Anticipating fruit maturation is critical for peach growers' orchard management and marketing. Due to short shelf life and perishable nature of peach fruit, peach growers grow many cultivars in a season to provide continuous supply of fresh fruit to consumers. To efficiently manage orchard operations, peach growers use growing degree days (GDD) mathematical model to predict peach fruit maturity and aid in harvest scheduling. GDD calculates accumulated heat and relates it to key physiological stages, such as ripening time, in a plant life cycle. Ripening time of peach cultivars is reported in the calendar or Julian days (JD), as fruit development period (FDP), or as the number of days before or after a reference cultivar. Presenting ripening time this way does not account for seasonal variation and is not adaptable to climate change. Therefore, we evaluated GDD and FDP from full bloom to ripening time in 97 peach and nectarine accessions from the Clemson University peach breeding program over six years (2018-2023). The GDD and JD variability and implication of providing this information on existing and newly released cultivars to producers and researchers are discussed.

Based on over 45 years’ data, this paper aims to explore the major historical events, challenges and prospects of development of the grape industry in China. Ancient Chinese collected native wild grapes as fruits 2,700 ago. The V. vinifera grapevines were planted in Turpan 2,300 years ago. Development of the industry has five distinctive stages from ancient China to the present. The unique ancient culture using grapevines, grapes and wines as materials was colorfully and emotionally embodied in Chinese antiques. The grapevines are currently planted in the eight regions across the country, but the wine industry mainly distributes in the five regions. Chinese wild grapes are valuable resources for resistance breeding. Though remarkable achievements in the past four decades, extension of rootstocks, improvement of field management, development of grape storage technology, are challenges in the current viticulture of China.

The works of many American persimmon hobbyists and professionals are assimilated here in a presentation of ancestries and cultivars currently available in the U.S. The focus is on purely Diospyros virginiana cultivars available to home orchardists. Cultivars no longer in U.S. circulation are omitted unless they are used in ancestry relations. All data is provided in tabularized format.

Current pruning practices in blueberry production in the Southeastern United States exclude selective fall pruning. Most growers practice a non-selective version of mechanized summer pruning (hedging) with the primary purpose of reducing plant height. Hedging is the preferred pruning method because of its low labor requirements and cost-effectiveness. In contrast, selective fall pruning maintains a balanced vegetative and reproductive growth, but there is limited research on the effects of fall pruning or hand selective pruning on the yield and fruit quality of southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum interspecific hybrids, SHB). This study evaluated six pruning treatments applied to the SHB cultivar ‘Farthing’: T1: ‘hedge summer/hand pruned fall’; T2: ‘hedge summer/tipping in fall’ (commercial practice); T3: ‘hand pruned fall’; T4: ‘hand pruned summer/hand pruned fall’; T5: ‘no pruning or hedging’; T6: ‘hedge and hand pruned summer/hand pruned fall’. Each treatment was tested using a complete randomized block design in a commercial farm located in South Georgia. Our results showed that selective hand pruning did not reduce total yield compared to the commercial hedging practice. However, selective hand pruning significantly increased berry size and weight while advancing ripening, which could provide growers with earlier market entry opportunities. Our study demonstrates that selective fall pruning may be a promising tool for enhancing fruit quality and optimizing early-season pricing for SHB blueberry producers in the Southeastern United States. Nevertheless, further research into cost-effectiveness and long-term impacts on the productivity of SHB is still needed.

An error was found in Figure 5 of the article: The NC-140 Multi-Location Peach Physiology Trial: Relationships Between Peach Fruit Weight, Crop Density and Early Season Temperature by Marini et al 2018. The correct figure has been updated in the original article online at: https://americanpomological.org/?page_id=3808 and is included here.

Anthocyanins impart the pink to orange-red to deep red color found in strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) fruit. In this study, the anthocyanin content and profile of advanced North Carolina selections were compared to those of white to moderately-red fruited commercial cultivars. Pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside (P3G), pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside (P3R), pelargonidin-3-O-(6”-malonylglucoside) (P3MG), and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) were identified in strawberry fruit juice using high-performance liquid chromatography and the sum of these values represented total anthocyanin content (TAC). The dominant pigment, P3G, ranged from 0.2 to 69.2 mg/100g in white and red fruit, respectively, and values represented 60 to 89% of TAC. Across genotypes, the anthocyanins P3R and C3G represented 4 to 16% and 1 to 17%, respectively, of TAC. Generally regarded as a minor pigment, P3MG contributed 9–18% TAC in nine North Carolina genotypes and 9-10% TAC in cultivars ‘Sweet Charlie’ and ‘Ruby June’. Overall, North Carolina genotypes had anthocyanin content and profiles similar to the commercial cultivars ‘Camarosa’, ‘Chandler’, ‘Sweet Charlie’, ‘Felicity’, ‘Medallion’, and ‘Ruby June'. Visual strawberry fruit color appears to be related more to the total amount of anthocyanin than to specific anthocyanin profiles.

