Author Topic: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida  (Read 1583 times)

Bobooshki

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Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« on: March 16, 2022, 03:03:57 PM »
Hi all.

I’m in Palm Bay (East, Central) Florida and I was wondering if anyone has any experience growing pomegranates here. I get a lot more chill hours than the folks down in South Florida and I’m thinking about planting a couple of trees.

I’ve heard the Vietnamese grows well here, but doesn’t taste the best. Any feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Robert

roblack

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2022, 03:13:17 PM »
I'm growing Vietnamese Red. Have tried one fruit. Still too few and too early to say, but the taste was actually okay. The seeds; however, were very hard and difficult to chew. Maybe I picked it too early? Cannot see eating this fruit out of hand if this is actually how the seeds are in typical ripe fruit. Maybe okay for juicing.

I have 2 Desertyni grafts on the Vietnamese Red tree. They are growing okay. No flowers as of yet. Grafts are over a year old.

Also have a Desertyni potted plant. May do more grafts from it.

Also, Parfianka is growing in ground, a year or less.

I am doubtful Parfianka or Desertyni will flower and fruit, but trying anyway. Will graft Parfianka to Vietnamese Red to see if that helps.

Oh, I also have a giant Mediterranean plant grown from cutting. Going to graft from it as well, onto VR.

My guess is Desertyni and Parfianka may flower and fruit in your area. I would try them both.

Bobooshki

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2022, 04:05:13 PM »
Thanks! I’m hopeful someone in the central Florida area will chime in and has some experience and maybe a success story with one of these really promising varieties.
Robert

yoski

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2022, 05:38:36 PM »
I tried when I lived in Miami Shores. A miserable failure. Produced several fruits the size of an XL egg, but of very poor eating quality. Not sure what variety it was. I never tried again.

dwfl

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2022, 08:05:46 PM »
Try to get an 'Azadi'. Most pomegranates that do well in Florida are ideally for juicing.
« Last Edit: March 16, 2022, 08:08:02 PM by dwfl »

Bobooshki

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2022, 09:01:35 PM »
Thanks for the input! I’d really like to have one that could be eaten by hand if at all possible. I know the amount of rain and humidity we have can lead to fungal issues with pomegranate
Robert

j_tropical

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2022, 09:46:13 PM »
I'm on your west (9b). Back in 2017 i ordered a 3-4ft Grenada Pomegranate from WillisOrchards . It flowered like crazy first year. did not set fruit. i have same issue with many other trees. I was away for about a month and my sprinkler stopped working. the tree went in drought stress and died after few months. :(

Later i bought one from local nursery. I can't be sure because there was no tag, they said it was Grenada. i also bought one more from Lowes, it was Wonderful Pomegranate . Both trees are in ground for over three years. Trees doing ok. but none had any flower yet  :(

it would be really nice if we could find some variety that grows in central Florida!

Bobooshki

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2022, 02:28:18 PM »
Yikes! Thanks for the info j_tropical! I’m hoping someone chimes in here that has a certain variety they have had success with. Some sellers in California have really interesting varieties that look great, but I just don’t have confidence they will do well here.
Robert

SoCal2warm

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2022, 08:27:06 PM »
I am unsure of why pomegranates would not do well in Florida.

As far as I know, there are two main things. The wet rainy summer days can cause the fruit to crack, and pomegranates do not like the alkaline soil in Florida. I think both of these things might not be too difficult to solve.

There might also be disease and pest issues with the heat and humidity on the leaves but I do not know specifically about this.

Chill hours are not much of a problem with pomegranates in zone 10 Southern California, so why do you think it would be a problem in Florida? I know winters in Florida can be shorter though and have bursts of warmth throughout the winter which may not be good for plant chill accumulation.

Wonderful, Angel Red, and Austin all produce fruit in zone 10 California.

kapps

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2022, 08:53:40 PM »
I have a Wonderful that has been in the ground for 4-5 years and growing great in Florida 10a but it has never flowered.  I'm in an area near the coast where it rains quite a bit less than other areas and its in very well draining soil and near full sun.  I had decided to give it until this year to do something before replacing it with something more suited to this climate.  It's pushing new leaves and no flowers now...

Galatians522

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2022, 09:10:28 PM »
Fungus diseases that cause fruits and flowers drop are the main challenge for pomegranites in central Florida. Surprisingly, the Wonderful pomegranate is actually a Florida selection. It did way better in California, though, so they made it famous. We grew both Wonderful and Fleishman years ago. Fleishman set more fruit and still tasted good to me. Green Sea Farms in Zolpho Springs has a huge collection of pomegranites (145+ according to their facebook page). The owner gets tons of fruit, but she uses fungicides. Unfortunately, no fungicides are labeled for pomegranites in Florida (not even organic) so she can't sell the fruit for human consumption. She will sell you plants, though, and there are some that set enough fruit for homeowner purposes without fungicides to my understanding. Do an internet search for Green Sea Farms and give her a call. She is a wealth of knowledge.

chrobrego

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2022, 11:00:34 PM »
Hi,

I would recommend saving your time and grow something else.  I've been trying pomegranate for twenty five years in Central Florida (Orlando region.)   I originally wanted them to fruit but eventually gave up on all the trees and just used them for ornamental reasons.  I have gotten them to fruit but they get to the size of a golf ball then dry up.  Fungal issues prevent full maturation. I've also had about twenty five trees on two properties with different microclimates; all failures.  Most of the varieties were Wonderful but I have tried a few others; all failures.  From what I know, Vietnamese red is the only variety that will consistently produce a fruit that you can eat. However, I don't think anyone thinks the poor quality fruit that comes from that tree worth writing home about.   Good luck. 

Galatians522

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2022, 11:33:58 PM »
Fleishman held fruit to maturity for us and it tasted just as good as one from the store if not better. I don't recall if Wonderful ever did hold fruit to maturity. This was close to 20 years ago. The lady in Zolpho had one that she thought would bear without fungicide sprays. It was not Vietnamese, but I can't remember the name. There were also 2 that fruited off season from all the others that might have better chance as well.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2022, 10:24:32 PM by Galatians522 »

Bobooshki

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2022, 09:02:01 PM »
Thanks for all of the input guys, it is greatly appreciated!
Robert

SoCal2warm

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #14 on: March 20, 2022, 03:21:45 AM »
I would recommend saving your time and grow something else. I have gotten them to fruit but they get to the size of a golf ball then dry up.  Fungal issues prevent full maturation.
What if you just put a frame over the tree with a transparent plastic cover during the warmer half of the year? That might prevent rain from falling on the fruit.

I know this is what they do for harvesting cherries in Japan and tomatoes in Korea.

StelaG

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #15 on: March 21, 2022, 07:54:47 AM »
we are in Kissimmee and have a couple varieties in the ground.  Wonderful and Al Sirin(Maybe misspelled)  Wonderful has fruited but disease ruined the fruit, the other has not fruited yet and is only 2 years old, grown from cutting.  I will try to find the photo of the last fruit we removed from our tree last year. 

StelaG

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #16 on: March 21, 2022, 07:58:56 AM »
found them, these were last summer June 2021




Tropheus76

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Re: Ideal pomegranate varieties to grow in Florida
« Reply #17 on: March 21, 2022, 10:42:52 AM »
I have tried various varieties for years in east Orange county not too far from Palm Bay, I shoot at the range there every blue moon. I have tried Pakastani, Russian, Red Silk and wonderful. My Russian and Wonderfuls are the only ones to even have a couple flowers, but never any fruit. Like my apples, I keep those tow out of stubbornness and I have other spots to fill. One dat I will pull these also. So those are a few not to waste time and space on lol