Comparison of 3 top Pomegranate varieties

[fyliu]

I need to get some air layers of good ones.  Ive got 2 out of 3 losers that sre getting yanked (wonderful and eversweet).

Wow, even you're yanking them, and you have land. Wonderful is supposed to be a really good rootstock, so maybe keep the roots.

They sucker at the roots too much to try and graft it.  Not worth it.  Needs to be killed.  No point in growing inferior stuff if better ones grow just as easily.  Poms are about the easiest thing there is to grow.  I have ones I killed before that refuse to die.  You have to get every root or they just come back like blackberries.

Sounds like you have very good soil. Don't you have to hack away all but one trunk for any pomegranate anyway? Or do you keep several trunks? I'm asking because I'm trying to decide which way to do it myself. My Iranian friend said they do single trunk for better fruit set there.

[spaugh]

You can try that.  I did try but they just keep suckering at the ground.  Its too much effort.  Maybe if you have a small yard and not a ton of plants.  Otherwise you probably have better things to do wih your time as it could be a constant chore.  At least it is here.  You definitely dont need to do it.

[simon_grow]

I just harvested these huge Parfianka Pomegranates. They are about 1.5 lbs. also got some Desertenyi Pomegranates that are a little over a pound.













Simon

[Organic Cavalry]

If you pick the fruit early from a tree infested by aphids why do the review? Wouldn't it be more interesting to compare fruit at its peak? I mean... Anyone could write a review and say their fruit was better last year!

[simon_grow]

If you pick the fruit early from a tree infested by aphids why do the review? Wouldn't it be more interesting to compare fruit at its peak? I mean... Anyone could write a review and say their fruit was better last year!

You’re a year late Organic Cavalry

I had to pick them early for the reasons I stated and many readers got useful information from the pictures and descriptions I posted above. The Brix and flavor descriptions are not too far off from when they are picked at peak ripeness. It is also beneficial to document fruit tastings year over year.

Based on the way I garden, I had to pick the fruit early last year and since we are creatures of habit, I had to pick them a bit early this year as well. Yup, you guessed it, I had some aphids again this year and no big deal, I’m feeding the ladybugs and their babies.

I bumped this thread to show the size that Parfianka can reach. The larger fruit are significantly higher in eating quality because the arils are huge and filled with more juice so you get a better juice to seed ratio.

Simon

[Organic Cavalry]

I am a year late on your bump of this thread?... I just joined. It came up as new... Happy folks learned I guess. I tend to only compare things at their best to be fair... Otherwise you open the door for a commercial variety to take top prize. But to each their own. Plant some fennel next to your pomegranates and you won't see aphids on your fruit if you are fortunate.

[simon_grow]

Thanks for the tip, I didn’t know that about fennel. I believe I heard there was also another flower that may deter aphids but I forget what it is.

My daughters love the Desertenyi because it has the least acidity. I like to combine all three varieties together. I mix everything inside a bowl and the combination of sweet and acidity is perfect for my palate.

Simon

[Organic Cavalry]

I grow 4 varieties, desertneya, parfinka, a white variety, and a mini variety... All bought from CFRG in Fullerton. I forget the last two... I leave stuff to go to seed and let them get weak... The bugs love it... my plants yet to harvest are bug free... Always. Fennel produces ladybugs like no other at my house.

[simon_grow]

Here’s my biggest Parfianka this year. It’s 1 lbs 12 Oz. This year, my Pomegranates aren’t coloring up as much as in previous years and the acidity level seems much lower which is great for this variety because the sugar acid balance is significantly better this year.





Here’s a picture of the kernels from a different Parfianka fruit, notice that the kernels are different shades of red, pink and white. Many of the kernels are actually half red and half white.






The white kernels had a Brix of 14% and tasted sweet with almost no acidity. The red kernels had a Brix of 16% and tasted sweet with just the perfect amount of acid balance. This is the best tasting Parfianka I’ve ever had. The fruit is very juicy and the seeds are small and soft.

Simon

[simon_grow]

I Just harvested this Parfianka Pomegranate and it is friggin amazing! It weighed in at just over 1 lbs 5 oz and has red arils with some white. It may sweeten up a bit more if I leave it on the tree a bit longer but I have others on the tree. Every year, the fruit has gotten better.

