‘May Joy’ Peach

Abstract

‘May Joy’ trees are moderately vigorous and semispreading in growth habit. Leaf glands are reniform. Trees have large showy pink self-fertile flowers and require ∼650 chill hours (below 7.2 °C or 45°F) to break bud at Byron. Trees produce round, clingstone, and nearly full blushed fruit with melting yellow flesh and normal acidity. In 10 fruits harvested on 13 May 2019, the titratable acidity ranged from 0.53 to 0.71 g/100 mL (0.63 on average, presuming that malic acid is dominant), the pH values 3.4 to 3.7 (3.56 on average), and soluble solid content 9.3 to 13.1 °Brix (11.45 on average) (Chen and Okie 2023). The original seedling and grafted trees were among the few peaches at Byron requiring ∼650 chill hours and ripening in May to set at least partial crops in some years with spring frost. Trees have not been extensively tested in northern climates. Trees showed few bacterial spot symptoms on fruit or leaves throughout the evaluation years, in contrast to susceptible cultivars, suggesting ‘May Joy’ is at least moderately resistant to the disease. No virus symptoms have been observed.