Peach Breeding Lab

Happy 2023!

Happy New Year!

The new year in upon us all. We have already faced several challenges as we enter this new season, most notably the harsh artic blast that froze pipes and lead to the flooding of our lab! We are currently on a pause from any lab related activities as new drywall, tile flooring, and plumbing has to be replaced. But, thankfully we did not lose any power nor suffered any losses of material in our fridges/freezers. Although our lab is a construction zone, our graduate students were able accomplish some work in other labs that did not experience flooding, and we are thankful to the synergy and harmony between labs. Times like this we are reminded of how lucky we are to have a close knit scientific community here at Clemson.

Looking forward, we are traveling the next few weeks to attend grower meetings to give information on our advanced selections in the breeding program, and updates on solutions to Armillaria Root Rot.

Lastly, we have been “diggin’ in the dirt”. An experiment has commenced where we collect root samples at different soil depths over the course of the winter. We are hoping to unlock some answers about dormancy, soil temperature and their relationship to bloom time- but more on that later.