Can Pomegranates And Macadamias Thrive In Florida?

[Fiddler]

I know these trees do well elsewhere, but I'm wondering if Southwest Florida's climate, humidity, and soil type can produce the best these trees have to offer.
     Also, how does one tell when pomegranates and macadamias are ripe and ready to pick? I can't seem to get the timing right.
     I've had pomegranates and macadamias in my yard down here for years and I am not impressed with their output thus far.

[fruitlovers]

Macadamias are grown commercially in Hawaii where it is plenty hot and humid. So macadamias should do well in S. Florida also. I think it is trickier to get pomegranate to fruit well there. Here they do fruit fine on west side of island where the rainfall is low, but humidity still high. The problem from my experience is getting pomegranate flowers to set during rainfall. They tend to just drop off. I've given up on most pomegranates here for that reason. I say most because there might be some types that can take high rainfall. I'm trying one last time with white Thai pomegranates to see if they fare any better.

[Mike T]

Macadamias do pretty well in my suburb and I get 100inches/yr but it is strongly seasonal. I have also seen them flourishing in Innisfail (150inches/yr) at 18 latitude so Florida should be chicken feed for their tolerances. I reckon you would need a thai or southern indian pomegranate for Florida rather than something like a wonderful. One of my 2 Wonderfuls has retired in disgrace and the other will soon join it on mulch patrol.

[phantomcrab]

Yes and yes.
Macadamias are pretty common here and I've seen them doing fine as far north as Plant City. Whether you can keep squirrels from getting the nuts is another matter.
Green Sea Farms in Zolfo Springs specializes in pomegranates - (863) 604-3778, greenseafarms@yahoo.com

[bangkok]

My MIL grows and indian pomgranate for 8 months now and it has 1 fruit developing at the moment. We are in full rainingseason  so it is possible.

My own indian pomgranate died but now the root is sprouting under the graft. It always looked crappy so actually i m glad it died and i can replace it.

[HMHausman]

I know these trees do well elsewhere, but I'm wondering if Southwest Florida's climate, humidity, and soil type can produce the best these trees have to offer.
     Also, how does one tell when pomegranates and macadamias are ripe and ready to pick? I can't seem to get the timing right.
     I've had pomegranates and macadamias in my yard down here for years and I am not impressed with their output thus far.

Reiterating what some have said, macadamia does absolutely great for me here is West Broward.  There was even a small commercial grove not far from me. As alluded to, you will have a battle with the squirrels for the nuts, but such is life is South Florida.

On the pomegranate front, I have grown several varieties over the years.  There are some that will regularly flower and fruit, but not all.  There is a Vietnamese variety or at least that is what it is called, which is kicking around that flowers and fruit regularly.  Unfortunately, these fruits are very subject to insect and fungus attack and even if you get a good fully developed fruit, the ones that I have grown and have seen are inferior (and not by a little) to the ones you can buy in the store (Costco) during the season. The plants are nice, the blooms are even nicer, but the fruits.....well, not so nice.

[BMc]

Local Vietnamese variety fruits best in humid climate. Ugly tree, ugly fruits. Fruit flies get them. Not great taste. I'm trying Ben Hur now. Doubt it will go well...

[bradflorida]

Fiddler -

Dr Bill Castle will be the speaker at the meeting next Wednesday of the tropical fruit society of Sarasota

He has been doing research on which varieties of pomegranate are best suited for Florida. 

Brad

[mikesid]

I have a Dana White macadamia that seems to be very tough...growth is moderate...I also planted out six White Pomegranate seedlings that I got from Oscar...I'm hoping they are gonna be decent...they seem to be growing quickly over a foot and a half and very bushy.will pos some pics later

[gnappi]

I know these trees do well elsewhere, but I'm wondering if Southwest Florida's climate, I've had pomegranates and macadamias in my yard down here for years and I am not impressed with their output thus far.

I'm in Broward and have a dwarf pomegranate and it fruits every year (in a large pot) but the fruits are dry almost petrified despite having generous amounts of water this summer. YMMV

[phantomcrab]

Fiddler -

Dr Bill Castle will be the speaker at the meeting next Wednesday of the tropical fruit society of Sarasota

He has been doing research on which varieties of pomegranate are best suited for Florida. 

Brad

The meetings are held on the third Wednesday of the month - October 16.

[davidgarcia899]

I planted one Macadamia tree and it got very chloiritic and nothing I did seemed to fix the problem.

