Pomegranate artical in new Fruit Gardener
The following thread was started by Scotty in Arroyo Grande on August 26, 2008 at 6:01 pm PST
That's what I get for volunteering to help! LOL
I can even claim to be known globally about my very limited knowledge of pomegranates, having sent seeds to a friend in Israel who is going to grow them out while working with Dr. Levin, formerly of Turkmenistan.
The formal test plot is still small and I won't have a crop for at least a couple of years. It consists of 8 trees of each of the following:
1. DPUN 0037 Wonderful
2. DPUN 0124 Parfyanka
3. DPUN 0082 Sin Pepe
4. DPUN 0107 Gissarskii Rosovyi
5. DPUN 0151 Sirinevyi
6. DPUN 0117 Vkusnyi
7. DPUN 00135 Azadi
8. DPUN 0109 Medovyi Vahsha
9. DPUN 0108 Desertnyi
10. DPUN 0059 Sakerdze
11. Angel Red
I also have one or more of the following on the ends of my rows:
Vina
Austin
Mridula (seedling)
Ganesh (seedling)
Mollar (seedling)
Cranberry
Ambrosia
Sour
Grenada
Eversweet
Sweet
Crab
Purple Heart
The Sour may end up getting grafted over to something else since there are others I'd like to have. I only ended up with it because of the ridiculous practices of the marketing folks at Dave Wilson Nursery. They have sold plants with marketing names instead of cultivar names. I bought some "Garnet Sash" plants thinking that they were 'Parfianka' but found out that until 2006 they were selling 'Elf' as Garnet Sash and switched over to 'Parfianka in 2007. I bought some large ones and some smaller ones in 2007 so I'm certain the larger ones were from 2006.
Some cultivars have not grown very well and were smaller when I planted them, but I think they'll eventually make it. I still don't know what I'll be doing with these various fruits when they start producing marketable crops. I will probably sell some oneline and maybe some at a local fruit stand. One of my big online chestnut customers claims he'll buy at least 600 fruits from me and was part of the motivation for me to decide to plant the test plot.
The curator of the repository transferred to Florida where he is from. While I like the tastings, I also understood his point that they weren't really getting many new people exposed to different cultivars by having these tastings as many of the same people show up each year and he had thought they should do more outreach to nurseries who, in turn, could expose many more people to different cultivars. The new curator likes the public tastings, though, so they will continue. Still, they have some serious budget restraints so I will probably volunteer to help out again this year.
Here are some photos I took of fruits harvested late last year to send seeds to Dr. Levin, in case you're interested. These were leftover fruits so not very representative. www.PurelyPoms.com/PhotoIndex.htm.
Thanks for my little moment of fame,
Harvey
The above followup was added by HarveyC on August 26, 2008 at 11:15 pm PST.
Harvey, a question or two on growing poms.First of all I have two varities of pomegranate Eversweet and Syunt I quest that there 3-4 yrs old never flowered yet. Of seedling or cutting's which do you think is the best way to obtain other varities. Also are there varities that will ripen in cool summer area's. Or do they all need hot to mature right. Just started this year from cutting from U.C.Davis N.C.G.R. Golden Globe and Alk Pust Ghermez Saven would like to try and espalier all of these guy's on a west facing shed wall.Pic's at Purely Poms site where cool last pic was delicious.
The above followup was added by Scotty in Arroyo Grande on August 27, 2008 at 7:24 pm PST.
cuttings are the best way to go, but some varieties may be harder to get cuttings of and seeds will do. Supposedly, if you select smaller fruits late in the year you stand greater chances of having a self-pollinated fruit.
Some pomegranates have much higher acid than others and I think these should be avoided in cool climates as they will probably never seep to be ripe. Both Syunt and Eversweet are low acid varieties and may do better in a cooler climate. I have not tasted Eversweet yet but have been told by one good friend that he considers it to be insipid.
I don't know much about he fruiting habits of pomegranates yet but suggest you consider limiting nitrogen fertilizer and/or reduce any pruning that you might have been doing since both would encourage vegetative growth.
Thanks for the compliment of the photos and best of luck,
Harvey
The above followup was added by HarveyC on August 27, 2008 at 10:24 pm PST.
Hey Harvey, thanks for the infor. all keep it in mind as I forge ahead.P.S. went by Jack's today and tasted my first jaboticaba fruit !! Wow it was great , hard skin with white juicey pulp planted about 14 seeds so we'll see. Hopefully maybe I can pick one up at the Festival of Fruit.Hear from Jack that you have quite the set up up there with water and gas good luck with your greenhouse growing.
The above followup was added by Scotty in Arroyo Grande on August 28, 2008 at 5:08 pm PST.
My contract says my free gas is for "primary residence indoor lights and stoves" (1938 language). I think I'll put a bed in my greenhouse! ;)
The above followup was added by HarveyC on August 28, 2008 at 10:56 pm PST.