It was directed to @Paul but thanks anyway.
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@Harbin I am in 7A
@Drew51 Regarding subtropics it’s good to test for yourself, for people in colder zones like you there are probably no surprises but 7A is on the verge. I was surprised poms survive here without any issues because according to the books they shouldn’t. Also loquats, even 1 year old seedlings survive and I got currently 3 trees, all in ground. One of them is reported to bloom in the spring and fruit in the summer, that would be really great. I have also reports about feijoa surviving in 7A against the wall of house, really promising stuff for me (my 3 trees died in 2016/17 but trying again). I am also about to test some hardy citruses like Thomasville, Morton, US119, Marumi and Meiwa kumquats etc. This will keep me busy in the upcoming years. What’s wrong with Parfianka? I heard it’s the best. If you want I can send you some early pom var. in the winter.
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Hi, Karen,
How are your pomegranate trees doing? Have you harvested the fruits yet?
I’ve harvested all 3 fruits on my Afganski. They are not big, but taste great. With this success, I am thinking to trial a few more varieties.
I have Afganski, Salavatski, Crimson Sky and Phil’s Sweet now, so I am thinking to go for the taste. Below are the two on my mind now:
- Parfianka. This one has very good reputation. A taste test winner.
- A.C. Sweet Pomegranate. This one can tolerate temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit and can be grown in USDA zones 6. And it’s sweeter.
Do you have experiences with these two?
I bought the Phil’s Sweet from Edible Landscaping last year. It’s a tiny tiny plant. The only reason I bought it because it is supposed to be very sweet.
According to Dave Wilson Nursery, pomegranate varieties with soft arils include ‘A.C. Sweet Pomegranate,’ ‘Ariana Pomegranate’ and ‘Desertnyi.’
Gardening Know How also recommends ‘Sirenevyi Pomegranate,’ ‘Parfianka Pomegranate,’ ‘Angel Red’ and ‘Gissarskii Rozovyi’ for soft seeds.
Another question that I have is - have you tried grafting pomegranates? I am thinking to put the scions of the new varieties onto the existing Afganski. This way I may get the fruit sooner, hopefully next year.
Thanks!
Nova
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My pomegranates did HORRIBLY this summer, NoVA! 
I posted some photos of the few that actually were somewhat edible. That fungus did a number on almost all of my trees. I got one AcikAnor pom . . . and it had a nice flavor. Not as tart as the couple of Wonderfuls that we had. They all cracked. And the skins were very hard.
I am going to try to get some decent irrigation out there in the orchard, for next summer. Maybe if there is more consistent water - they will do better. And - as I mentioned in several other posts . . . I am going to spray the Dickens out of them! Fungicide. Maybe we can keep the fungal issues to a minimum and get some decent fruit. Time will tell.
I know that your winters are probably a bit colder than mine, in Tidewater. But all of the varieties that I have seem to hold on well - during the winter. We had one cold winter a few years ago, and our Wonderful died back - but it has rallied. It had fruit on it - and loads of flowers. But again . . . fungal issues ruined all the fruit.
I have a row of several varieties that may never have fruit - because they prefer warmer weather. I don’t think they would do well for you, either. They are: Ambrosia. Austin. Purple Heart and Eversweet. I also have a ‘mystery’ variety in my landscape that is 10 years old and has never fruited. I’m not sure what it is . . . I think maybe Angel Red or Angel Sweet or a name similar to that. It is right next to a Granada and a Wonderful - that have both had lots of fruit, before the fungus arrived. We may pull the ‘dud’ out - and give the 2 others more room to breathe.
I do have a Parfianka. It had some fruit this year . . . but they didn’t mature. Fungus!
I don’t know anything about A.C. Sweet. I haven’t had any really ‘sweet’ fruit. But, I like the tartness of poms . . . and although I’m curious about the sweeter ones . . . I like what I have. You’ll have to let me know what they are like. I also like the ‘crunchy’ quality of the harder seeded ones. Like Wonderful and Granada. I don’t know if I’d like softer ones . . . but I’m sure that some of my varieties are much softer than what I’m accustomed to.
I’m going to have to rely on Costco and Sams for my pom addiction this fall . . . and theirs are always the Wonderful variety.
I’m sorry that the cuttings I sent did not ‘take’. I always kept mine in my sunroom - so they were fairly warm. Only a couple of them rooted, but I have a nice size Granada, now, that started as a cutting from my older one.
Take care and enjoy the ‘rest from gardening’ this winter.
karen
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Hi, Karen,
Sorry to hear your fungal problems! Hope they will be under control next year. There are new fungicides available. Maybe you can check them out. Sometimes the right spray can do the magic.
I harvested the last two fruits a few days back. They are smaller but sweeter than the first one. Probably because they stayed a week longer on the tree.
Thank you for sharing your experiences on various cultivars! I will skip the ones you considered as non-hardy for my place.
Nova
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I have a new theory about where this deadly fungus ‘came from’.
Recently, Alan wrote to me about the connection between Crepe Myrtles and Pomegranates. At the same time - a friend of mine sent me a link to an article that Southern Living magazine published. It was just some ‘general gardening advice’, but the part about pomegranates caught my attention! Who knew??? That Pomegranates and Crepe Myrtles are ‘kissing cousins’!!! (well . . . not me.)
And then I got to thinking. We had a ‘sooty’ fungus appear on crepe myrtles several years ago . . . maybe 5 or 6 years ago - or more - don’t know for sure. But it was soon after - that my pomegranates began to show black spots. The crepe myrtle problem got worse and worse, and eventually killed a couple of our trees . . . until we just took them out altogether. And the pom problem increased . . . to the point at which I am today . . . battling it everywhere.
I believe it is the same disease - and that is ‘the horse it rode in on’.
Any more ‘scientifically knowledgeable growers’ have an idea about this?
-Karen
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Now that you are describing your ‘Crepe Myrtle’ problem in more detail, I do think that you are right that your pomegranate problem started from the ‘Crepe Myrtles’. Like I said it can take years for fungal disease to leave the soil, and as you know plants can carry fungal diseases.
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I looked up the disease that decimated much of this area’s crepe myrtle population . . . and guess what? Cercospora Leaf Spot. And it was accompanied by sooty mold caused by aphids. I have not seen any aphids on my pomegranates . . . or sooty mold. But, the leaf spot! Absolutely.
Also - our crepe myrtles existed for years, without having any disease. Then they started to show stress and I noticed the black soot all over my white fence. About the same time - my pomegranates started bearing. And the first couple of years they were clear of disease. Then . . . . spots started showing up on the exterior of the fruit. And then - this year - it spread to the interior and much of the fruit was mummified and useless.
We took down the diseased crepe myrtles over a year ago. I didn’t realize the connection between the two plants, until recently. Maybe we’ll have a better chance of getting rid of the cercospora on the poms, now that the myrtles are gone.
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Crepe Myrtles are in the Lythraceae family, pomegranates in punicacaeae. So they aren’t related at all. I’m disappointed in the grumpy gardener. He’s usually on top of things.
That sooty fungus is probably either sooty mold produced by aphids or another insect species. If you’ve got a tree overhead, check it for aphids too.
There technically isn’t a fungicide labeled for pomegranates, but if it was another tree species I would recommend copper oxate (copper soap) when the new leaves emerge. Don’t apply within 12 hours of a rain.
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@NoVA I’m in Arlington and basically gave up on my poms (except one - see below) due to the mold issue. Someone else in town has a Wonderful (right near their house so it survives) and they have not had the issue. My in-ground Salavatski and Kazake are gone as well as my potted Parfianka, Desertnyi and a few others. I hope you stay clear of it, but if you have no issues I might suggest adding carefully since you don’t want to have the issue come in on a new tree and then be an issue for all your trees.
@PomGranny I’ve seen various theories for the fungus issue and it seems like most mid-Atlantic growers have it to some degree or another. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of research on growing poms in high humidity areas like ours, so it is hard to know the issue for sure. At one point there was some discussion on here about a possible link to the grey mold on strawberries and I have a lot of strawberries so they might be harboring the mold year to year. It does seem more prevalent in some varieities (like Parfianka) for some people and the only Pom I still have is a semi-dwarf called HYRDANAR X GOULOSHA (PI 594967 GRIN-Global) which has been pretty good at resisting the fungus and gave me 3 poms this year that were fungus free. It might also be something that is in some trees people are selling and trading, so you wind up with good luck until you add one of those to your collection … then it is everywhere.
One other theory I saw somewhere was that it might be related to mites. My poms did occasionally get twisty leaves on some growth that could have been because of mites and in retrospect that could be an issue.
I would love to grow them, but I’ve decided my limited space is better dedicated to figs and persimmons until I hear of a reliable solution.
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“Crepe Myrtles are in the Lythraceae family, pomegranates in punicacaeae. So they aren’t related at all. I’m disappointed in the grumpy gardener. He’s usually on top of things.”
Not quite true. Very very closely related.
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Zen, you are smarter than I . . . to wait for a reliable solution.
I am still counting on U of F to come up with one. They want to be able to grow poms in Florida as a cash crop . . . and when they figure out what kills that stinkin’ fungus - I’ll be ready to pounce! Meanwhile - my 28 are still alive and kicking - out in the field.
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Hi, Zen,
Thank you for your advice! I really appreciate that!
I am hoping my 2 poms will remain fungus free. I am only 20 miles west from you. The fungal problem hits you bad, so I feel nervous now as well. I was thinking to graft more varieties onto the mature Afganski in order to see the fruits of different varieties quicker, but now you brought up a very good point. I will just leave it alone and be happy with whatever I can get.
I have 4 poms in ground now. The first two Afganski and Salavastki are both doing great. I put them SE corner of the house, where they receive absolutely full sun. Also they are right by a concrete walkway, which heat up really quick. And they are planted in a single row, so air flow is no issue. All these conditions probably contributed to the healthy growth so far. But who knows, maybe after a few years the fungal issue will show up.
The third one - Crimson Sky - was planted in a garden. It fruited this year, but very small. It is not doing well and branches die back randomly several times. If I prune the dead branches, the wound won’t heal and keep rotting into the base. I am going to give it up. It’s very likely that it has some diseases which I can’t figure out. Later I will post some photos and hope gurus here can find out why. I was thinking to take some scions from Crimson Sky and graft them onto the Afganski. Now l totally give up this idea. It’s like asking for trouble.
The fourth one is Phil’s sweet. It’s still very young and first year in the ground. So far it’s doing OK. I am just hoping it can survive this winter.
PS: I also have several myrtle trees on my property. There are many in my neighborhood. I don’t see any major diseases. Keep fingers crossed.
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Pomegranates are in the ‘Lythraceae’ family , and so are ‘Crepe Myrtles’. They are also very compatible with each other with grafting. Look at this, Punica - Wikipedia
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Peaches, apples, raspberries and roses are all in one family — Rosaceae. Ever tried grafting a peach on a raspberry or a rose?
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Now I am interested. I just googled and it seems legit to graft pomegranate on myrtle. 
I am going to give it a try in the Spring. Just for fun.
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The point that I was trying to make is that things which are not related don’t graft well together, and Pomegranates and ‘Crepe Myrtles’ graft very well together.
Thank you Alan for sharing!
More info helps the confidence. Now I can’t wait to try. 
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@NoVA You are welcome, I have done research, some are way more disease resistant than others, many are disease sensitive, the only very highly disease resistant one that is easy to find is the following one, it’s also one of the most cold hardy ones APALACHEE (20' Delicate Light Lavender, NEW!)
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