This fruit now has the perfect balance of sweet and Tart. I love sweet fruit but the “Sweet” varieties which generally have pink or white arils are too bland and taste a bit like sugar water. The darker colored aril fruits also have more anthocyanins so may be healthier.

This particular fruit has a Brix of 17% and has the softest seeds of all the varieties I have sampled. No wonder Dr. Levin picked this variety as his favorite out of a collection of over 500 varieties of pomegranates.






No Flash


With Flash

Simon

[spaugh]

Nice Simon, we picked our first parfianka today and it was excellent.  The kids love them.

[simon_grow]

Yeah, the Parfianka’s have been awesome! I like the Parfianka more than the Desertnyi. The Desertnyi is good but lacks some acid balance and although it has soft seeds, it’s harder than Parfianka.

Here’s a picture of a Desertnyi that was recently harvested. These fruit came off the same tree because my tree is multigrafted. The Desertnyi has a Brix of 16%.







Simon

[palingkecil]

Those pomegranates look really tempting. I never try any of those 3 varieties. But the I've tried the best commercial varieties available in Taiwan and US.
My father in law has an unknown Mediteranian variety that is really unique. The fruitlets are red, then as they grow bigger they turn green. At the peak of ripeness the color is pale yellowish green. Inside flesh is pink, the juice looks like pink lemonade, and the seeds are soft.
His family brought the scions from Lebanon about 40 years ago.
The tree is really tough and drought tolerance. When he was still able to take care of his orchard, the record of the biggest pomegranate is 4 lbs. He is 86 now, and has been neglecting his orchard for many years. The citrus, loquat, and peach trees all died, but his pomegranate trees still produce decent amount of fruits each year.
Just picked this baby recently.
The taste is really sweet with just a little kick of acid. Brix is 18%.  Weight 1.823 lbs.
The tree only gets water on rainy season now, and no fertilizer.
No astringent or bitter after taste at all, even if picked unripe, it is still sweet with more acidity.
Anyone knows what variety is this?

[johnb51]

(I don't think we can grow decent varieties of pomegranates in Florida so I've never tried.  Wrong climate.  They are pretty little trees, aren't they?  Mediterranean climate supports a lot of beautiful fruit trees--pomegranate, fig, olive, citrus.)

[simon_grow]

Palingkecil, that looks like a great pomegranate. 18% is very sweet, especially for a pink aril Pom. Sorry but I have no idea what variety that is.

I’ve been eating a lot of Parfiankas lately and they just keep getting better and better. I’m at the end of the season now and the secondary crop has mostly been harvested except for a few stragglers. This year, I’ve been fertilizing consistently and the Brix of these Parfiankas are now at 18%! I never thought they could get so sweet. I now rate Parfianka higher than Angel Red. Everyone in my neighborhood that has sampled these fruit now wants to plant a tree.

I used to like pomegranates but always wished they were just a tiny bit sweeter. Now that I know the full potential of Parfianka, I understand why this was the favorite variety of Dr. Gregory Levin. At 18% Brix, the dark arils from Parfianka has the perfect sugar acid balance. 1% higher in Brix and I think this pomegranate will be too sweet and throw off that perfect balance.

This is an absolutely incredible fruit!



Simon

[Pandan]

Beautiful fruit!

Its funny I saw a gorgeous case of pomegranates in the store and just had to buy one.

Have you ever tried ariana? On the USDA GRIN and here: https://store.urbanfarm.org/pom-ariana its said to be the best taster at USDA'S Davis' pomegranate tasting in 2008. It also has high scores in disease resistance from my memory. Angel red was the other variety I was interested in.

[Epicatt2]

(I don't think we can grow decent varieties of pomegranates in Florida so I've never tried.  Wrong climate.  They are pretty little trees, aren't they? 

Even though we don't have a Mediterranean climate here in Florida there are a couple cultivars of Pomegranate that are supposed to do well in our more humid climate.  The ones that I've seen mentioned are 'Vietnamese' and another is called the 'Indian River' variety.

I have one of each cultivar and both are growing well and gettng established in my sandy Tampa soil.

I'm hoping for some flowers on the larger one (Vietnamese) by next Spring.

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M.
==

[johnb51]

Let us know, Paul, if any of them turn out to be worthwhile.