[JF]

Granadas are in season in SoCal....here are 2 beauties

[Tim]

You do you keep torturing them? 

Granadas are in season in SoCal....here are 2 beauties

[JF]

You do you keep torturing them? 

Granadas are in season in SoCal....here are 2 beauties

Well Tim, I can take pictures of the Mac grove near my house

[bangkok]

Local Vietnamese variety fruits best in humid climate. Ugly tree, ugly fruits. Fruit flies get them. Not great taste. I'm trying Ben Hur now. Doubt it will go well...

Here the pomgranates are hanging on the tree's right now. They taste so good that the Thai don't even bother to pick them, they are grown for good luck only.

My MIL has India variety fruits on her tree now and i can't wait to hear if they will be nice or not.

Brisbane is not that humid and tropical though so you might have a good chance to grow nice ones.

[Tim]

Lmao... Cherimoyas too while you're at it

]
Well Tim, I can take pictures of the Mac grove near my house

[phantomcrab]

Meeting announcement from the Sarasota Tropical Fruit Society-

Wednesday October 16, 2013
Selby Gardens Great Room
6:30 til 8:30
Dr. William Castle from the Lake Alfred IFAS experimental station will update us on the latest Pomegranate research.  He will bring 6 trees for the raffle.  We will taste a Florida grown pomegranate.

[phantomcrab]

The UF pomegranate site is http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/pomegranates/
Under 'presentations' there are some "recommended" varieties listed. Since pomegranates are a relatively new project in Florida, much is unknown about best cultivation practices and best varieties here. These are different from California. Florida field data are still being gathered and verified.

[bradflorida]

A key point that Dr Castle mentioned In his presentation is that pomegranates in Florida seem to do best when there are about 400 chill hours. There was a winter where the pomegranate trees received about 200 chill hours and that winter there were hardly any flowers and therefore hardly any fruits on the trees. 

Anyway he seemed to feel that preliminary results in Florida favor the varieties Azadi and Desertnyi (as well as a couple of others) in regards to flavor, production, etc. 

He said the fungus issue can be easily controlled by copper.

Brad

[HMHausman]

A key point that Dr Castle mentioned In his presentation is that pomegranates in Florida seem to do best when there are about 400 chill hours. There was a winter where the pomegranate trees received about 200 chill hours and that winter there were hardly any flowers and therefore hardly any fruits on the trees. 

Anyway he seemed to feel that preliminary results in Florida favor the varieties Azadi and Desertnyi (as well as a couple of others) in regards to flavor, production, etc. 

He said the fungus issue can be easily controlled by copper.

Brad

200-400 chill hours pretty much takes it out of our reach here in South Florida.  Not sure what we had last year, but 150 has been a reach for most years other than two winters a couple of/three years ago.

[phantomcrab]

The most promising varieties being field tested are Azadi, Desertnyi, Medovyi Vahsha, and Salavatski. Preliminary trials have been done at Lake Alfred and another location west of Orlando.
Dr. Castle also spoke of a chemical that seems to emulate the effect of winter chilling on pomegranates and I will try to get the name of it.

[phantomcrab]

Dr. Castle also spoke of a chemical that seems to emulate the effect of winter chilling on pomegranates and I will try to get the name of it.

Dormex

[gaberec]

at which height macadamia can fruit ?
I'm seeing photo and plants are big
I have in a pot ... when I will put macadamia in the ground I hope will give me early fruits

[bradflorida]

I wonder if dormex can be used on lychee trees.

Brad

[cgps]

interested me the thread of pomegranates, here too in a climate dry tropical produce sweet fruits, and are ornaments, which deny the fail of frost hours of some tempered fruit cultives

[fruitlovers]

A key point that Dr Castle mentioned In his presentation is that pomegranates in Florida seem to do best when there are about 400 chill hours. There was a winter where the pomegranate trees received about 200 chill hours and that winter there were hardly any flowers and therefore hardly any fruits on the trees. 

Anyway he seemed to feel that preliminary results in Florida favor the varieties Azadi and Desertnyi (as well as a couple of others) in regards to flavor, production, etc. 

He said the fungus issue can be easily controlled by copper.

Brad

There are certainly varieties that do well with zero chill. The pomegranates produce fine in Kona (dry side of the island) according to Ken Love, so i think the most limiting factor here is not lack of chill, but too much rain, especially at time of flowering.

