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Parentage
Lucy (formerly EM931) was bred at East Malling Research and was
first selected in 1996. It has a complex pedigree, which includes
Honeoye, Selva and Rapella.
Season
The season of Lucy overlaps with Elsanta but peaks about one week
later.
Fruit Quality
The fruit is firm and shelf-life is similar to Elsanta. The
berries are attractive, with a glossy skin finish, good mid-red
colour, a juicy texture and pleasant flavour. The primary fruits can
be very large and irregular in shape, but subsequently the berries
are uniformly heart shaped. In unprotected trials Lucy has proved to
have good tolerance to rain.
Yield and Fruit Size
Lucy is very high yielding with large fruit size.
Marketing Suitability
The fruit of Lucy has an attractive appearance and good shelf
life, making it suitable for supermarkets, direct farm sales and
pick your own.
Plant Characteristics
The plants are quite vigorous with well displayed fruit.
Disease Resistance
Tests conducted at East Malling have shown that Lucy has a useful
level of resistance to crown rot (Phytophthora cactorum), but the
plants are moderately susceptible to both verticillium wilt (Verticillium
dahliae) and powdery mildew (Podosphaera aphanis).
Use of the Variety
Lucy is a grower friendly variety, which has produced excellent
yields in trials conducted on pick-your-own farms and less intensive
growing systems. With its good tolerance to rain damage, Lucy is
well suited for traditional field production without the use of
polythene tunnels. It will give good production after the mid season
peak, particularly if grown on a late site.
Accreditations
The breeding of this variety was jointly funded by the
Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra),
MEIOSIS Ltd. and the East Malling Trust for Horticultural Research.
The trialling of this variety was funded by MEIOSIS Ltd
and the Horticultural Development Council
(HDC). |