Soil water content was monitored for two years (2022-2023) at 10-cm depth intervals within the root zone of variably irrigated pecan trees of a research orchard in central Oklahoma. Pecan root water uptake distribution across the top 1.2 m of the soil and pecan water use were estimated and analyzed with respect to the level of irrigation. The root water uptake distribution revealed that the effective root zone for the pecan trees in a fine sandy loam soil was located in the top 40-50 cm of the soil and the water extraction that took place below 50 cm was minimal (less than 5% of the total uptake). Irrigation treatments had a relatively small impact on the distribution of root water uptake. Trees that received no irrigation exhibited a slight increase in water extraction deeper in the soil. Pecan water use differed in 2022 and 2023, mainly due to the different precipitation patterns between the two years at the study site. The estimated evapotranspiration (ET) using the soil water content data was considerably smaller than the estimated ET that was obtained from two other independent sources that quantify ET based on weather data and satellite remote sensing.

Pawpaw [Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal] is an endemic North American tree that is gaining commercial interest because it produces desirable, nutritious fruit for human consumption. The plant evolved in the forest understory and can grow well in shaded and sunny environments. As a native tree, there are few arthropod pests or diseases, thus, the trees require few pesticide inputs. The acetogenins synthesized by the tree can be used as natural pesticides or in cancer therapy treatment. Pawpaw is primarily propagated by seed in nurseries, and cultivars are grafted via the whip-and-tongue and chip bud methods. However, there are several challenges that limit wider adoption of pawpaw production in North America including the lack of an adequate tissue culture protocol for clonal propagation, poor understanding of fruit physiology, and lack of rootstocks for commercial production. Modern biotechnology serves as viable option for overcoming these challenges and accelerating the development of pawpaw for commercial production.

The grape industry is expanding acreage production of wine, juice, and other value-added products throughout the United States. Recent estimates show the grape and wine industries in states surrounding Mississippi have significant economic impact. To prepare for a potential expansion of the grape industry in Mississippi, underappreciated cultivars and breeding selections are being grown, harvested, and processed to determine suitability. A selection from Oklahoma, OK392, was grown for several years at the Mississippi State University (MSU) Beaumont Horticultural Unit as well as the Oklahoma State University Cimarron Valley Experiment Station. OK392 compared favorably to other hybrid bunch grapes in many measured categories; however, it did have higher loads of Pierce’s disease (PD) (Xylella fastidiosa) in Mississippi. Even with the higher detected PD, vines are still surviving in South Mississippi and producing grapes. Wine was also made from fruit collected and it has promise in blending and as a teinturier to provide deep red color for other grapes. Overall, OK392 has potential for upper South vineyards and may be useful in grape breeding programs as well, and we propose the name ‘Mamont Noir’ for future use.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of different harvest dates on the chemical composition of Morus nigra leaf tea in Turpan City, Xinjiang Province. Morus (mulberry) varieties belong to the order Rosales, family Moraceae and genus Morus, and are widely cultivated around the world. Mulberry leaf tea is made from the processing of mulberry leaves and is a primary way of high-value utilization of mulberry tree resources. Leaves of five mulberry varieties,‘Yao Sang’ (M. nigra L.), ‘Bai Sang’ (M. alba L.), ‘Hei Sang’(M. alba L. var. Tatarica), Nong Sang Number 14 (M. multicaulis Perr.), and‘Danbai Sang’(M. alba), were collected on seven different dates in 2024 and tea was made from each sample following a replicated standardized process. The main chemical components, including free amino acids, flavonoid glycosides, total phenols, total polysaccharides, alkaloids, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and 1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) were analyzed and sensory evaluations were conducted. Two-way ANOVA was conducted, and pairwise comparisons were performed between groups in which the interaction was statistically significant. The optimal harvest date was determined using principal component analysis to comprehensively evaluate tea quality and identify the optimal date for harvesting. Based on the results of the two-way ANOVA, a correlation was found between the repeated measurement data (p ≤ 0.05) and Tukey’s post-hoc test was used to make pairwise comparisons. Among the five species groups, there were significant differences in the mean values for most varieties. At the same time, there were significant differences between the mean values at most of the seven time points. The index values of the mulberry leaves at different harvest dates were used to calculate the primary component score function. The overall quality ranking was determined based on the comprehensive score: Yao Sang and Nong Sang 14 achieved their highest scores on May 27th, Danbai Sang peaked on June 24th, Bai Sang reached its maximum on July 8th, and Hei Sang attained its highest score on April 29th. This analysis method integrated the contents of several main bioactive substances and sensory scores of mulberry leaf tea to objectively and comprehensively determine the optimal harvest date for the five mulberry leaf varieties in Turpan City. These findings provide a theoretical reference for the preparation and utilization of mulberry leaf tea.