dark red Arvin Glen harvests about the same time as the Sequoia, but grows bigger and firmer. It requires roughly the same amount of chill and, like the Sequoia, has an average crack resistance. Size: 8.5-9 row. Brix: 20. 2012: The Early Glen, a bright red cherry, beats the Sequoia to ripening by a week and is firmer. Chill is about the same but it is more susceptible to rain cracking. Size: 9.5 row. Brix: 22. 2013: The dark red Glen Heart ripens about three days ahead of the Sequoia and is firmer. It is more heat tolerant, but has similar size and chill requirements. Size: 9.5 row. Brix: 18-20. All three, like the Sequoia, are under an exclusive contract with Warmerdam Packing. Warmerdam is testing all three of them in the Northwest, as well as some unnamed, unpatented cultivars. One of those unnamed varieties is showing a lot of prom- ise, though Bradford would not share specifics. None of them have trouble with doubles and spurs. The Sequoia did not perform well in the Northwest. —Zaiger Genetics of Modesto California is well known for a line of Royal cherries. Leith Gardner, a partner in the family business, compared her com- pany's three latest varieties to the Brooks, a 1984 University of California-Davis release. 2008: The bright red Royal Lynn matures seven days ahead of the Brooks. It's firmer than the Brooks but produces a few doubles and spurs. The Lynn pollinates for the Royal Hazel. Size: 10-row. Brix: 17-18. 2009: The Royal Hazel has the same dark red color as the Brooks but ripens four or five days earlier and is as firm or firmer. It also will produce a few doubles and spurs if not protected from heat stress, even more than the Lynn. Growers are testing the Hazel in Washington and have called Gardner asking for graft wood. "So my assumption is they are doing well," she said. Size: 9.5-10 row. Brix: 19. 2012: The Royal Tioga, a bright red cherry, rip- ens an entire two weeks ahead of the Brooks. It's not as firm as the Brooks, which is known for firm- ness. It showed little rain cracking in Gardner's test orchard in Modesto, even with no treatments. She is unsure if anyone in the Northwest is testing it. It has produced doubles with the heat stress of the Bakersfield area but not in Modesto. Size: 10-10.5 row. Brix: 16-17. —R. Courtney His other two, which he declined to name, would require even fewer chilling units than the Brooks and break dormancy without the help of Dormex (hydrogen cyanamide), a commonly used product in the south to compensate for low chill. He and the other breeders have developed many lines to that effect. The trick is to cross them with desirable traits such as size, firmness, crack-resistance and, of course, flavor. For example, he has test varieties that will grow in Mexico now. "You wouldn't want to eat them," he said with a laugh. But someday you might. •