Simon: Release: Apopka

FLORIDA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION                             UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA                           GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA 32611                                      and                    UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE                         AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE                            WASHINGTON, D. C. 20250                RELEASE OF OPEN-POLLINATED MARKET CARROT, APOPKA The Florida Agricultural Experiment Station and the USDA Agricultural Research Service announce the release of Apopka, an open-pollinated fresh market culti- var adapted for production in both organic and mineral soils where the market cultivars Imperator 58 and Waltham Hicolor are grown.  Also, a high quality hybrid, B6274 BC1 X Apopka, will be released commercially as soon as pilot pro- duction and commercial trials can be completed.  This cultivar is released now to permit seedsmen to build up a supply of stock seed and to begin testing Apopka for its potential for limited use as an open cultivar and more import- antly for its potential as a pollen parent in hybrids. Apopka was derived by mass selection from Hicolor 9. In 1978 the first mass selection was made among thousands of roots for about 20 roots that had improved internal color and a semi-Nantes shape.  These roots were intercrossed in isolation.  A second mass selection was made in 1979 for internal color and root shape.  In 1980 and 1981 the 3rd and 4th mass selections included selec- tion for improved flavor as well as color and shape.  In 1982 and 1983 soluble solids were measured in elite roots to indirectly select for higher sugar in addition to the other selection criteria.  The 1984 season's crop was lost to the hard freeze of Christmas 1983.  The final (7th) mass selection was made in 1985 and the uniformity was judged suitable for release. Roots of Apopka are 8-10 inches long, and have a semi-Nantes shape.  The exter- ior is smooth with bright orange color extending from the shoulder to the tap root.  Internal color is uniform with little contrast between xylem and phloem and a relatively indistinct cambium zone. Apopka was developed to replace an open-pollinated cultivar, Hicolor 9 with one more uniform for color, flavor, smoothness, and a semi-Nantes shape.  Apopka will supply breeding programs with improved type of Hicolor 9 from which breeders may extract inbred lines adapted to Central Florida.  Apopka was evaluated for commercial acceptability for three years, 1983-1985 at the Uni- versity of California Imperial Valley Field Station (IVFS) and two years at Zellwood, Florida (Table 1).

Table 1.  Appearance ratings for Apopka in observation trials 1983-1985. ___________________________________________________________________________________                                     1983              19841/           1985 Entry                             IVFS    FL           IVFS         IVFS    FL ___________________________________________________________________________________ 1.  Apopka                       1.8     3.5          2.8          3.0     2.5 2.  Hicolor 9                    2.0     2.8                       2.8     3.1 3.  IMP 58                       2.6     2.5          1.9          2.6     2.7 4.  Candy Pack                   2.6     2.5          2.3          2.9     3.0 5.  Orlando Gold                 3.0     3.3          2.8          3.0     3.3 6.  Golden State                 3.2     3.4          2.3          3.2     3.4 7.  A Plus                       2.6     2.9          1.9          2.6     3.1 8.  Olympiad                     3.0     1.4          3.7          3.0     1.4 9.  (4 67x3640c)xApopka                               3.4          3.7     3.5 10.  (6 39x6274 2)xapopka                              3.1          2.6     3.0     5 Commercial Hybrids2/          Range                 2.7-3.0  1.7-3.3     2.3-2.8      2.2-3.0 2.3-2.8          Mean                    2.9     2.4          2.6          2.6     2.5          Number of Judges        24      27           49           52      40 ___________________________________________________________________________________ 1/ 1984 Florida trial lost to winter freeze 2/ The 5 commercial entries scored above were:  Dagger    78, Dominator,   Polaris, Chancellor and Diplomat. Average scores in Table 1 are based on values of 1 = unacceptable, 2 = poor, 3 = fair, 4 = good and 5 = excellent. These values demonstrate that Apopka might be competitive with available open- pollinated cultivars, Hicolor 9 and Imperator 58; with the USDA hybrids, Candy Pack, Orlando Gold, Golden State, A Plus and Olympiad and with five standard commercial entries.  Apopka is more uniform for both exterior and interior color than Hicolor 9 and Imperator 58.  The high grades received for two hybrids (9 and 10) in Table 1 are evidence that Apopka may serve in hybrid production and as a useful source for extracting improved inbreds.  A limited supply of breeders seed from screen isolations will be distributed to hybrid carrot seed producers who make written requests to Dr. Mark J. Bassett, Vegetable Crops Dept., University of Florida Gainesville, FL by September 15, 1985. ______________________________________________________     Date______________________ Director Florida Agricultural Experiment Station ______________________________________________________     Date______________________       Administrator, Agricultural Research Service

---