Rainbow Peach

Rainbow Peach

　　Variety Origin: In 2005, Xiong Yonggui, a villager from Jiangxipo Group, Shuitang Village, Yongle Township, Nanming District, discovered an excellent bud mutation in his Yanhong peach orchard. It was systematically bred by the Guizhou Institute of Horticulture.

　　Characteristics: The period from flowering to fruit ripening is generally about 140 days, about 20 days later than the Yanhong peach. The base color of the fruit is yellowish-green, with most of the surface displaying a rosy flush. The fruit’s suture line is prominent, bright red, and symmetrical, with the raised parts being thin-skinned and ripening earlier. The fruit apex is slightly depressed, and the overall shape is flat and round, with a fruit shape index of 0.84. The stem cavity is moderately deep and wide. The fruit has excellent quality, with a strong aroma, abundant juice, and greenish-white flesh that is tender in texture. Radial red streaks appear near the pit, and the fruit is semi-freestone. The maximum single fruit weight is 472.5 grams, with an average of 296 grams. Soluble solids content is 12–14%.

　　Yield Performance: In the provincial regional trials of 2009 and 2010, the two-year average yield per mu (based on the original mutated branches) was 1774.3 kg, an increase of 1.4% compared to the control (the parent Yanhong peach). In the 2010 provincial production trial, the average yield per mu (four-year-old trees) was 250 kg, an increase of 1.8% over the control.

　　Key Cultivation Techniques: 1. The tree generally flowers in late March and the fruits ripen in mid-August. Orchard establishment: Choose sites with good sunlight and drainage, and deep, fertile soil. Recommended planting spacing is 4 m × 4 m or 4 m × 5 m (33–42 trees per mu). When planting, ensure the graft union is above the ground and water thoroughly to establish roots. 2. Fertilization: Organic fertilizer, bio-fertilizer, biogas slurry, etc., can be used. Apply fertilizer before and after flowering, during the rapid fruit expansion phase, before and after harvest, and during leaf fall. Apply fertilizer below the drip line of the tree canopy using methods such as circular trenches, furrows, pit application, or radial trenches. 3. Tree shaping and pruning: Suitable tree form: Natural open center. During growth: Timely bud rubbing and shoot pinching; prune water sprouts and drooping branches to develop strong shoots and promote flower bud differentiation. Winter pruning: Conducted after leaf fall and before bud break the following year; remove all diseased, insect-infested, dead, or weak branches, properly arrange branches, and cultivate fruiting wood. 4. Fruit thinning: Mainly done in two stages—the first around two weeks after petal fall, removing small fruits and retaining larger ones; the second in mid-May, removing upward-facing fruits, misshapen fruits, and overly clustered fruits. On long fruiting branches, leave 2–3 fruits; on medium branches, leave 2; and on short branches, leave 1. 5. Pest and disease control: Major pests include peach aphids, leafhoppers, fruit-piercing moths, and white peach scale. Key diseases include brown rot, scab, leaf curl, and gummosis. During winter dormancy, prune diseased or infested branches, whitewash tree trunks, clean the orchard, and apply a 5°Bé lime sulfur mixture once at the early spring reddening stage of peach buds to prevent peach leaf curl. During the growing season, use 70% methyl thiophanate at 2000x dilution or 50% carbendazim powder at 1000x dilution to prevent brown rot and shot hole disease. For aphids, use 50% pirimicarb wettable powder, and manually catch adult longhorn beetles to reduce larval damage to the tree.