[murahilin]

(I don't think we can grow decent varieties of pomegranates in Florida so I've never tried.  Wrong climate.  They are pretty little trees, aren't they? 

Even though we don't have a Mediterranean climate here in Florida there are a couple cultivars of Pomegranate that are supposed to do well in our more humid climate.  The ones that I've seen mentioned are 'Vietnamese' and another is called the 'Indian River' variety.

I have one of each cultivar and both are growing well and gettng established in my sandy Tampa soil.

I'm hoping for some flowers on the larger one (Vietnamese) by next Spring.

Fingers X-ed!

Paul M.
==

Paul,

I’ve grown the Vietnamese and Indian Red pomegranate varieties and they suck. At one time I think I grew around 5 different varieties in South Florida and they all sucked.

I never fruited Parfianka.

UF grew out a bunch of different pomegranate varieties in Central Florida.

https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/pomegranates/comparison_chart.shtml

https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/pomegranates/

[simon_grow]

Beautiful fruit!

Its funny I saw a gorgeous case of pomegranates in the store and just had to buy one.

Have you ever tried ariana? On the USDA GRIN and here: https://store.urbanfarm.org/pom-ariana its said to be the best taster at USDA'S Davis' pomegranate tasting in 2008. It also has high scores in disease resistance from my memory. Angel red was the other variety I was interested in.

Thanks for the information! I have never tried Ariana but now I will try to get my hands on it.

These Parfiankas have improved so much over the years. The first few years of fruiting, they were good but too acidic. There’s still so many varieties of pomegranates that I have not tasted so I can’t wait to compare Parfianka to the other top rated varieties.

Simon

[Calreef18]

Palingkecil, that looks like a great pomegranate. 18% is very sweet, especially for a pink aril Pom. Sorry but I have no idea what variety that is.

I’ve been eating a lot of Parfiankas lately and they just keep getting better and better. I’m at the end of the season now and the secondary crop has mostly been harvested except for a few stragglers. This year, I’ve been fertilizing consistently and the Brix of these Parfiankas are now at 18%! I never thought they could get so sweet. I now rate Parfianka higher than Angel Red. Everyone in my neighborhood that has sampled these fruit now wants to plant a tree.

I used to like pomegranates but always wished they were just a tiny bit sweeter. Now that I know the full potential of Parfianka, I understand why this was the favorite variety of Dr. Gregory Levin. At 18% Brix, the dark arils from Parfianka has the perfect sugar acid balance. 1% higher in Brix and I think this pomegranate will be too sweet and throw off that perfect balance.

This is an absolutely incredible fruit!



Simon

Hi Simon, any tips or recommendations for fertilizer and interval? Just planted a parfianka and Angel red this year so looking forward to the next few years. Thanks!

[Epicatt2]

murahlin wrote:
I’ve grown the Vietnamese and Indian Red pomegranate varieties and they suck. At one time I think I grew around 5 different varieties in South Florida and they all sucked.

Well I'm hoping for the best.  We shall see.

But I note that you're in zone 10b and i'm in 9b.  Perhaps that's enough difference with us having a few extra chillng hours here that my two cultivars may produce decent fruit.  Both 'Vietnam' and 'Indian River' were said to have been tolerant of the extra humidity in Florida and still produce fruit.

Will advise if and when....

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

[RollingInTheWeeds]

These Parfiankas have improved so much over the years. The first few years of fruiting, they were good but too acidic. There’s still so many varieties of pomegranates that I have not tasted so I can’t wait to compare Parfianka to the other top rated varieties.
Simon

Simon, are you storing some of those in the fridge for a few months to see if they "cure" there and get even better? 

[mbmango]

Interesting about the Parfianka maturing.  I have that, Angel Red, and Eversweet.  The Parfianka is just really intensely flavored.  I'm probably the only one who will eat them, but not more than one at a time.  Most of my family, extended included, prefer the bland but aptly named Eversweet.  I'm the only one who will eat Parfianka, but only one at a time.  I still prefer Angel Red, and my daughter is starting to enjoy the full flavor of it also.  I was considering removing Parfianka this year, but perhaps I will hold onto it a little longer to see if or how it changes.

[roblack]

I've got a nice sized Vietnamese Red growing, with 2 unknown grafts from Spaugh.

VR is flowering now.

Going to graft Parfianka upon reading this thread.