I know you probably get a bit cooler temps than I do. (?) But - I would suggest you try a Granada. . . . if you are up for it. They seem to do the very best - out of all the varieties I grow. Purple Heart, too. But that one is quite tart. And the arils are on the small side. Hotuni Zigar’s fruit matured earlier than others - and they were very good. All of these had better flavor than my Wonderfuls. And the Wonderfuls just don’t seem to be consistent for me. Puny and they mature too late to escape the fungus.
My Afganskis and Salavatskis may not be mature enough to make a definite call . . . so I’m reserving judgement for another year or two. I am rooting some cuttings from some of my favorites. And finding it’s true . . . . the older plants are more reliable ‘rooters’.
@vkelman Vladamir - I would suggest the same for you. Try a Granada. You are in a cooler zone than I - so I’d plant near a southern exposure wall. But, Granada ripens early. And that gives you about a month or more, head start - for the fruit to develop properly. Granada also seems to just naturally set more fruit.
Perhaps you can push the fruit development on your Afganski and Salavatski by doing some hand pollinating. One fellow on YouTube swears by ‘taking a hose and showering the blossoms’ - to spread the pollen. I avoided that because I didn’t need any additional moisture. But, maybe it works? It certainly is an easy enough method.
Report on Cutting Calyxes Off of Blackening Fruit!
This actually worked. If you have a lot of fruit - on many trees - it might be a tough thing to accomplish. But - it did seem to work on the fruit that I caught in time.
It makes sense that cutting off the calyxes halts the spread of the black fungal issues. - - - because the disease starts in the blossoms.
At first sign of blackening - at the tips of the calyx - I took my ‘alcohol treated’ clippers . . .
and snipped off the calyx.
I continued to spray for fungal issues. And the fruits continued to develop - not seeming to miss the calyxes at all.
I am in southeastern VA. Much warmer than you. I’ve only had one pomegranate variety die back, so far, from the cold. That was ‘Wonderful’.
I never take mine indoors, but many people do. I would go with the largest container you are able to move around without ending up in traction! Most of the pomegranate varieties grow to be so wide - and with all those thorns - they are difficult to work with . . . even when they are not in your living room! I got myself a good pair of ‘rose’ gloves with tall arms, because every time I prune a pomegranate tree - I end up with all sorts of gashes on my arms.
Anyways . . . you probably know most of what I mentioned.
Answer to your question - Go with as big a pot as you can manage.
I’ll start with the 4 poms I get now. My fear from reading here is that, those trees may never ripen fruits on time to harvest. Even in large containers. Any varieties you can recommend with short period to maturity?
I don’t have much problem getting them to ripen OK, but Nikitski Rianni and Granada are two which ripen earlier. I grow the former but the latter is not very hardy so I don’t have it (well I had it but it died). In a pot it would be a good one for the mid-Atlantic.
I don’t have enough experience to notice much difference on the rot … they all seem to rot similarly to me so far.
Based upon my notes, it appears that the earliest cold hardy ones are the following. They are all about the same cold hardiness as the ‘Nikitski Ranni’ that was already suggested to you, yet they are even earlier at producing, yet not by much.
‘August Goradon Shirin’ - Cold hardy down to about 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit
I’m going to be planting Salavatski, AC Sweet, and Favorite at my house this year. I’m putting them at a SW corner of my house that has been swallowed by a big Rhododendron. Things I can eat are better than a Rhody!
I also plan to sneak a few in at work (horticulturist at a golf course) on a sheltered west facing wall. Macedonian and Turkish Mountain, plus whatever I have success rooting (Grenada and Afghani).
Both spots are 6b, I would consider them 7a though.
I picked up plugs of Surh-Anor, Kaim-Anor, and Bala Miursal from Fruitwood Nursery this year. We’ll see how they do in pots for Z6. 5 F has been an uncommon temperature at my place, maybe one month a year on average I would have to worry about them being outside.
I have a feeling ill dread bringing them inside each year compared to the tameness of the potted figs haha
I am going to try a couple of Poms this year. I expect I am probably looking at containers to protect from the worst of the winters, but there are a couple of spots I may be able to plant them despite my offical 6B zoning.
As I type, I am making pomegranate molassas from the store-bought juice. I use it mostly as a topping for ice-cream and in a dip called muhammara. I like the stuff I make from juice, but the stuff you make from fresh fruit is supposedly ten times better. Thus, I’m going to see if I can grow them. If I cannot make it work, well then, happy birthday mom and brother, here’s your new trees. I might be planning my visits for when I can steal the fruit back.
Haha, we’re like brilliant minds that think alike here. I got the Suhr-Anor and a couple others from the same place. They are happily pushing leaves in my grow room the last month or more, so I know I’ll have at least one year out of them. I got three different plugs and two different cuttings. One of the five may not take, but the rest are happy.
Just to clarify - are the fruits themselves the only thing you’ve found you need to spray? No dormant oil for pests or anything like that? Just trying to plant a few years ahead
Pomegranates they gain cold hardiness with size and age of tree, and so I would not plant them until season two since you got them, maybe season three, depending on how cold that year is…