Description:
'Charleston Scarlet' was developed using a recombinant recurrent mass selection breeding technique. This cultivar originated as a seedling of the maternal parent 'Regal' from an open pollinated polycross breeding block comprised of four randomized replications of 27 parental clones in 1996 at the USDA ARS, U. S. Vegetable Laboratory (USVL), Charleston, SC. Parental clones in the block were selected for high levels of multiple pest resistance combined with many good horticultural traits. The maternal parent of 'Regal' was W-99, whose maternal parent was W-48. The paternal parent of Charleston Scarlet is one of the other 26 genotypes in the polycross nursery. Charleston Scarlet was designated first as 97-029 when it was tested as a first year seedling in 1997. In 2003, this genotype was re designated W-375 for further field testing, and in 2006 it was released by USDA ARS as Charleston Scarlet