Questions on Pomegranate trees

[mwaterman07]

Someone on Craigslist in my area is selling 5-6ft Angel Red pomegranate trees for $15. Is it worth picking up one? And are there any ways to tell the difference between them and other varieties, other than cutting open a fruit?

[shah8]

Pomes are really easy to propagate, and the best varieties (for different purposes) are very well known and easy to acquire.  $15 isn't that much cheaper than mail order, but the size is nice.  Angel Red is, however, not one of the better varieties, especially since you live in prime pome terrritory, depending on your micro-climate (pomes tend to be funky about how hot it gets in the day and how cool it gets at night).  Google for the Wolfskill tastings for rankings.

Parfianka
Desertnyi
Sin Pepe
Ariana
Gissarskii Rosovyi
Purple Heart.
Sirenevyi
Al-Sirin-Nar
Wonderful
Palermo
Ink
Some hard seed (and hardier) varieties that I can't remember the name of.

[mwaterman07]

Very informative
I'll keep my $15 and get another variety now. Thank you for your help

[simon_grow]

Parfianka is considered by many as being the best tasting but this year, my first year with fruits, the Angel Red tasted better than the Parfianka. The Angel Red was sweeter and had better sugar acid balance to my palate. The Parfianka tasted like a Wonderful with very soft seeds. This could be because my trees are so young but remember that everyone's palates are different. If possible, try out several varieties before you purchase a plant. Often times, you cannot try before you buy so in these types of situations, know your own palate and do your research. There are sweet types with little to no acid, sour types, sweet and sour types and every combination in between.
Simon

[forumfool]

I would pick that tree up. Good price for the size, likely mature enough to give you fruit. You can be judge of taste, you'd probably like it. If you didn't like it sell on CL next year for 15$ and you lost nothing....

[shah8]

Wonderful, Parfianka, and Angel Red all have a similar taste profile.  The advantages of the Angel Red is that it is much more vigorous and more productive pomegranate.  It also tastes like Wonderful, bears earlier, and has softer seeds. 

People argue enough about Wonderful, because it's so common, but it's common for good reason.  It is a bit more tricky to have a Wonderful that gets the sort of fruit that deserves the name, though.  Angel Red is pretty much just hype, and I'm pretty sure you can safely trust me when I say that Parfianka will, more often than not, deliver a better taste.  Mwaterman07 lives in z9 Arizona, though.  That's really hot enough, long enough, for the best fruits unless you're looking for a longer season or something with multiple varieties.  If you want a better Wonderful, you should go with one of the other classic vineous type pomegranates like Parfianka or Palermo.  There isn't any sure thing about how a pomegranate will react to your specific circumstances--many will have a bitter taste, or an unwanted aftertaste, etc, etc.  That's the luck of the draw, though.

If you want something other than the classic vineous taste, Desertnyi and G.R. have citrus accents, the first, a kind of orange/tropical taste, and the second is often described as lemonade-like.