[plantlover13]

A key point that Dr Castle mentioned In his presentation is that pomegranates in Florida seem to do best when there are about 400 chill hours. There was a winter where the pomegranate trees received about 200 chill hours and that winter there were hardly any flowers and therefore hardly any fruits on the trees. 

Anyway he seemed to feel that preliminary results in Florida favor the varieties Azadi and Desertnyi (as well as a couple of others) in regards to flavor, production, etc. 

He said the fungus issue can be easily controlled by copper.

Brad

There are certainly varieties that do well with zero chill. The pomegranates produce fine in Kona (dry side of the island) according to Ken Love, so i think the most limiting factor here is not lack of chill, but too much rain, especially at time of flowering.

kona is dry?

the one time i visited hawaii, i remember hilo and kona both being rainy with this random stretch of desert as you drove from one to the other.

[MangoMan2]

I wonder if dormex can be used on lychee trees.

Brad

It works on Blueberries.

[HMHausman]

Kona was pretty darn dry when I was there.  I think you may be confused.  That desert stretch you were referring to was probably Kona.

[fruitlovers]

Kona was pretty darn dry when I was there.  I think you may be confused.  That desert stretch you were referring to was probably Kona.

Yes Kona is very dry, especially lowland areas. Some areas of Kona above 1000 feet are a lot more rainy than lowlands. That is usually where coffee and avocados are planted.

[plantlover13]

Kona was pretty darn dry when I was there.  I think you may be confused.  That desert stretch you were referring to was probably Kona.

Yes Kona is very dry, especially lowland areas. Some areas of Kona above 1000 feet are a lot more rainy than lowlands. That is usually where coffee and avocados are planted.

Ah, yes, hat's where i went. I saw the coffee plantations.

at which height macadamia can fruit ?
I'm seeing photo and plants are big
I have in a pot ... when I will put macadamia in the ground I hope will give me early fruits

well, when i went to hawaii, i saw a macadamia tree at about 10 feet fruiting. no clue if it's any indication, but remembereing that has now made me want to try growing one in a pot 

[fruitlovers]

Kona was pretty darn dry when I was there.  I think you may be confused.  That desert stretch you were referring to was probably Kona.

I'm guessing he took southern route between Hilo and Kona and drove through Kau desert.

[plantlover13]

Kona was pretty darn dry when I was there.  I think you may be confused.  That desert stretch you were referring to was probably Kona.

I'm guessing he took southern route between Hilo and Kona and drove through Kau desert.

That sounds right.

[fruitlovers]

Kona was pretty darn dry when I was there.  I think you may be confused.  That desert stretch you were referring to was probably Kona.

I'm guessing he took southern route between Hilo and Kona and drove through Kau desert.

That sounds right.

Easy to guess as almost everyone takes that route because they visit Volcano National Park.

[plantlover13]

Kona was pretty darn dry when I was there.  I think you may be confused.  That desert stretch you were referring to was probably Kona.

I'm guessing he took southern route between Hilo and Kona and drove through Kau desert.

That sounds right.

Easy to guess as almost everyone takes that route because they visit Volcano National Park.

Yup. there you go. I visited the volcano park. perfect.

The macadamia tree i saw was on oahu, though.

[bradflorida]

Interesting to know Oscar.  Do you happen to know which varieties succeeded over there in the dry areas?

Brad

[fruitlovers]

Most of the macadamia plantations are on this island, not Oahu. There are macadamia plantations on rainy side as well as dry areas, like Kau. So the macadamia is very widely adapted. Don't know which cultivars are best in each area. There is a Hawaii macadamia association and i'm sure you can get that info from them.

[Mike T]

Macadamias probably would not be in cultivation except for an enterprising yank who stumbled across them and recognized their potential. If the dice rolled differently other Proteads like Hicksbeachii (red macadamia) including tropical ones or Athertonia that have great tasting nuts could have been developed for cultivation. They also would grow better in Florida.

[LEOOEL]

I tried to get some Pomegranate fruit from a couple of grafted cultivar trees I planted some years back, but they never really grew and never produced fruit, so they were gotten rid of.

[JF]

I tried to get some Pomegranate fruit from a couple of grafted cultivar trees I planted some years back, but they never really grew and never produced fruit, so they were gotten rid of.

Leo, I have a Granada that will grow and it's very prolific for your climate..... it's from Oaxaca Mexico, 17° latitude. It got too big and  I had to remove it. It's a large tree that will fruit in 1 year. I still get seedling poping out. Here is a pic.