2017 ASHS Annual Conference

Study to evaluate the vine growth and development of ten Pierce’s Disease (PD) resistant hybrid bunch grape cultivars was initiated at the Sand Mountain Research and Extension Center near Crossville, AL in 2007. Long-term data collection was generated to evaluate the yield potential, fruit quality and foliar disease resistance of studied American and French-American hybrid bunch grape cultivars including ‘Black Spanish’, ‘Blanc du Bois’, ‘Champanel’, ‘Conquistador’, ‘Cynthiana’, ‘Favorite’, ‘Lake Emerald’, ‘Seyval Blanc’, ‘Stover’, and ‘Villard Blanc’. Based on eight-year observations we found out the most productive cultivars based on cumulative yield results were ‘Villard Blanc’, ‘Favorite’, and ‘Black Spanish’ (86.3, 71.9, and 59.4 kg/vine respectively). ‘Blanc du Bois’ produced high yields of 12.3 and 12.8 kg/vine in 2015-2016. ‘Villard Blanc’ produced the largest fruit clusters throughout the study period. ‘Champanel’ and ‘Cynthiana’ were highly resistant to berry rot diseases which makes them suitable for home grape production with least pesticide application. Based on their overall performance ‘Villard Blanc’, ‘Black Spanish’ and ‘Blanc du Bois’ are considered suitable for commercial production in Alabama and the Southeast.