Malahat

• Season: Early Season
• Main characteristic/s: High yielding
• Breeder: AAFC, Canada

Cropping Season
Malahat ripens as much as one week earlier than Meeker and five days earlier than Tulameen and Qualicum. It is possible this early-ripening could be exploited if the variety is grown under protection.

Fruit Quality
Malahat produces large fruit that are easy to harvest and have a bright, medium red colour. Fruit firmness is similar to Chilliwack, Qualicum and Tulameen. The firm fruit is not as sweet as Tulameen or Chilliwack, but the flavour is very acceptable and shelf life is good. Fruit is attractive and conic in shape, and not as glossy as Tulameen. Fruit releases readily from the receptacle, making it suitable for machine and hand harvesting.

Fruit Yield
Malahat is a high cropping variety producing similar yields to Meeker.

Plant Characteristics
Plants are moderately vigorous and relatively upright, with good primocane production. Winter hardiness appears to be at the same level as Meeker. Because of the less vigorous plant growth and the shorter laterals it is very suitable for easy hand-harvesting. Malahat is also suitable for machine harvesting.

Disease Resistance
The canes have some resistance to spur blight (Didymella applanata) and to cane Botrytis (Botrytis cinerea) but are susceptible to cane spot caused by Elsinoe veneta. In greenhouse pot tests plants are relatively susceptible to root rot, caused by Phytophthora fragariae var. rubi. Malahat was selected in the seedling stage for resistance to the common strain of Amphorophora agathonica, the aphid vector of the raspberry mosaic virus complex; however, plants are susceptible to a resistance-breaking biotype of this aphid. Malahat is susceptible to raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV).

Plant Supply
Malahat is protected under Community (EU) Plant Variety Rights Grant No. EU 8999; Switzerland PBR Grant No. 02-28-1501. The propagation and sale of plants, or parts of plants, of Malahat without a licence is prohibited. Malahat is available from the following licensed propagators: